Limba

Anyone using just two chainrings on the front of their Mtn.bike?Shift ok?What cranks,rings are you using?
I have RaceFace 44/32/22.I'm thinking of tossing the granny.

djbowen1

why oh why oh why

Limba

LOL.I don't need it.I NEVER use it.I can climb all my local hills on my cross bike.It has 53/39 rings with a 12-27 cassette.
I climbed everything last Sunday in my mtn.bike's middle ring.The trails were crap.All snow and leaves.It just bugs me that it's there.

SamDaBikinMan

I run a 42/29 on a double crank setup on my current bike and it is all I will ever need with a 11-32 on back.

I'll change my new bike to a double first opportunity I get.

Limba

What kind of cranks are they?What brand rings?Shift ok?

SamDaBikinMan

Race face. 94mm 5 bolt pattern.

Shifts perfectly and my chain line is such that I can use the 42-32 if I really want to.

Limba

RaceFace cranks and rings?They make a 29 tooth ring?

SamDaBikinMan

oops sorry, the 29 tooth is a cannondale ring. The 42 is RF.

Limba

Cool.I'll see if my LBS can get a 29 for me.That would be perfect.Will I need a different bottom bracket?I have a RaceFace bb.I'm pretty sure it's adjustable.

SamDaBikinMan

The bottom bracket will depend on the type of cranks. Some use the newer spined BB's and some use the older style. Your bike shop will be able to tell you what your options are when they see what you have.

The 29 is a good gear IMO. I can ride in it all the time if I want and still get a good high gear ratio in a 29-12 or 14.

I like the 42 best since I rarely ever needed even the 42-11 when I was cross country racing and 44 seems a bit overkill.

I ran a 36/29 for a while but the 36 had no shift ramps and was not dependable for smooth shifts. I had better clearance for logs and still had a better than 3-1 ratio in the 36-11. The singletrack I ride is really not big ring type terrain. No long fire roads or anything to let you get flat out.

legalize_it

DITCH THEM ALL!!!!! go SINGLESPEED!!!!

bentrim

This is what I think:

3 chainrings on an XC

2 chainrings on a Freeride

Singlespeed if you're under 25.

No one older than 25 should be riding singlespeed (cruisers exempted)unless blowing out your knees is some misguided idealism of macho...then again, I speak as someone who's hurtin'!

MichaelW

Gearing depends on your strength and terrain. If you never ride hills, then you dont need hill-climbing gears.
Going to a double or even a 1x9 can be a good move.
My Stronglight chainset has been configured, at various times, as a 36, a 34/46, a 28/38/48.
Singlespeed, and fixed are ideal for flatland riders, esp in muddy terrain.

Jim311

I'm gonna keep my third big ring even though I never use it. Don't ask me why, though. The weight savings would be miniscule anyway.


Sam.. you got a new bike? Did you succumb to the power of the dark side and buy a Specialized?

a2psyklnut

Hey, I'm 34 and I ride a SS! O.k., I do have to ice down my knees and I pop Ibuprofin like candy, but hey, what do I know!

L8R

riderx

Ha, Ha, where did that magic age come from? I'm almost 34 and that's all I ride. No knee problems and it makes you a strong rider. There's plenty of others that are older than me that ride SS exclusively without problems.

Here's what most people don't understand: riding SS is like interval training. Yeah, you might mash up the hills, but when you get to the top you are spinning and recovering.

Limba

I'm 34 too.I'm in the best shape of my life.No singlespeeds for me.I'm ditching the granny for sure.

Maelstrom 

Not a chance. I am willing to sacrfice speed for torque. I dropped the big ring and through on a bash gaurd and run granny and middle. I can't imagine doing MTB with a real bigring.

MikeOK

I always thought it would be cool to have a SS too, and I'm 40! The AR XC race series has a SS class, last year at a few that I made I would always check those guy's times and man, some of those guys are smoking fast!

bentrim

I remember as a 15 year old, I could ride my BMX (classic REDLINE of course - Accept no substitute.) up and down hills all day long.

Now in my thirties, I'm dying without the large chainring on my XC after two hours!

a2psyklnut

Heck, when I was in my early teens (prior to drivers license) we would ride our BMX bikes all over town. It wasn't unusual for us to ride 30 miles in a day! No kidding. We used to leave from my house, ride to the beach, then the mall, then stop at one of the schools and play "bike tag" for a couple hours, and then to the BMX track for practice (Dad would bring the helmet and gear), then practice for a couple hours and ride home. All this with a 44/16 gear and a UNI Seat! (remember those?) We would almost NEVER sit down. Plus, we were hopping curbs, riding wheelies, launching drive aprons...etc. Mine was a GT Pro all maxed out. What were those rims that had the holes drilled out between spoke nipples with the different color rim strips? (Pro-Lines, Pro-Max..? I can't remember.)

Ah, those were the days!

Now I'm getting old and crusty and have to force myself to ride 3x's a week for an hour.

L8R

bac

I'm 37 and my favorite mtb is a SS - so you have @ least 3 more good years left on the SS!!! However, keep the ice and dope handy!

bentrim

Okay, I hate to admit this but I still own my circa 1981, made in USA, 4130 chromoly Redline MX-II! Talk about old school.

Do ya remember: Stu Thomsen, Tange forks, Dia Compe MX brakes, when Haro was "gnarly", the SE Racing Quad-Angle, the PK Ripper, Radical Rick, hard plastic Kashimax seats, Skyway Tuff mag wheels...? If you do, you're as much of a fogey as I am!

By the way kids, the Evil Imperial design looks a lot like a Torker. *What is a Torker?* LOL

Heck I still remember when some of my friends had bikes that looked like motorcycles with faux gas tank and full suspension.

a2psyklnut

I always sold one bike to put some money down on the next. Started racing BMX with a steel Ashtabulah, then an MCS Magnum, then the GT-Pro, then a RedLine PL-24 (Redline's first 24" cruiser), then got into freestyle and got a Kuwahara (w/white Tuff Wheels), then an SE Racing Quadangle, then got into Mtn bikes, then road bikes!

L8R

riderx

Oh yeah, I remeber all of those. What was Radical Rick's buddy's name?

I grew up a few miles from the Hutch factory. I started freestyling in the early days when Haro was riding and a frame stand was pushing the limits. RL Osbourne, Wood Itson, Eddie Fiola, etc. Remember Z-rims? Beartrap pedals? Tuffneck stems?

BTW, I did some calculations with Sheldon Brown's gain ratio calculator not to long ago and found that with the wheel size differences, the 44x16 on 20inch wheels is almost exactly same as the 34x17 I run on my 26" MTB.