rabidsquirrel

Hi everyone. I started riding mtb a few years ago to try to get my son to learn to ride his bike. He still doesn't want anything to do with a bike. Mean while I switched to a Trek 1500 road bike and ride pretty much daily. I've been doing some charity rides and I was in my first bike race a couple a weeks ago(I'm 40). I also ride to work sometimes. It's 14 miles each way. I've been thinking of switching my bike from triple to a double so I decided to join the BF so I could pick everyone's brain. I would also like to meet some more cyclist in the area since I usually ride alone.

piper_chuck

Wow, I actually know where Walnut Cove is! I get up that way 6 to 8 times a year. Welcome to the forum.

The area you're in has some good hills, so unless you find you no longer use the smallest ring, keep the triple. The weight difference is negligible, but being able to keep spinning up the hills really helps. If you find you're no longer using the smallest ring/largest sprocket combination, consider changing the cassette to something with tighter spacing. Less difference between the gears makes it easier to fine tune your gear to the cadence as you're rolling along.

rabidsquirrel

Yeah, there are some good hills around here. I try to stay off of the small ring unless I'm climbing Hanging Rock. The middle ring has 42t so I thought one with 39t or maybe 34t would be OK. Maybe I need to go to the bike shop and demo a bike with a double before I change anything.

john_iverson

This is John, the short blonde guy that was helping to police the course during the recent criterium in beautiful downtown Walnut Cove. We also talked when I was helping with the Foothills Classic earlier this Spring. PM me sometime, I'd love to ride with you. I wish I'd had your info before now as 5 of us had a great long ride in Stokes this Sunday--more is always merrier!

Whoever posted before regarding keeping the triple has a good point. Stokes County has a LOT of hills, Hanging Rock, while a contender, is far from the steepest/most challenging of the many others nearby. I've contemplated going to a compact myself as spinning at 45-60 rpm up some of these 20% grades is just too damn much work. I'd ditch the 42 middle ring however. A 39 is much more useful in the rollers around our neck of the woods. Check Park tool.com--they are a great resource for wrenching issues of all kinds. Your chainring is easy to swap out with just a couple of tools.

John

rabidsquirrel

Hey John, never did find my keys. I'll send you my email address

john_iverson

about that. I saw you lurking about for quite some time. You should have come over to our little party--we were fueling our crit course policing efforts with a cooler full of beer. Quite a nice way to spend the day really!

John

East Hill

Hi rabidsquirrel, it sounds as if you are off to a good start with meeting other members . Enjoy your riding...

Welcome to BF, and feel free to PM me with any questions !

East Hill
Forum Moderator