goldfinch

Belinibean, you say money is not an issue. I'd get a cadence sensor and see where you are really at with cadence before making other changes.

TomCat_Ford

I second this. While I don't use one myself, I have a feeling that one could be of use to the OP. For what it's worth, I got my sense of cadence while riding indoors on my trainer (counting my pedal strokes and doing the math).

dprayvd

I ride a 12-23/26-36-48 9spd flatbar. I ride amongst the upper watershed of a major river valley and have lots of moderate ascents, and many short&sharp ramps, especially west and north. I'm not givin'-up the triple and smallblock for nothing. NOTHING! lol

I feel that after fit, tailored gearing is of decisive relevance.

Bellinibean, I'm certain you'd be well served with a 13-23/25 cassette. DIY (bolt the unit onto the wheel, confirm the limits, and go) or have it done for you. And be amazed at the pleasure that is single-tooth ratios. On all three chainrings, too.

Regarding the chain, I've used 116-link units out-of-the-box & can cross-chain to my heart's content (though I don't unless I'm really not paying attention then I'm like 'wut, no more gears?'), so no issue(s) on that score. I no not, however, bang this set-up on/over every harsh bump I see.

If DIY's your method, you'll need a cassette tool, as well as a shortish length of chain & 14mm or 9/16 box-end as the soon-to-be-maligned hillbilly chain-whip, but you know this I'm sure.

EBAY is lousy with such cassettes.

The cassette tool I got at pricepoint was less than a tenner. And if your going to do drivetrain work you'll need the BB tool, and crank puller too.

My lament about 8-speed is the 16cog is hard to find, and harder to ignore in its absence (unless you kick for a donor cassette--then you may do as you like, such as swap-in a 26/27/28...etc cog).

I've settled into using two cassettes, two chains, and two middle rings per year, in a 2-month rotational manner (with attendant upkeep). The shifting starts being bland--and I mean lots of nudging and feathering the rear shifter--means new drive parts. Or chain-skip at the 16 through 21 cogs from tooth wear. I see myself having a 14-25 cassette sometime yet to come.

I'll be 50 soon; I'll never of my own volition see the other-side of 200 pounds; I'm starting to have bony issues; jogging/lifting--the gym, ugh--has been out for some time now, and I'm not buoyant; all I wanna do is breathe and sweat. The bike makes allowances for all this, and right from one's front stoop .

I don't run a computer anymore.


OT: there's a great bit of dialogue in Brideshead Revisited between the Marquis and Charles regarding Bellini. Perhaps you are familiar with it?

bellinibean

For yesterday's I purposely tried to keep my cadence higher than I'm used to. I found it was easier on my quads and easier to maintain speed. I watched the roadies ahead of me and tried to match their cadence as I rode (as silly as that sounds).

On a side note, I got a harsh lesson in aerodynamics: was going on a moderate down hill for about 1/8 of a mile and while I was pedaling up to about 34mph, a roadie in front of me coasted the whole way and I never caught him..

xoxoxoxoLive

bellinibean please talk to your local bike shop (LBS)

Copy & Pasted from another Forum

converting a mountain bike to a road bike


The first thing is gearing. Unless you live where it's flat a 44 big ring will most likely be too small for road use, and your granny gear has no place at all. A road triple is generally 30/42/52, while a road double is 39/52 or 39/53. Your 22/32/44 or 24/34/46 rings will leave you wanting. Your cassette would be useable, but a road cassette will give you closer ratio which makes finding the "right" gear easier.

There is plenty good information out there on this topic, (NONE) would tell you to install a MTB crank to make your Bike more road friendly. If money was not really a problem, then change your front to road crank compatible to your terrain, and the rear to a road cassette. Also those Bontrager 700 x 35c, could be changed to 700 x 28c road tire of your choice Then some bar ends could be added for more hand positions. Installing a cadence sensor first, would only confirm what you already know. That there seems to be missing gears when you switch, and it would let you know at what cadence you are truly spinning. The only real debate that should be going on here, is what road cassette you needed, like an 11-25 or 13-26 etc... Not shortening your chain, or what cadence your spinning. Knowing the cadence your spinning at, would only benefit if you were trying to maintain it. Which a road cassette would help smoothen out your shifts into smaller increments. Please take no offence, but I'm done posting on this thread. Again please talk to a LBS about your concerns, just for interesting discussions on this topic, Google (how to make a MTB more road friendly) because all your missing from having a MTB drive chain, is your front crank. And according to others on this thread, just install one to help make your bike more road friendly. Do you notice any sag in my chain, if shorting my chain would help it shift smoother. I would have been waiting outside the LBS this morning


.

xoxoxoxoLive

My rear derailleur has the same tension on it, as it did when I was running the 11-36 cassette.. It's an inanimate object that can not read or reason.. when I'm on the small FRONT ring 34. and the back is on the 26T, (IT HAS THE SAME TENSION AS BEFORE) it does not know that was the last gear, & that the others are now gone. when you have that concept down, I will explain why running a short cage rear DR is not the greatest idea on a compact crank.. (not that it can not be done) just with a long cage you would not have to think twice.

DorkDisk

have you heard of grant peterson?

i, along with many others happen to agree with him that a 24/36/46 crank is the most versatile and flexible crank. this used to be a mtn crank, now a touring crank

again, place in big/big and check the der angle to check chain length. not any random gear combination

OP, this is what i would do if that were my bike

1) sugino 24/36/46 cranks
2) slx 10sp shifters
3) 105 10sp 11-28 cassette
4) 10sp chain
5) 105 short cage r der.
6) slx front der
5) mavic ksyrium wheels
6) kevlar bead tires

if i wanted to spend more, i would max out the wheels first. king/hugi with dt and open pros. least spoke count for my weight, straight front, straight / two cross rear. get a good builder. kovachi wheels in marrieta, ga are great

after that i might go for xt/ultegra but no more than that

the biggest change you will feel will be from the wheels. fast acceleration, and they maintain speed. also stock bikes come with heavy wire bead tires. a quick swap for foldable tires once the stock ones wear out will bring a noticeable change in ride quality.

the gearing would allow for a very high 46/11 gear and a very usable 24/28 for the hills and tons of in between gears acheivable through double shifting. if you have no steep hills, ditch the 24 and trim it out

also, i would like to add a correction. the cheapest thing you can do is to go rummaging through your lbs´spare parts bin and find a single cog. remove the 32 and place the cog you desire in the location you desire. if your cassette is riveted, you will hve to drill out the rivets.

edit: it appears that john kovachi passed away two yrs ago. im bummed out. seattle should have some good wheel builders, though

xoxoxoxoLive

With the FX 7.2 factory gearing, 48-12 being your fastest gear. you would have been spinning around 93 rpm's.. very realistic..

xoxoxoxoLive

Bike Forums (old thread) https://www.bikeforums.net/archive/in.../t-849393.html

TomCat_Ford

That doesn't sound silly at all.

bellinibean

anyone have experience with the cateye products? this one on sale doesn't look too bad.

https://www.rei.com/product/760349/ca...-bike-computer

robble

I have one of the $50 cat eyes from amazon. Works well. Heard bad things about wireless though.

martinus

I have the wireless one on my road bike and my ss commuter ... Not a single problem, with them the last Five years or so... I did buy the wired one first, but the first time I tried to wipe my bike down, it was so frustrating, I took the wired cadence and sold it on cl, and got what I should have bought the first time.

martinus

... I just rode torsv, in that time this thread def heated up.

I really hope the op found the solution he was looking for, and he can enjoy his next ride...

Wanderer

Yo won't go wrong with Cateye computers. And the price sure looks right at REI. Take the time to do a roll out with your tires, to get the circumference set correctly when you get it. It will only take 15 minutes to average three rolls, nonstop.

bellinibean

it's a work in progress martinus, I rode 35 miles Saturday and purposely stayed in the big ring up front (48) in order to see my options with the gear combos. I also stayed in a higher cadence than I'm used to as well. The results were about a 3mph increase in avg speed. Im a masher, so I hurt my quads pretty good, but it's alway acute pain and never lingers into the next day. I'm going to get a cadence sensor to help me.