Honkylips

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I'm a newb to this. Been MTBing for a few years, but never had a road bike. I found a great deal on a Wabi Lightning on Craigslist, but I want to change the gearing. It has a 42 tooth chain ring, and the flip flop hub has a 17 tooth fixed gear and a 18 tooth freewheel. I've been riding it fixed and the gearing works pretty well here as I do have hills to deal with.

I'd like to try a higher gear ratio, maybe a 16 rear. I have no idea how to change the gearing on either side of the hub and couldn't find anything searching. Is there a link or a tutorial that shows the how-to's?

europa

Have a look at the side with the fixed cog. You should have a locking ring done up tight against the cog. You need a special tool to remove that locking ring. NOTE: The locking ring is reverse threaded ie, you have to turn it clockwise to remove it. Once you've removed the locking ring, you use a chain whip to remove the cog itself which you undo in the normal direction (ie, anti-clockwise). The cog should be really tight seeing you've been riding the bike.

Installation is the reverse. Just make sure you clean the threads and grease them and that both the cog and the lock ring are done up very tight. The grease makes the cog/lock ring turn easily and thus can be tightened properly, but it also prevents to steel cog binding to the ally hub.

Buy the tools needed, they aren't expensive and you'll use them a lot.

Honkylips

Thank you. Very helpful. What about the free wheel side?

JohnDThompson 

For the freewheel side, you'll need a freewheel remover tool. These are specific to the type of freewheel you have installed. What freewheel do you have?

Honkylips

From the Wabi website.....
Deluxe 6 pawl 1 speed freewheel
With 3 different pairs of
pawls to engage, the
engagement is much
quicker than with the
standard 1 speed
freewheel. Also, the
bearing and races design is
more precise.
Compatible with all
English/ISO Standard 1.37"
x 24 tpi hubs, and 3/32" or
1/8" chains. Available in
16T- 18T sizes. Black finish.

MNTC

42/17-18 is pretty low. I think you would have positive results with a 15 or 16T fixed cog and/or a 16 or 17T freewheel. (Generally you can gear lower on an SS since you don't have to worry about spinning out on descents)

stilltooslow

FWIW, I'd change the front chainring first. 42 is too low for the road in general, and a 45 or 46 may be fine with the rear cogs you already have. Chainrings are inexpensive and easy to find, and you will need your BCD (bolt center diameter) in order to specify (either a 110, 130, or maybe the track standard 144).

Honkylips

Yeah, the guy who bought the bike was an older dude and he set it up with really low gears. I have a lot of hills around here, and it makes getting up them easier, but I'd really like a bit more top end and be able to descend quicker. My chainring appears to be 144 BCD, per Wabi's website. I assume changing that is a simple bolt on affair, so maybe I'll look into that option.

Thanks for the help, I know this is elementary stuff for most.

stilltooslow

Yup. The only issue you may have regardless of which one you change, is that you may need a longer chain to accommodate. Chains are also generally inexpensive and easy to install, but you'll need a small chain tool to set the length, and if you need a shorter chain than all you'll need to do is shorten the one you have.

JohnDThompson 

Does it look like this?



If so, a standard 4-prong remover ought to work:

Honkylips

Yup, looks just like that guy. If I want to play around with gear ratios, am I safe to assume that by changing the rear cog, I'm less likely to need a different length chain versus changing the chainring?

IAmSam

Yeah, you'd think so, but then you get goofy advice like this right here: In case you had not figured it out already, *****lips - chainrings are costlier than cogs; and 42/16 (about 70 g/i, affected slightly by differences in tires & cranks) is a great all-around gearing... since your thread changed from asking how to change-out your cog/freewheel to a discussion on gear ratios, you should look at:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...imer-for-Newbs

stilltooslow

Possibly, but sometimes even a two tooth difference will necessitate a different length, depending upon how much chain you already have. For a quick visual, if your rear wheel is far into the frame end (very close to the seat tube), then you might be OK. If not, then you just may need to shorten the chain by a link or two.

That said, you can get a decent chain for $15, so I'd still opt for going with a larger chainring, say a 46.

Xgecko

freewheels, in order of Quality
ACS Crossfire
Excess
Shimano
GT Ratchet
Halo
ACS Crossfire Pro
White Industries

Do not buy a DICTA or an ACS Claws under any circumstances
the Crossfire freewheel's require a proprietary tool the rest will work with a common 4 tooth freewheel tool

unless you know exactly what gear you want and plan on running a freewheel full time White Industries freewheels are really expensive though very very nice (I love mine).