Originally Posted by
ryanwood
Today I spent an hour and a half cleaning the drive train on my 2x9 cross check and I am can't take it any more. This is the second week in a row that I had to pull my chain and cassette in order to clean all of the sand, salt, and gunk out. I am heading to the LBS tomorrow morning to pick up some spacers, a cog, and a chain and I am going to swap tomorrow night
I told myself that I wasn't going to jump on the single speed bandwagon, I enjoy having my gears back there always ready to help me out, but apparently the city had decided that instead of plowing the streets here, they are just going to spread thousands of pounds of sand and salt everywhere. Combine that with snow storms and temps just below freezing makes a disgusting mess in my drive train.
I have a very hilly 10 mile commute and use every single gear combo available, but I just can't take the maintenance anymore.
Anybody have any advice for me before I make the plunge?
I too commute daily and suffer the road gunk problem, I am going to try the internal 8 speed Shimano hub with a single chain ring up front. Good fenders help. I also clean the chain once a week during the winter, this you have to do. I also converted to disc brakes, they make a huge difference in braking performance. Another thing you could do is go back to a 7 or 8 speed set up as the spacing is wider and won't gunk up as much.
I also have built up a single speed mountain bike 29" wheel and am having trouble finding the right gear combination due to the 29" wheel, anyone have any suggestions there. Right now I am running a 32X22 and it just seem a little to big of a gear for the pacific Northwest trails