Originally Posted by
corwin1968
I've spent the last year upgrading an old Trek hybrid and I spent a lot of time running different crankset/cassette combinations and had decided on the Deore 48/36/26 trekking crankset. About a week ago someone mentioned the 44/32/22 Deore and I ran some combinations and it might work even better. I prefer small jumps in my gearing so the smaller chainrings will allow me to have a tighter cassette while still maintaining small jumps, as Sixty Fiver mentioned. That is a huge advantage for me. The crankset is the last major component I need to upgrade so this was timely information for me.
The key to enjoying yourself on a bicycle is having the right gearing range for the suited purpose with the closest steps possible between gears so that the transitions are smoother and so you can maintain a more even cadence.
I run a 22/32/44 with an 11-25 cassette (8 speed) on my XC bike and this offers a pretty much perfect range for what is an all rounder... a bike that is just as at home on the road as it is on the trail. Being that it doesn't carry anything but me and because it is very light, the low gear of 22GI is more than adequate for any climbing it does.
The closely stepped road cassette makes for some wonderful crisp shifting with smaller steps and when I am on the road the chain rarely comes off the 44 tooth ring.
We build touring bicycles in our shop and many people have opted to roll with a compact triple and a closer stepped cassette after realizing it will offer them all the gearing they would ever need... for many, anything over 100 gear inches on a touring bike is a waste.