Originally Posted by
Sceadu498
About the only time I go to the small ring is climbing hills. It originally came with a 11-28 which I converted to a 11-32 when I converted it to a 8 speed. That is maxed out for my rear derrailer. As I have gotten older at times I wish I had a better climbing gear on it. Thought about perhaps putting a MTN bike derrailer with a longer cage so I can get a bigger gear on it,
With a 1 x 8 setup, and looking for a lower climbing gear, you'd end up with one or more of the following: a low-enough climbing gear, a fairly (maybe annoyingly) low high gear, and/or very wide steps for the gears in between.
Cheapest way to get a lower climbing gear without sacrificing your current gearing increments between sprockets: install a smaller inner chainring (look up the specs on your crankset to see how small a ring it will accept).
In any event, if you're hoping to end up with lowest climbing gear possible and don't want to go any lower for your high gear, probably best to stick with your triple.