Originally Posted by cuffydog
One other thing: Based on what has been written here so far, I went back and looked at the specs for the Breezer range bikes and the Fuji Crosstowns (1.0 and 2.0). The Breezer Greenway (the less expensive) has an 11-30 cogset, and the Liberty goes to 32. Both Crosstowns have 32. The Fuji 1.0 is about $500, has Deore components, and weighs in at 32lb with fenders and suspension. If I got rid of the front suspension and added a fairly light fork, the bike might weigh about 2lbs less, right? I'm not sure how much that would cost, but if it's $200, the bike is about $300 less than the Liberty and a little lighter. But would it do as well on the hills with the trekking crankset? How does 28/32 (the Fuji) compare with 22/30 (the Breezer Greenway)?
The other wrinkle here is that I am hoping my daughter, who is daunted by our terrain here) will also use the bike to ride to school/afterschool when I'm not using it. So I want to make it as easy to pedal as possible.
Thanks!
A 22/30 will get you 5.3 mph at 90 rpm whereas a 28/32 will get you 6.2 mph at the same rpm (assuming 700x35 tires). Not a huge difference but one that will most certainly be noticeable. It all comes down to just how steep/long of hills you are talking about. If you would never be going this slow, then the gearing will not make a difference. If you will be going this slow or slower, then you'll probably like having the MTB gearing instead of the trekking set. Have you cycled on these same roads with your road bike? How is it geared? How do you do with that gearing? How does your daughter do?