acorn_user

p.s. that Sugino chainset is an XD. They have the same crank as the Stronglight Impact. Only the rings are different.

coddy

Spa Cycles.....I've just received my ortliebs/tubus tara from Spa this morning, Dave.

Like you say, it will be worth loading up the bricks for a training run and seeing how it copes. (I'm not too far from the Lakes) I just don't fancy having to get off and start pushing when on tour due to unsuitable gearing.

The stronglight (aka Sugino) is £48 at Spa and the recommended Stronglight JP400 bottom bracket £10 in steel and £12 in Aluminium. Going down that line is a fairly cheap option if necessary.


Bottom brackets? Which is the better option for touring?(steel or aluminium). Are the Shimano UN 53/73 any better with regards to performance and reliability?

Thanks for all the useful advise so far. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

HillRider

It doesn't matter as the important part, the spindle, is steel. Al cups are lighter and more expensive but just as suitable. I'd avoid Ti bottom brackets both for the cost and most manufacturer's weight limit.

All of the Shimano cartridge bottom brackets (UN 52/53/72/73) are very dependable, reasonably priced and durable. The 72/73 are a bit lighter than the 52/53.

geo8rge

There are two things to consider:
1) The range of gears from low to high.
2) The size of the steps.

If you are worried about hill climbing get an 'alpine' cassette like Shimano Mega Range. Then select a single chainring that works for you, and ditch the front derailer and the other gears. I personally think that having too many gears makes the bike complicated, hard to maintain, and less enjoyable. On the other hand if by touring you mean you will be carrying 100lb of stuff up and down hills constantly over rough roads, you might need a much lower low gear.

Bekologist

Sugino + new bottom bracket.......good way to go..sugino is available in steel rings for ultimate in duro.

un50's from sghimano are solid axle, un70's are hollow axle. can't gauge which is stronger....

30 up front and 34 in back is not THAT low for loaded touring...... i'd go down to a 24 or 26 front/11-34 rear. absolutely like you were thinking....

acorn_user

hello again.
£50 for the impact is a great price. you might also try settle cycles. i have used both spa and settle, and they are great! i also like all terrain cycles.
stronglight recommend the jp400 b/b, but then, they would! as the chainset is really japanese, it use the JIS square taper standard, as opposed to the european iso standard (not mostly stronglight, miche and campagnolo). this means that you can use any shimano bottom bracket (many of which are in fact made by tange). this is what spa recommended me to do for my wifes bike. she has a shimano un-72 (20£). the jp400 is less, but the alu version is only a little more money, and is much lighter. unfortunately, she has not yet ridden the bike to destruction, so i cannot say what the reliability is like!
dave

grolby

This is a matter of opinion. I would never recommend this kind of set up for touring. It is appropriate for commuting, but a touring cyclist needs the range of gears provided by a triple (unless they're willing to sacrifice a huge portion of their top end - but who wants their highest gear to be 50 inches?). A front derailer and three chainrings represent little meaningful difference in maintenance compared to a bicycle without them.

The recommendation for an alpine cassette (11, 12 or 13-34) is solid, however.

HillRider

Your first two points are correct. Your second paragraph is poor advice.

A single chain ring with a mega-range cassette guarantees an very limited range of gears and big steps between them. Multiple chainrings and front derailleurs have a a very useful purpose. Doing without them is foolish.

grolby

Not necessarily the case. Shimano's 11-34 MegaRange 7-speed freewheel has sizes of 11-13-15-18-21-24-34.This gives a good range of closely spaced gears, with a bail-out gear at the bottom for the serious hills. Unfortunately, the cassettes aren't as intelligently spaced. The 7-speed MegaRange cassette is more like 11-13-16-20-24-29-34, which really wouldn't be a good match with a single chainring in front.

acorn_user

just drove down hartside pass today. i recommend you try it. if you can get up that, laden or unladen, you needn't worry too much about gears. for comparison, i did the coast to coast route up hartside with 28 front -34 rear, and made it up reasonably easily, albeit quite slowly
dave

coddy

Hartside Pass.....aye alright then, Dave. I'm game for a laff.

The next window of opportunity will see Hartside Pass in the bag alongside Honister and Newlands. The bonus with this one is that splendid looking cafe at the top. Am I allowed to stop at the top for a bacon butty and a cuppa tea..?

https://www.visitcumbria.com/pen/hartside.htm

Here's a snippet on the replacing the inner ring option found on CTC. They confirm there is no problem fitting the 26T inner ring to my existing chainset. It does seem a big gap though between the 42 middle and 26 inner.

https://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3808

The Stronglight Impact is down to £45.50 at https://www.gearshift.co.uk It's a 26/36/48. They also do the sugino XD500 175mm 28/38/48 at £48.75 . Not sure what the chain rings are like though. The Impact has Stronglight rings on the photo.

acorn_user

i would choose the correct crank length over the badge in this case! i'm sure someone could point you to a crank length calculator.

coddy

Thanks Dave. I make it 169.88mm. (inside leg 31inch)

https://www.nettally.com/palmk/Crankset.html

acorn_user

well then? how did it go? have you decided that you need a lower gear? there aren't all that many more challenging climbs in the uk (although i guess all of them are in reach of the lakes!), so if you can manage hartside, you should be ok. unless you wanted to try winnats pass between castleton and chapel

coddy

Hartside Pass...? Got any other bright idea's Dave...!!

Back at 1am this morning after doing the C2C in 28hrs fully loaded (front and rear panniers). Set off at Mon 12:05hrs from Whitehaven, topping out at Hartside (pushing on occasions after Renwick) at sunset (cafe shut) and wild camped in the long grass by the roadside leading to Leadgate (near Garrigill). Up just before sunrise before the midges but despite my haste the little b#ggers had a meatfest just before departure at 0630hrs. The brakes worked overtime on the descent to Garrigill and I managed to slip into the post office before it opened to replenish the water supplies. Absolutley gagging by then. Thank you ladies. Got chatting to the paper lady who said there had been quite a few cyclists who came a cropper on the gravel when descending into the village. I had to get off and push out a fair few times on the hills that followed especially the one after Stanhope but made up for it by having a full english breaky at the cafe atop of the Wakerley Way. Bombed it down to Consett and enjoyed the cycle paths to the outskirts of Newcastle. The route onwards to Tynemouth was tedious to follow (and full of broken glass) but finished at 16:00hrs. I had planned to follow the Reivers route back to arrive in Whitehaven tomorrow but I was too cream crackered and it had started to throw it down. Had some din dins in the Grand Hotel on the cliffs and pedalled along the A1058 to Newcastle to catch the train back. What an experience the A1058 was. It was like a bl##din motorway..!! The thinking was to hurtle it down there to allow time for a connection from Carlisle. Arrived in Whitehaven at 11pm last night after a drunk had delayed things en route and was thrown off the train at Wigton.

Highlights: Cheered out of Keswick by a group of lads. Met them on top of Whinlatter and they thought I was some sort of wierdo pedalling up with all the panniers. One of them had company in the way of a young inflatable lady strapped to the rear of his bike. ..... If I'm a wierdo then..... . They were stopping at Keswick and heading for Alston the day after.

Gearing: The inner 30 ring wasn't really suitable. In the majority of situations it was fine but on the very steep hills it was a case of having to get off due to a combination of gearing and fatigue. I've ordered a 26 inner ring and will give that a try. If it doesn't work I'm going for the Stronglight chainset. I'll probably still have to push it ever so often but it'll make things easier.

Thanks for the Hartside idea, Dave. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience .... ermmm...I think.... and met up with some nice people along the way.

This site >>> slopes of Europe <<< might be of interest.