ahson

For some reason, my newly acquired '85 Miyata Ninety 12 gears is kind of slow compared to my '96 Raleigh ATB 18 gears. Did a test with both of my bikes in the same trail that I ride often, with my Raleigh ATB, I have no problem at all for doing any uphill in the trail. Though I had a hard time going uphill with the Miyata. I am not sure am I expecting too much on the vintage road bike but I always thought the vintage Miyata should be much faster than a ATB regardless.

I spinned the wheels on the Miyata and they spin freely. What's the problem of my bike?

due ruote 

Do you mean a Miyata 912? I'd save that for the road, and use your mtb for the trail.

prof2k

It could be a number of things. Are the tires properly inflated? Road bike tires are usually high pressure, if they are under inflated the bike will feel really sluggish.

ahson

Can some technical person tell me if a hub can slow down my bike? And how can I tell if my hub is no good? I have no clue why is my road bike isn't doing better than my ATB.

ahson

Mine is a Miyata Ninety, an entry level road bike. Btw the trail I go to is a paved one, so the road bike shouldn't have any problem with it. I inflated my tires to the recommended PSI.

mkeller234

You should check to adjustment of the cones on on your hubs. If they are too tight they could be creating problems.
You can check it by pulling your wheels off and trying to spin the axle with your fingers. It should feel smooth and free but not loose. If it feels tight and notchy then you should adjust the cones. You could go a step further and replace the bearings and grease too.

Here is a great how-to on cone adjustment:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html

sonatageek

What kind of tires are you using?

bikegeekmn

Strange, I always thought miyatas were much quicker than raleighs.Drink a red bull ,grit your teeth,ride and try to punish that old steel into going faster, it will.If your raleigh is still faster sell it to someone on BF or race it it must be some kind of quick.No ,seriously ,there is something amiss for sure . There's no way everything is in place correctly It could be the bike or operator(no offence).Road bikes ,even older ones ,are going to be much quicker on pavement even with slick tires. Look it all over again it could be something easy to overlook .Make sure your brake pads are'nt rubbing the rim ,stuff like that.

Myrr21

Are you timing yourself, or just going by feel? As LeMond said, "it never gets easier; you just go faster".

sailorbenjamin

How steep is the hill? What gear ratios are you using?

ahson

27 x 1 1/4 - slick

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I find my Miyata 110 sluggish compared to my Raleigh Super Course....I know a large part of it is the wheels in my case. The Raleigh wears new Sun CR-18 hoops while the Miyata is rocking chromed steel.

Also check the rear wheel and make sure its not rubbing on a chainstay. That will slow ya down in a big way.


also the 90 is Hi-ten Gaspipe I beleive...gonna be a good deal heavier than even a 110.

prof2k

Oh, if it's a miyata 90 (sorry I thought before that you meant it was a 912) there's a good chance that raleigh will be quicker. The miyata 90 was a comfort/fitness bike more than a real road bike with a lot of heavy bits and relaxed angles. I imagine there's a good chance that everything on the Raleigh is lighter and stiffer than the miyata.

wrk101

Not over the internet. You need to take it to a bike shop.

JunkYardBike

+1 Read your other thread in the valuations subforum, and as you and others theorize, your ATB has much lower gearing, which will feel 'easier' up hills. On a flat, your Miyata should outperform the ATB, but as pointed out in your other thread, it's a good road bike for basic transportation - it's not a race bike.

dit

All of my bikes feel slow. It surely couldn't be the engine.

ahson

Is there anything I can do to improve it such as changing the freewheel/cassette to have better gearing even for uphills?

Whit51 

If there's nothing wrong mechanically and if the tires are inflated properly and not rubbing the frame or brake pads, you could consider a shimano freewheel with a 34 tooth cog. This would also require a rear derailleur that could handle such a large cog. Jenson USA and Cambria bike sometimes have a deore rd in the $20 range. If you decide to upgrade to a lighter frame someday, you could transfer these components.

Another option is try riding it for a month or so as is. I've left some of my old road bikes with their original freewheels and its possible to get used to the steeper gearing. The Miyata 90 is a good bike,low end or not.

JunkYardBike

Honestly, unless you have the parts laying around, I wouldn't upgrade that to a triple drivetrain. It'll cost you more than you paid for the bike, probably.

The most important thing to work on is your legs!

Of course, I'm making the assumption here that you're relatively new to cycling. I run triple cranks because 1) my fitness level isn't great, 2) there are some pretty nasty and steep hills here in NWNJ, and 3) on a long ride (60+ miles) I like having the granny ring to get up the hills back to my home. I can ride a traditional 52/42 with 28T low cog in the rear around here for maybe 30-40 miles, but I'm toast after such a ride (I'm not really a fitness freak, so I don't generally ride hard).

So...where are you riding? Are there many difficult hills? If so, a bike setup with a triple crankset may be useful for you. If not, increasing your fitness and endurance a bit will help. Mashing gears on your road bike while standing might hurt more, but it will get you up the hill faster than a mountain bike in its lowest gear. Faster doesn't always correlate directly with easier.

If you do decide you want a triple, I'd suggest finding a bike already equipped with one (with a 28T low front chainring and at least a 28T low rear cog, but larger would help).

jgedwa

I would guess gearing differences are contributing. And more specifically, that you are making better use of one gearing set-up than the other. Maybe experiment a bit more with how you are selecting gears on the hybrid.

jim

trueno92

I would say it's the gearing. If the wheels spin freely, check them for play inthe bearings. Also make sure the skewers arn't clamped down too tightly. Hold the wheel where the brake pads would clamp down and pull the wheel toward the brake pads, laterally.

When I went from my 6speed to an 8 speed cassette and until I could take advantage of the closer, race, gearing (12-21) the bike was sedated.

ahson

I looked at Amazon and found the Shimano MF-ZH36 6spd 14-34 Freewheel. However I realized there aren't too many rear derailleur can take 34t rear cog.


Also, can my current 6 speed cog setup takes a 7 speed freewheel and maybe improve the uphill situation?