I would like to add some low gearing to the road bike.... With it's 53/43 crank, and the fact it's Raleigh threaded...

Wondering if one of those big capacity freewheels might work... I saw a 6 speed 14-34 tooth one available from a local shop for under $20, but would it work. My junk box has a high capacity derailleur in it, so I am not concerned there.....

Buy it and try it. You'll need a longer chain.

The rear derailleur, the chain length are important.

Have you tried out a gearing calculator? This is an oldie, but its what I use: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Gear Calculator
That will let you know if the change is enough to make a difference.

The chainline may change a big so you may have to adjust the front derailleur too.

Best advice, buy it and try it. Find out if the freewheel's spacing is standard (needs a 126 mm OLD and it can use a 5-speed chain) or ultra (can be used in a 120 mm frame and needs a 6, 7, or 8 speed chain.)

I put a mountain bike freewheel and derailleur on my Raleigh (80s - standard english threading). It is easy to do and I love being able to spin up the hills. I also put a triple on with a cartridge bottom bracket.

I don't get it. Why does Raleigh threading prevent changing the chainrings? Did I misunderstand something?

One issue is that the crank and rings is a single unit, which limits one to square taper, there are not that many square taper choices anymore. I think Shimano has one left, the FC2303, which would be nice, but doesn't fit the style of this bike. When I think of all the stuff I would like to do with it, I wonder about starting over with a newer bike.....

If you want to go the crankset route, you can get a Sugino Alpina 2 500d that's a 50/34, and I know Velo Orange sells a 48/34. They're both square tapers, and I think would work well on a C&V.

There are lots and lots of used square taper cranksets out there.

New update:

The Fork is failing on the Norco, funny thing is suspension forks are designed for 135lb riders, not 235lb riders. It's a square taper 24/34/42, so what I am going to do, is pull that crank off, slap it on the road bike and use just the 42/34 because I don't think I need enough grunt for a 24 and I don't need to then swap the FD out. It should all be good, thanks to friction DT shifting......

When I get working again, I'll get a new fixed fork for the MTB and a new crank, more options for it...

I think you'll need to take links out of the chain - 42 is a LOT smaller than 53 for a big ring.

Do you ever use the big ring on that Raleigh? Do you want to have a crankset without a big gear on a road bike?

Actually, I don't use the big ring, we have lots of hills around here, and I need the bottom end more then the top end. Once I get working again, I'll repair the Norco and probably retire the Raleigh to trainer use.....

An Alpine block and a long cage derailleur should fix the gearing issue although they do work better with a half step because of the rather wide gear steps.

The problem Sixty, with the wonderful new economy, and the nations biggest export being jobs, I have only worked 4 months in the last 2 years, money is so tight it's not funny anymore. The Norco's fork probably just needs new elastomers, whether I can find them for a 10 year old fork or not, is debatable. So I will jury-rig this to work temporarily until I can find work again, it probably will not work and I will probably be out of luck, but, I'll try.

This being in your early 50's when your too old to hire, and too young to retire is for the birds.

I'll do some gear math here.

Can you afford the postage from Alberta ?

If not... I'll cover it too.

The Shimano 6 speed mega range freewheel actually is pretty closely spaced for the first 5 cogs (14,16,18,21,24,34). It's the large cog that has a huge jump. I basically look at them as a 5 speed block with a bailout.

All the Shimano megarange cassettes are like this... the old Alpine blocks have wider spaced steps between the cogs.

I do like the megarange for their close main spacing and bailout.

I see now. I was not seeing the difference between alpine and mega range.

We live in a golden age here where it is not hard to find a derailleur that can handle the excessive range a 43/53 plus an Alpine or megarange freewheel / cassette presents... back in the days of half step / granny there were only a few derailleurs that could handle this.

My Garlatti has a half step with no granny gear and a 14-32 so a mid cage derailleur handles things quite well... my P20 has a 40/53 and can run an 11-34 with a SRAM X5 but is derailleur but is currently set up with an 11-28 7 speed with closer steps.

It seems mountain bike componentry has been a boon to tourers (and aging guys like me who can't push huge gears anymore).

What's a half step?

Yeah I can justify my jury-rig by putting the rear rack on the Raleigh.... I did the change this morning, and it seems to be working okay, had to swap out the FD for one with about 5mm wider swing, but I had the part in the junk box. It funny the rear end of the transmission is suntour and the front end is Shimano, but I don't really care..... I need to give it a test run this afternoon. The misses and the little one are out, so if I don't wait too long, I can leave for a ride, before they get back The chain is a little longer then I would like, but it's okay for now. I would need to use the 24 tooth ring before it would cause issues, but I am not planning on doing so. I may set the L screw to disable it, just so I don't go down there.

I think the problem is the bicycle manufacturers and component manufacturers think that if you want drop bars, your are a TdF wannabe. Really the perfect crank for most of us, would probably be a 48/38/28, giving you a nice low bailout, but still a decent top end. Well I do want to check this out, this afternoon.....

If it's under $20, yeah probably....

Use your disadvantage (lack of work) to your advantage (been there, done that). Be resourceful, find deals and turn them, build your own bike fund. The ability to buy and sell deals in the middle of the day when most people are stuck at a J O B can be a sizable advantage.

I find sellable stuff every day, you can too, once you get a knack for spotting them and pounce!

A lesson I learned from Miami Jim many years ago: "Let bikes pay for bikes".

Ratio change in front = 1/2 of the average ratio change in back.

The classic examples are 49-46/14-16-18-20-23, 52-48/14-16-19-22-26, 52-47/14-17-20-24-28.

I use this concept on my Peugeot (45-42/13-15-17-20-23-26) and 1960 Capo (49-46/14-16-18-21-24-26).

It's a great way to go, but many modern spiders are too thick for a 3-tooth chainring drop.