accorn

Hey - I am considering getting a 7 speed cruiser for shopping with a child trailer. I like the simplicity of it, with lower gears I feel like I can master it better.
But I live in a very hilly area so I was wondering how well a 7 speed can handle hills?

Thanks,
accorn

I-Like-To-Bike

The bike can handle the hills just fine; the relevant question is can you? This forum is filled with posts from people who enjoy tackling hills on fixed geared bikes. A 7 speed cruiser is certainly the equal or better for handling hills. if the low gear isn't low enough, swap out front and/ or rear sprockets till you are satisfied.

My 7 speed cruiser is below:

BA Commuter

I have an 8 speed Shimano Nexus IGH and we have plenty of hills where I live. I can usually ascend up most fairly easiliy in 2nd or 3rd gear unless I'm tired. I guess that's why they put a first gear on them...

Bill Kapaun

It kind of depends on what gears come with the bike and the steepness of the hills.
Adding the trailer makes a huge difference. You are going to need the capability of taking off mid hill, pulling the trailer.
Do you currently have a bike? IF SO, are you currently pulling a trailer?

Personally, I don't think 7 is enough, if you also plan on using the bike without the trailer. The hills are the difference.

envane

Do you currently have a bike and trailer? Take it up some hills and find out what gear you use, then use Sheldon's gear calculator ( https://sheldonbrown.com/gears/ ) to find what the gain ratio is, then figure out if the 7-speed's low gear is low enough. You can adjust the gearing on an internal to some extent by switching out the front chainring too. You'll have a low top speed, but for utility cycling that is not much of an issue.

Nightshade

A smaller than what comes with the bike chainring will move all 7 gear down to the cellar just
enough to make those last two gears really useful and the bottom two gears stump pullers!

I'd suggest a 32 or 23 tooth front chain ring with the 32 being the better choice. Don't use
anything with more teeth at the front if you want to wring out all the benefits of this
swap.

accorn

This is the bike I was looking at:

https://www.target.com/Forge-Tonga-Be...%20bike&page=1

We have all kinds of hills around here - really steep ones with over 30 degree inclines (which I'll probably have to walk up) and also more gradual and long inclines, etc.

I'd prefer not to have to adjust the sprockets myself (at least yet) if I can avoid that.

So would you guys think that bike's not good, then (with a trailer and given the hills around here)? I should look for a bike with many more gears?

ETA: I don't have any bike right now, so can't test it.

cyberpep

Hi accorn,
You have some pretty steep hills. The real question is can you get that bike up the hills? Any bike will go up a hill as long as you have enough power. I'm not sure that this bike would be my first choice.
What you need to do is watch other cyclists in the area to see what they are riding. In particular look for cyclists who are simular to your degree of ability/conditioning and see what they are riding. Even better chase them down and ask them if they like their bike or would prefer a different bike. I don't know many cyclists who don't want to talk about bikes, maybe you can even score a test ride.
Happy cycling!

supton

I dunno--that bike doesn't look to me like a good hill climber. If it were me, I'd think about borrowing someone's bike, or buying an even cheaper used bike, to try out before truly investing. New bikes depreciate fast, while used ones depreciate a bit slower -- so, buying a used something (for a reasonable amount) shouldn't cost too much, if you have to trade around a bit to find the right kind.

I'm sorta stuck in the same situation, want to pull a trailer but good sized hills. At the moment I'm using a beat up MTB. Deep enough gearing but it still leaves something to be desired. I would not want to try the hills without deep gearing, or without good/great brakes, which has kept me (so far) from trying out my road bike.

accorn

I've seen mostly mountain bikes around here - but I think that is because that is what is sold at walmart . It's a pretty working class town.

I guess one thing I don't know is the difference between a mountain bike with 21 gears versus a 7 speed bike. Does the mountain bike have lower gears than the 7 speed that can handle steeper hills, or does it just have more gears for higher speeds but can't handle hills any better?

huhenio

Any geared bike will do.