More than 21 speeds ?
#26
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It just dawned on me; you used to go to the bike co-op a lot, didn't you? Falls City? I was there wendsday and one of the new(to me) guys mentioned that somebody bought that green chopper you made like two years ago and hadn't picked it up. It's JB. You're a true bike artist. My car broke down, so I'm back on a bike and trying to get this trailer built, hoping Nad will help me where it needs welding.
#27
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If your MTB is 21 speeds I will assume it is a 3 X 7 with a 7 speed freewheel. There are 8 speed freewheels but they're not common. I upgraded my old TREK 820 to a 3 X 9 with an swap to a wheelset with a cassette hub in the rear wheel allowing me to run a 9 speed cassette. Even if your rear wheel is a 7 speed cassette it probably wouldn't accept an 8 or 9 speed cassette. I also upgraded my rear derailleur and changed my shifters to match. I went with Shimano Deore XT but you could use one of their less expensive series. Your existing rear derailleur "might" handle a 9 speed but I wouldn't bet on it.
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#28
Uber Goober
A friend has a Da Vinci tandem, and if I remember correctly, it's basically 10 speeds on the back and 4 on the front, so there's 40.
My experience: Mostly use the big ring up front, and only the smaller ring(s) up front towards the low end of the gear range. So really, with a triple on front and 10 speed in back (my Sojourn was that way), there were about 11 gears that I actually used. The others were just there to extend the range, not so much for the extra combinations. Even with that gearing, more often than not, I'd be shifting two gears at a time anyway, as they were really closer together than I needed.
If you get a regular bike going below about 2 mph, you tend to fall over, and above a 53:11 or so range, you really can't push it unless you're going downhill or with a tailwind, so there's not a lot of point to the extra gears.
Now, if you want something different, make it where the left and the right crank rotate at different speeds...
My experience: Mostly use the big ring up front, and only the smaller ring(s) up front towards the low end of the gear range. So really, with a triple on front and 10 speed in back (my Sojourn was that way), there were about 11 gears that I actually used. The others were just there to extend the range, not so much for the extra combinations. Even with that gearing, more often than not, I'd be shifting two gears at a time anyway, as they were really closer together than I needed.
If you get a regular bike going below about 2 mph, you tend to fall over, and above a 53:11 or so range, you really can't push it unless you're going downhill or with a tailwind, so there's not a lot of point to the extra gears.
Now, if you want something different, make it where the left and the right crank rotate at different speeds...
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#32
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still haven't set up a new photohosting site, but I got it done and it seems to work alright. only rode it a few miles and did the local cyclouvia, but now the weather has turned. if I come up with another trike hub I may go ahead and try the "gears all over it" idea. it'd probably be fun, especially if I could find a bunch of the old muscle bike stick shifts to control the various hubs/derailleurs.
so now a 15 speed (that i really like, working out the same set up on one or two other bikes), but it still works as a base for just trying to max out the gear numbers. like a triple chain ring on the front with a tensioner, or finding the sram internal/freewheel hub. the crazy multigear burrito is still a festering idea if i luck across some extra parts.
#33
Cycleway town
It's possible to get four on the front, twelve on the back, and four in a hub. That gives you 192 gears. But you could times that by four, using a tandem, by using a leading four. The stoker's pedal arms would have to be removed, as the rear crank would turn out of sync. Still, that'd be 768 speeds. More if you can get more in the hub, but i don't know of one that'll go in a cassette carrying hub, perhaps the old Sturmey 5-speed goes in the generic shell. Maybe a cassette could be adapted onto an Alfine 11-speed. You'd be looking at the possibility of circa 2,000 gears.
My tandem has the 'armless crank' on the rear, but the leading crank is a single so no added gearing. In fact it's just 2x10 speed, as making a high number of gears wasn't on my agenda. However, i have a final drive on it, making those 2x10 gears longer than the tooth count suggests. This as the front ring is 38t and it pulls the 30t granny ring on the rear triple.
I also have a final drive on my recumbent trike, enabling me to have a small chainring up front. That has both hub and cassette, but no additional gears up front. And an outboard 250w motor pulling the rear chain, so the motor uses all the gears (13-34t cassette plus 144% 3-speed hub)
The most gears i ever had was 81, using a 9-speed cassette on a 3-speed hub, with a triple up front.
My tandem has the 'armless crank' on the rear, but the leading crank is a single so no added gearing. In fact it's just 2x10 speed, as making a high number of gears wasn't on my agenda. However, i have a final drive on it, making those 2x10 gears longer than the tooth count suggests. This as the front ring is 38t and it pulls the 30t granny ring on the rear triple.
I also have a final drive on my recumbent trike, enabling me to have a small chainring up front. That has both hub and cassette, but no additional gears up front. And an outboard 250w motor pulling the rear chain, so the motor uses all the gears (13-34t cassette plus 144% 3-speed hub)
The most gears i ever had was 81, using a 9-speed cassette on a 3-speed hub, with a triple up front.
#34
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a different bike, but i have a pic of it i can get to, and it has the start of the same set up.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater
3sp trike hub where the two chains meet, and a 5sp shimano front freewheel cluster on the wheel. not considering possible gear duplication, it's a 15sp. i've put this setup on three of my cruisers, including my favorite at the moment.
if the goal was to end up with as many gears as possible, there's a 5 speed version of the trike hub (or the most i've seen anyway, could be one with more), and i could go with a wheel made to take one of those 11speed clusters (not sure of smooth shifting of the trike hub if the cluster isn't somewhat "fixed" like the shimano cluster is) on a sram dual drive hub, if it would take an 11, might be limited to 9. i could also add a triple ring crankset with a tensioner at the hub.
but like i said before, the most gears wasn't the actual goal. but if i ended up with the parts (like i lucked into an 11speed wheel over the summer) and an idea for probaly a crazy burrito bike, i might try it.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater
3sp trike hub where the two chains meet, and a 5sp shimano front freewheel cluster on the wheel. not considering possible gear duplication, it's a 15sp. i've put this setup on three of my cruisers, including my favorite at the moment.
if the goal was to end up with as many gears as possible, there's a 5 speed version of the trike hub (or the most i've seen anyway, could be one with more), and i could go with a wheel made to take one of those 11speed clusters (not sure of smooth shifting of the trike hub if the cluster isn't somewhat "fixed" like the shimano cluster is) on a sram dual drive hub, if it would take an 11, might be limited to 9. i could also add a triple ring crankset with a tensioner at the hub.
but like i said before, the most gears wasn't the actual goal. but if i ended up with the parts (like i lucked into an 11speed wheel over the summer) and an idea for probaly a crazy burrito bike, i might try it.
#36
Banned
Math time
hint : its less
...
#37
Full Member
Hum, modified Trek R200 recumbent. Triple crank up front, 5 speed freewheel under the seat, Sachs 3x8 on the rear = 360 gear combos. Of course the more it takes to achieve those combos and high gears, the heavier the bike will be and that will just slow you down.
More gears doesn't necessarily mean higher or lower gears. It just means more gears.
If your goal is to go faster, use a larger drive ring in the front, a smaller cog in the back and less blubber on the middle.
More gears doesn't necessarily mean higher or lower gears. It just means more gears.
If your goal is to go faster, use a larger drive ring in the front, a smaller cog in the back and less blubber on the middle.
#38
Junior Member
I have a neat adapter that bolts under my small ring (74mm) and allows me to bolt on another small ring (58mm). I have 20 24 36 48 on the crank and a 13 34 7-speed cassette. This is on a vintage mountain bike setup for touring. All the gears I'll ever need.
#39
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~2 years on from the initial inquiry, but it's an eternal question. Pinion 18-speed gearbox driving a Rohloff 14-speed hub...with belt drive, if you want.
#42
Banned
My 3 by 3 by 3 speed was 27 speeds 3 to 3rd power.
or 3 cubed
3 cogs on a 3 speed hub & triple crank..
bike was what I made up in about 1957..
...
or 3 cubed
3 cogs on a 3 speed hub & triple crank..
bike was what I made up in about 1957..
...
Last edited by fietsbob; 06-30-20 at 05:38 PM.