Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Touring
Reload this Page >

Cassettes - Need advice please

Notices
Touring Have a dream to ride a bike across your state, across the country, or around the world? Self-contained or fully supported? Trade ideas, adventures, and more in our bicycle touring forum.

Cassettes - Need advice please

Old 12-25-17, 05:40 PM
  #1  
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 5
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Cassettes - Need advice please

What size cassettes do you use for touring? My Trek 520 is equipped with the standard 11-32 9 Speed. I am considering going 11-42 10 Speed. The front is 48/36/26. Any comments please?
Morriep is offline  
Old 12-25-17, 05:59 PM
  #2  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Tucker, GA USA
Posts: 133
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 19 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I am sure you'll get lots of different responses. I tour on a 1999 Cannondale T500 which I have changed to a 11-34 rear and a 50-39-24 front. What you need will depend on your own physical condition. For me I am 65 and overweight at 215 lbs so a nice low gear is required.
mrveloman is offline  
Old 12-25-17, 07:27 PM
  #3  
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 5
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Thanks for the input
Morriep is offline  
Old 12-25-17, 08:29 PM
  #4  
Senior Member
 
chrisx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 924
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 406 Post(s)
Liked 9 Times in 9 Posts
Originally Posted by Morriep
What size cassettes do you use for touring? My Trek 520 is equipped with the standard 11-32 9 Speed. I am considering going 11-42 10 Speed. The front is 48/36/26. Any comments please?
what derailleur do you have?
Will it work with an 11-42?
Do you know how to fix it so that it dies work?
chrisx is offline  
Old 12-25-17, 09:15 PM
  #5  
Senior Member
 
robow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,861
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 595 Post(s)
Liked 278 Times in 189 Posts
I like an 11-34, any larger of a spread and I find myself constantly looking for that in-between right gear that's not there. If that 26 x 34 isn't low enough for you, you can easily and inexpensively replace that 26 cog in the front with a 24.
robow is offline  
Old 12-25-17, 10:00 PM
  #6  
Sunshine
 
mstateglfr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 16,538

Bikes: '18 class built steel roadbike, '19 Fairlight Secan, '88 Schwinn Premis , Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V4, '89 Novara Trionfo

Mentioned: 123 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10902 Post(s)
Liked 7,393 Times in 4,148 Posts
Originally Posted by Morriep
What size cassettes do you use for touring? My Trek 520 is equipped with the standard 11-32 9 Speed. I am considering going 11-42 10 Speed. The front is 48/36/26. Any comments please?
10 tooth change?...thats a HUGE difference! As mentioned, can your drivetrain even handle it?

With 32mm tires-
- your current granny is 21.88 gear inches.
- your proposed granny is 16.74 gear inches.

If you just got a 24t inner chain ring, you would have 20.26 gear inches. Thats $20 and a 10min change.
If you got a 24t ring and a 34t cassette, you would have 19.18 gear inches. Thats $40 and a 20min change.

Just mention these options since they almost certainly wpuld work woth your current drivetrain and a 19.18GI is really low. You sure it wouldnt be low enough for you?
mstateglfr is offline  
Old 12-25-17, 11:22 PM
  #7  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Bay Area, Calif.
Posts: 7,239
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 659 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times in 6 Posts
Your current low gear of 22" is already quite low. We don't know your fitness level, what grades you plan on climbing, or how much gear weight you're carrying. How have you determined that you need such a reduction in your lowest gear?
prathmann is offline  
Old 12-25-17, 11:28 PM
  #8  
Senior Member
 
saddlesores's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Thailand..........Nakhon Nowhere
Posts: 3,652

Bikes: inferior steel....and....noodly aluminium

Mentioned: 24 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1053 Post(s)
Liked 339 Times in 228 Posts
you want to convert to 10-speed?
does that mean new deraillers and shifters and cassette and chain?

more cost effective to stick with 9-speed.
first off, how much gear do you carry, and
in what terrain? do you need super-low gears?
do you ever use the high end?

check your RD? what's the max cassette cog,
and the max capacity?

you might consider buying a new crank.....
assuming yours won't take wee, tiny rings
and the big ring isn't used often.

get a deore 22-30-40 or 22-32-44

*****

my latest 700c touring build has:

11-36 9-spd cassette (sunrace)
22-30-40 FC-M523 (deore) 10-spd hollowtech crank
RD-M591 deore 9-spd RD, plays well with the 36T cassette
FD-M610 deore FD.

that's a low of 17.5 and a high of 104
(26" wheels would give a sweeet 15.9!)

Last edited by saddlesores; 12-25-17 at 11:48 PM. Reason: those dang voices in muh haid!
saddlesores is offline  
Old 12-25-17, 11:36 PM
  #9  
ambulatory senior
 
52telecaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Peoria Il
Posts: 6,347

Bikes: Austro Daimler modified by Gugie! Raleigh Professional and lots of other bikes.

Mentioned: 76 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1953 Post(s)
Liked 3,634 Times in 1,671 Posts
i have 8 speed so ymmv but i find 12-34 with a 24 tooth granny to be plenty low. as mentioned before this gives about 19 inches for my granny.
52telecaster is offline  
Old 12-26-17, 03:56 AM
  #10  
Senior Member
 
hermanchauw's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Singapore
Posts: 470

Bikes: Voodoo Hoodoo, Linus Libertine

Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 106 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 15 Times in 9 Posts
22-32-42 or 44 cranks. Just go as low as possible without going to rare parts.

Cassette depends on terrain but from my experience, get at least 32t. 28 is fine also for lighter load but with 32 you have more safety net.
hermanchauw is offline  
Old 12-26-17, 04:55 AM
  #11  
Senior Member
 
Aushiker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Walyalup, Australia
Posts: 1,349

Bikes: Surly Long Haul Trucker, Salsa Mukluk, Riese & Muller Supercharger GT Rohloff (Forthcoming)

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 89 Post(s)
Liked 18 Times in 14 Posts
My Surly Long Haul Trucker has a Shimano Deore XT CS-M770 9-speed 11-34 with a triple up front.
Aushiker is offline  
Old 12-26-17, 08:36 AM
  #12  
Senior Member
 
azza_333's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Perth, Australia
Posts: 793

Bikes: A few

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 122 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Originally Posted by Morriep
What size cassettes do you use for touring? My Trek 520 is equipped with the standard 11-32 9 Speed. I am considering going 11-42 10 Speed. The front is 48/36/26. Any comments please?
I am not sure how much you know about bicycle gearing, but 11-42 and 48/36/26 is a 53 tooth difference, the largest capacity derailleur to date is the Shimano T8000, and that only has a capacity of 47 teeth, but it is only designed for a max sprocket size of 36t. Long story short its not possible, since the rear derailleurs that can take a 42t large sprocket, only have a capacity of about 39t.

42t cassettes are only designed for 1x systems, but a 40t cassette can be used for 2x systems.

My advise is throw on an 11-34 cassette, and leave it at that, because what you want is not possible.

If you really want to lower you granny gear, swap your 26t chainring for a 22t, you have a friction front sifter so it will work fine, just throw on a cheap chain keeper (dog tooth thingy) to stop the chain dropping off from the large chaingring drop, and don't do any extreme cross chaining.
azza_333 is offline  
Old 12-26-17, 10:51 AM
  #13  
Banned
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: NW,Oregon Coast
Posts: 43,598

Bikes: 8

Mentioned: 197 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7607 Post(s)
Liked 1,354 Times in 861 Posts
I toured blissfully with a 6 speed freewheel 13 to 34t, and a 50, 40, 24 triple crank & 700c ... 622-35 tires on the wheels..


sometimes , when it was steep, I got off and pushed..
fietsbob is offline  
Old 12-26-17, 04:05 PM
  #14  
ambulatory senior
 
52telecaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Peoria Il
Posts: 6,347

Bikes: Austro Daimler modified by Gugie! Raleigh Professional and lots of other bikes.

Mentioned: 76 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1953 Post(s)
Liked 3,634 Times in 1,671 Posts
Originally Posted by fietsbob
I toured blissfully with a 6 speed freewheel 13 to 34t, and a 50, 40, 24 triple crank & 700c ... 622-35 tires on the wheels..


sometimes , when it was steep, I got off and pushed..
sounds pretty good to me!
52telecaster is offline  
Old 12-26-17, 07:16 PM
  #15  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,198
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 137 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 81 Times in 64 Posts
12-28 9 spd IRD
LeeG is offline  
Old 12-27-17, 08:19 PM
  #16  
Crawler
 
linus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: OH~ CANADA
Posts: 1,410
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 211 Post(s)
Liked 20 Times in 15 Posts
Originally Posted by Morriep
What size cassettes do you use for touring? My Trek 520 is equipped with the standard 11-32 9 Speed. I am considering going 11-42 10 Speed. The front is 48/36/26. Any comments please?
Why would you need that gearing? For rock climbing?
linus is offline  
Old 12-27-17, 08:54 PM
  #17  
Clark W. Griswold
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: ,location, location
Posts: 13,280

Bikes: Foundry Chilkoot Ti W/Ultegra Di2, Salsa Timberjack Ti, Cinelli Mash Work RandoCross Fun Time Machine, 1x9 XT Parts Hybrid, Co-Motion Cascadia, Specialized Langster, Phil Wood Apple VeloXS Frame (w/DA 7400), R+M Supercharger2 Rohloff, Habanero Ti 26

Mentioned: 54 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4253 Post(s)
Liked 3,866 Times in 2,579 Posts
My set up is as follows 3x9:
24/36/48t Crank
11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-34 Cassette

I don't really use my 24t chainring that often but I like knowing it is there. It is useful for some hills especially loaded.

If I were going to something like 11-42 I would likely go to a double and probably do a compact road crank (50-34) or something similar in 11 speed. However I probably wouldn't go with a set up like that for fully loaded touring.
veganbikes is offline  
Old 12-30-17, 01:25 PM
  #18  
deleteme
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: PNW lifer
Posts: 587

Bikes: deleteme

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 50 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Originally Posted by Morriep
What size cassettes do you use for touring?
For off-tar riding running four bags with a fat slick tire 22x32(4) is about the max usable gearing. If the slope requires more or a knobbie I'm better off walking.

Where dinner plate rear granny gears work is high altitude asphalt riding or hardknot pass wales.

What do I use?

My four bag on/off road bike, 44x12 through 22x34.

The on road two bag commuter/touring, 48x13 though 24x28.
escii_35 is offline  
Old 12-30-17, 05:08 PM
  #19  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,112

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3426 Post(s)
Liked 1,441 Times in 1,122 Posts
You are trying to drop your lowest gear pretty low, but that will be a lot of parts. It would not cost much to swap out the front 26 for a 24. That would not drop your gearing as low as you want to go, but it would cost very little to make that change because all you need to do is put on a smaller chain ring.
Tourist in MSN is offline  
Old 12-30-17, 06:53 PM
  #20  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: San Antonio TX
Posts: 799
Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 152 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
I got a lot of the "why do you need a gear that low?" responses when I went with a 44/32/20 chainring combo with a 9 speed 12-36 cassette in back. Fifteen gear inches Yo



Worked just fine

...and this on an '89 Voyageur with downtube friction shifters using the original (5 speed?) derailleurs.

IME there is typically such a wide range of gearing on any triple chainring set-up that you can afford to have a couple of uber low gears at the low end, even if you almost never use 'em. With gear and water it ain't unusual for my loaded bike to weigh 70lbs even before I get on, there are steep grades out there, and spinning up one at 4mph as opposed to 5mph can make a big difference to my legs and knees.

IMHO,

Mike
Sharpshin is offline  
Old 12-30-17, 11:28 PM
  #21  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 3,150

Bikes: 2013 Surly Disc Trucker, 2004 Novara Randonee , old fixie , etc

Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 671 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 49 Times in 43 Posts
Originally Posted by saddlesores
you want to convert to 10-speed?
does that mean new deraillers and shifters and cassette and chain?

more cost effective to stick with 9-speed.

you might consider buying a new crank.....
assuming yours won't take wee, tiny rings
and the big ring isn't used often.

get a deore 22-30-40 or 22-32-44

*****

my latest 700c touring build has:

11-36 9-spd cassette (sunrace)
22-30-40 FC-M523 (deore) 10-spd hollowtech crank
RD-M591 deore 9-spd RD, plays well with the 36T cassette
FD-M610 deore FD.

that's a low of 17.5 and a high of 104
(26" wheels would give a sweeet 15.9!)
I agree esp in re the complications & expense of going 10-speed. Also, don't super-size cassettes weigh more?
DropBarFan is offline  
Old 12-31-17, 05:55 AM
  #22  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 329
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 19 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I agree with several earlier posters. Lower your crankset up front.
Arvadaman is offline  
Old 12-31-17, 08:02 AM
  #23  
Senior Member
 
saddlesores's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Thailand..........Nakhon Nowhere
Posts: 3,652

Bikes: inferior steel....and....noodly aluminium

Mentioned: 24 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1053 Post(s)
Liked 339 Times in 228 Posts
Originally Posted by Sharpshin
..."why do you need a gear that low?" ..... Yo
Yo indeed!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg
Picture 370.jpg (349.5 KB, 196 views)
saddlesores is offline  
Old 12-31-17, 09:01 AM
  #24  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,112

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3426 Post(s)
Liked 1,441 Times in 1,122 Posts
Originally Posted by Sharpshin
I got a lot of the "why do you need a gear that low?" responses when I went with a 44/32/20 chainring combo with a 9 speed 12-36 cassette in back. Fifteen gear inches Yo
...
Impressive, I thought that my low gear of 16.5 gear inches on my Rohloff expedition bike was pretty low but yours is still lower.
Tourist in MSN is offline  
Old 01-08-18, 12:36 PM
  #25  
Miles to Go
 
timdow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: San Diego
Posts: 711

Bikes: 2022 Juiced Crosscurrent X, 2022 Fuji Touring, 1998 Schwinn Moab (drop bar conversion), 2010 LHT (Stolen)

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 151 Post(s)
Liked 145 Times in 95 Posts
After doing a lot of ring and cog switching on my previous bike, I came to the conclusion that I spend most of my time in the middle gears so there is where I wanted everything to work the best. What I am saying is that expanding your gear range will cause the middle of the range to suffer. 90% of my riding is between 8-12 MPH.

My suggestion is to go with a 34T cassette first. Try it fully loaded, then if you feel that it needs lower, go with a 24T ring. Your wallet will thank you for not changing to 10-speed.
timdow is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.