One man's opinion..by all means do the 26t to 22t swap on the front end as it's cheap.. but at the end of the day(whether doing the chainring swap or a crankset swap) you're only picking up 3gi (about half the difference, or a little less, than any gear change you currently have..take a ride, do some shifting, and feel the difference). If you'll have issues with hills on the road, the root of the issue will be 60-70 pounds of "stuff" rather than the lack of 3gi.

but that change from 19 or thereabouts to 16 or thereabouts is basically the equivalent of one downshift lower, which is still pretty nice

but yes, not carrying that much weight (his estimate remember, he hasnt packed yet) is probably the biggest factor also, but even with less weight, having that one gear lower equivalent will be appreciated and will be used.

Oh, I agree..the 16 will be used if it's there and if it's cheap to do..so why not...

The OP mentioned he's not well-versed in gearing. From the tooth# differences in either the 26t->22t chainring swap or the 48-38-26 to 42-32-22 crankset swap, one might think some major moves are taking place, however, in reality, there's nothing major happening and it's only offering a relatively minor adjustment. I recently went through all this with one of my bikes. A crank swap would have made the biggest difference, however, for the money, it wasn't worth it(to me) as the change was very modest. I did swap out the cassette (27t top to 30t top) and I did pick up 3gi...rode 75 miles earlier this week on the bike. I did use the 30t and noticed it, but it was a very minor change.

I think it's useful to stress to the OP, the proposed 60-70 pounds of gear, by far, remains the elephant in the room(if he swaps out the entire drive train..the excessive weight will still be the elephant to worry about..no pun intended..).

very much the biggest thing to recommend to him, but he will just have to try some touring and see what his bags weigh, and see how it goes, to know if X weight works for him or not.

hopefully our experienced suggestions help some.

Swapped 26t for 22t granny ring
 

Well I just returned from a ride with the new 22t granny ring. I headed up one of the bigger local hills (gains 1000 ft. in 6 miles). The result was satisfactory. I could merrily spin at 90 rpm going 4 mph on the steepest sections. So, for now, I'm not intimidated by the thought of touring in hilly country.


I want to thank you all for your generous support. I appreciate your technical knowledge and your real life experience. Trevtassie, thanks for sharing the component combination that your partner has on his/her Troll. I may consider that after I've got a few tours behind me.


Several of you seem horrified by the thought a carrying a 60-70 pd. load. I've spent the winter months looking at YouTubes of other touring riders and the lists of gear that they carry. I've accumulated what I thought was essential but I have haven't packed my panniers yet to see what it all weighs. For a two week tour in summer weather, what is a reasonable load for someone who plans to camp the whole way?

For a summer trip, its pretty common to be in the 40lb range. Clothes wise it's easy not to have heavy clothes, but still to be comfortable if cool in morning or evening.
you'll figure out what you really need, and this is what is great with some overnight test trips, you will soon see what you don't use.

how about a photo of your bike?

glad rides went well, sounds like you just need to try packing and riding loaded.

Thanks DJB. It's good to have a weight figure to shoot for.

I tried to post a photo, but the forum rules won't allow until I have 10 posts on the board.

start getting your stuff together, and tents can be super light or pretty heavy, but even when I was carrying a 7lb tent around, I'm pretty sure I was in the 35-40lb range, but by then I had figured out not to bring x, y and z.

You'll see when you start getting things sorted, but I think its realistic to use that number as a guide.
Feel free to put up your list as you go if you wish, we could perhaps give pointers or opinions on this or that.