touring gearing ?

[Vorpal]

got a 3 week tour planned in France, taking in the massif central.
and i need to change my gearing to suit the terrain.
running 9 speed at present. 26-36-50 with a 12-34 block, was just looking at merlin. 22-32-44 sq taper set on offer, with a 12-36 block. all on off.
worth a punt ?

That is a change I would make, though the gearing already looks pretty good for hills.

[LuckyLuke]

Hi, just to echo the others above, it sounds like your existing triple will take a 24T inner. Spa sell a steel one that I’ve found works well.
If your cassette is worn a replacement with a 36T is a good shout too.

If you’re happy with your existing chain set and shifting, I think it would make sense to keep it? It avoids potential compatibility headaches re front derailleurs, indexed shifters (if applicable) and chainlines. As Slowster described above.

Personally I don’t get on with the wide, high Q factor of most MTB triples. This would be a deal breaker for me!

Best wishes,

Luke

[ANTONISH]

Hi, just to echo the others above, it sounds like your existing triple will take a 24T inner. Spa sell a steel one that I’ve found works well.
If your cassette is worn a replacement with a 36T is a good shout too.

If you’re happy with your existing chain set and shifting, I think it would make sense to keep it? It avoids potential compatibility headaches re front derailleurs, indexed shifters (if applicable) and chainlines. As Slowster described above.

Personally I don’t get on with the wide, high Q factor of most MTB triples. This would be a deal breaker for me!

Best wishes,

Luke

A caveat ; I bought just such a steel inner ring and kept it for a while.
Eventually I decided to ride the C2C and realised I had a new inner ring - so fitted it to my 9sp setup.
Unfortunately I fitted it at the last moment so it wasn't used until I was actually on the ride.
I found that the chain was sucking on the small ring - very disconcerting on a climb as I had to rapidly unclip and get my foot down to avoid a fall.
When I consulted here on this problem it was pointed out that the chainring was probably 7sp and was too snug a fit on my 9sp chain.

[Chris Jeggo]

Hi, just to echo the others above, it sounds like your existing triple will take a 24T inner. Spa sell a steel one that I’ve found works well.
.....

A caveat ; I bought just such a steel inner ring and kept it for a while.
Eventually I decided to ride the C2C and realised I had a new inner ring - so fitted it to my 9sp setup.
Unfortunately I fitted it at the last moment so it wasn't used until I was actually on the ride.
I found that the chain was sucking on the small ring - very disconcerting on a climb as I had to rapidly unclip and get my foot down to avoid a fall.
When I consulted here on this problem it was pointed out that the chainring was probably 7sp and was too snug a fit on my 9sp chain.

I had a steel 24t inner ring (9sp), probably bought from Spa, which produced chain suck. On investigation I found burrs caused by pressure from the chain rollers. The tooth profiles had also changed a bit. I filed off the burrs. Some while later I found smaller burrs, but if I remember rightly these had not caused chain suck. I filed them off and that was the end of the matter. The tooth profile had obviously changed to something that was able to stand the pressure.