Cycling UK Forum

Thanks for the info guys!

Really important stuff to know, when considering high value purchases!

Must match user requirements, rather than the latest whizz bang race bike out there etc.

Hiya All,


Erm, looks like we are going off OP topic here!
Many thanks for the in-depth technical advise on swapping out rear cassettes on the existing bike. See the other post on this.


Can I pick your brains on this new OP topic?
(Probably didn't word it clearly enough - perhaps next time will miss out the scenario "why I'm asking" narrative)

RideToWorky wrote:

Hope you can advise

Q1) 16 Gears on a road bike (2x8 Shimano Claris ) - Is that really enough gears for commutes - with long up hills sections?
** Think we've covered this in the above posts ok ***


Q2) 22 Gears on a road bike (2x11 Shimano 105) - Does the extra 7 gears give much lower gears, or is it the higher end again?
** This (Q2) is outstanding. Looking at (22 speed road bikes) vs (16 speed road bikes) shod with Shimanos **


Q3) 24 Gears on a road bike (3x8 ??) - Are we getting in mountain bike territory here?!
** This (Q3) is outstanding. are triples actually on road bikes? **

Hope you can advise!

Regards
Martin

Hi MJR,


Yup, I'm cycling up the cycle path, to stay away from traffic as much as possible!

Many thanks for the local knoweledge
However, we did try some of those side roads last year, bit scary with parking both sides and kamaki drivers and people walking out etc.

This concorde way is the best "off road" cycle route we worked out that works for me and the missus

Just trying to work out a sustainable energy efficient way of doing it!


Regards
Martin

Hi Beardy,

Good points!



The uphill run:
Bristol Concorde Way:
St Werburghs all the way past the MOD
St Werburghs, at the start, up past the allotments. this is the steepest section... at the very start
4 Ascent sections, I think
6.5 miles approx
Come friday night, I'm knackered!


45 Years old, No injuries, not much stamina though.
8st 12, skinny runt with no reserves or stamina... working on the fitness
Not expecting miracles in imnprovement! Read somewhere over the weekend - over 40yers of age - takes longer to recover from exercise etc. (Cycling weekly I think)



Hope that helps
Martin

Hiya all,


Road bike Commuting up hills - 16, 22 or 24 Gears?
Bought my 1st road bike last summer - a nice entry level with a 16 speed set up.
Wish I gave the below some more thought though, before just going for a recommended sporty bike!

I'm currently having a right struggle, commuting uphill with my hybrid, It has a 24 gears triple set up. (3 x 8... I think!)
It has occurred to me now though, perhaps it could be the bike and the way I'm loading her up with stuff. she already weights a tonne, and that's before I put both panniers on her, with padlocks, toolkit etc etc.

Going back to the road bike though:
The road bike weighs so much less, much less than half easily. I really have to try her on the same commute route, with minimal essentials, and see how I get on with "Only" the 16 gears..... Could go a dream once I got her going uphill!


Which brings me to the following questions:
Hope you can advise

Q1) 16 Gears on a road bike (2x8 Shimano Claris ) - Is that really enough gears for commutes - with long up hills sections?
Q2) 22 Gears on a road bike (2x11 Shimano 105) - Does the extra 7 gears give much lower gears, or is it the higher end again?
Q3) 24 Gears on a road bike (3x8 ??) - Are we getting in mountain bike territory here?! I'm still knackered from commuting on my 24 Speed hybrid


Regards
Martin

RideToWorky wrote:

Brucey wrote:

RideToWorky wrote:
3) £ 0 change the left hand shifter from a double to a triple £0 (I believe My existing Shifter already has this)

not unless you have SL-2403 model shifters, SL-2400 (as indicated) are double-specific.

ker-ching!

cheers

oh maaaann!
Another £83
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-st-2400 ... rs-triple/

tonight - I'm having a look at the hoods!
.... hoping - against hope - that they say "Triple" and not "8 speed"....

If need replace STIs, then just not economical I reckon!

damn damn damn... its a double! ....oh well.... dreaming over

Stevek76 wrote:Meanwhile a new cassette is a tenner.

According to shimano the short cage rd is 37t total capacity so in theory an, eg, 11-32t would work with a 34/50 compact though the gaps would be largish. Is your hybrid 8spd? If so could move the cassette over from that for testing purposes. You still might need a new chain though, still under 20 quid total.

Hiya,

yup, going back to the 1st suggestion from the guys!

Are we talking about, 8 speed rear still, using the same STI Levers, and just "spacing" out the gearing on the rear cogs? (Apolgoies for the non tecnical descriptions!)


Regards
Martin

Brucey wrote:

RideToWorky wrote:
3) £ 0 change the left hand shifter from a double to a triple £0 (I believe My existing Shifter already has this)

not unless you have SL-2403 model shifters, SL-2400 (as indicated) are double-specific.

ker-ching!

cheers

oh maaaann!
Another £83
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-st-2400 ... rs-triple/

tonight - I'm having a look at the hoods!
.... hoping - against hope - that they say "Triple" and not "8 speed"....

If need replace STIs, then just not economical I reckon!

Brucey wrote:

scottg wrote:The reason the 'guards aren't evenly spaced is the brake bridges are
not the same distance from the axle. Some spacers and general
bodging will get you an even fender line. Some bikes do come
with precisely spaced bridges....

they do vary somewhat but IME there is always a compromise of some kind; at the rear the brake bolt can be drilled tangent to the wheel at the brake or at the bridge, but not both.

At the front it is worse than that; the crown is always drilled orthogonal to the steerer axis which means it is way off tangent (at the crown certainly and the brake too usually) by the time you allow for the fork offset. A few bikes with very little fork offset and relatively thick fork crowns (or brakes) have the wheel roughly tangent to the brake, but this still leaves a bigger clearance at the back of the crown.

So the usual outcome is that you can have a bike with uniform mudguard clearance front and rear, or a uniform brake drop front and rear, but not both at the same time, not quite. Some come closer than others but (especially if you have a lot of fork offset) 'perfection' is probably impossible.

cheers

Thats kind of nice to know Brucey

The current bike's Mudguards work fine. With the rain and wet roads recently, no mud strip on back after 17 miles riding etc. They just look at bit naff and flap around a bit!

Cheers
Martin

Hiya All,


Summary:
OCD Martin here, I looked into the conversion parts as suggested - before moving on
£130 in parts alone, as per breakdown, before any labour, Gosh. (The prices are the current off season sales prices! 20% 10% off etc)


What to do next?:
... It would be great to run the bike into the ground, with a view to upgrading as per the below parts list
... But realistically - How long would it take for an average joe to wear out the parts below on a road bike?!

Realistically, am I looking at simply leaving the current bike alone, and using as a sportive on the flats - and simply using the cash on the next bike, and using that bike instead to commute up the hills?!

Or are the costings realistic in the big scheme of things, to get a nice commuter bike from upgrading a quality old bike with quality new parts? Compared to buying a new replacement commuter?


Parts breakdown - Cost summary:
In order to achieve lower gearing by changing to a triple at the front you will also need to make other changes, probably :-
0) £64 Shimano Claris 2403 Triple
1) £20 change the front dérailleur from a double to a triple
2) £22 change the rear dérailleur from short cage (SS) to a mid/long cage (GS)
3) £ 0 change the left hand shifter from a double to a triple £0 (I believe My existing Shifter already has this)
4) £21 probably a new bottom bracket (Advised 68mm X121mm)
5) £?? New longer chain? TBC
--------------
£130 approx


-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
Parts breakdown - Costs In-depth:
Full web links:
1) change the front dérailleur from a double to a triple
£20
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shi ... 97#answers

2) change the rear dérailleur from short cage (SS) to a mid/long cage (GS)
£22
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shi ... -A#answers


3) change the left hand shifter from a double to a triple
I believe My existing Shifter already has this. (Has it on the top indicator, and clicks for it when I try - Dosen't click into any 3rd though, as no extra cog upfront)

4) probably a new bottom bracket
Below link on same FSA Compact 50/34:
http://answers.chainreactioncycles.com/ ... stions.htm
BB advised for:
£21
(68mm X121mm)
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shim ... nt=Default

markfh wrote:In order to achieve lower gearing by changing to a triple at the front you will also need to make other changes, probably :-
1) change the front dérailleur from a double to a triple
2) change the rear dérailleur from short cage (SS) to a mid/long cage (GS)
3) change the left hand shifter from a double to a triple
40 probably a new bottom bracket
This is likely to be quite expensive.

Another way of getting lower gearing is to change the rear cassette to one with a greater range with probably a new chain to allow for the greater large-large combination. This is likely to be a considerably cheaper option particularly if you replacing you cassette and or chain anyway as part of maintenance for wear and tare.

The triple you are looking at has an inner ring with 30 teeth compared with the 34 of your current chainset, a percentage change of 34/30 = 1.13 = +13%. If you change the rear cassette to one with say a 28 tooth largest cog, you will get a slightly lower change in ration 28/25 = 1.12 = +12% at a considerably lower cost all be it at the expense of larger steps between individual gears. Depending on the capabilities of your rear dérailleur you may be able to go to a cassette with an even larger rear but again with the penally of larger steps between gears. It is worth looking at the cassette from both Shimano and SRAM as for the same overall range they sometimes have different combinations of intermediate cogs giving different steps between intermediate gears.

Ouch!

Thanks for the info guys!

Will look into changing the rear cassette then.
No rush on this one really, at this rate, be at the end of 2016, in the (alleged) sales

Regards
Martin

Hiya All,

Many thanks to the guys for the techy info on this!

For ease of reference, I've edited this OP, to close off this post in one go
This is just a summary in the OP - see the replies below for the growing Q&A solutions and thought process!


Costing up Changing Double Front Chainset into a Triple:
Not economical really - think about new rear cassette with wider gearing range, or think carefully before buying that next bike!


Parts breakdown - Cost summary:
In order to achieve lower gearing by changing to a triple at the front you will also need to make other changes, probably :-
0) £64 Shimano Claris 2403 Triple chainset
1) £20 change the front dérailleur from a double to a triple
2) £22 change the rear dérailleur from short cage (SS) to a mid/long cage (GS)
3) £83 change the left hand shifter from a double to a triple
4) £21 probably a new bottom bracket (Advised 68mm X121mm)
5) £?? New longer chain? TBC
--------------
£215 approx





------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Post

Hi All,


Can I Change my Double Front Chainset into a Triple?


The more I ride it, the more I'm actually getting to like my entry level road bike!
Happy to convert into a commuter at some point, when i finally upgrade to a more expensive leisure road bike.

One issue though is the up hills going home, The 16 speed Claris set up seems to be missing the low low gears of my hybrid

One idea, is in the off season, to get a compatable triple in the sales.


Would this fit my bike?:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shi ... Tg#answers


My bike details:
http://www.gtbicycles.com/gbr_en/2014/b ... -gts-sport


Summary of bike:
Chain: KMC 8spd
Crankset Chainwheel: Sun Race 8spd 12-25
Crank: FSA Tempo Compact 50/35
Bottom Bracket: Sealed Cartridge
Pedals: Low Profile Nylon w/ Toe Clips
Front Derailleur: Shimano 2400 Claris
Rear Derailleur: Shimano 2400 Claris 8spd
Shifters: Shimano 2400 Claris Sti


If the above won't work, if there another way to do this?

Regards
Martin

pwa wrote:I don't know for sure, but some Shimano levers have made to fit wedges. I'd be surprised if Tiagra didn't. They are just plastic wedges that click in, preventing the lever coming back fully to the resting position. In place, they look like part of the lever. My wife and daughter have them on their cheaper Shimano levers and they reduce the distance their fingers have to reach to wrap around the lever. They seem to work well. Obviously they reduce the distance the lever can move, but not by much.

Thanks PWA

"Click in" - now that is more like it!

If they are £4 a throw, I'll try them out and see if they make a difference

ooops sorry, should have said!

Shimano Tiagras
Have now edited the OP

Hi All,


Brakes levers
Shimano Tiagra


I'm looking to improve my fit onto the road bike, and the braking performance.

My small hands don't help my reach for, and grip leverage on, the Drop handle bar brake levers

When the bike shop was setting up for me, they mentioned that there are spacer shims out there, that bring the brake levers closer to the bar.

Do these actually improve the braking performance though? Or are they just more of a "comfort pat on the back" thing for newbies?

Don't really fancy supergluing anything to the brakes, unless they make a material difference!


Good old google gives some generic info:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12546195


Hope you can advise

Regards
Martin