Getting Higher Gearing

[Mick F]

We have established that he is a slow pedaller who is unlikely to be able to increase pedalling rate.
We have established that 36 is the largest chainring supplied for that chainset.
We have established that it may be difficult fitting a larger chainring because the front mech is on a fixed bracket. A bike shop can check this.
We know that11 teeth is the smallest available sprocket.

Conclusion - changing the gearing by much if at all is likely to be quite impractical. Hence the machine he has bought is unsuitable for his riding style and purpose. Harsh words I know.

Plus One.

[atoz]

Just as an aside- a certain Lance Armstrong was interviewed a while back over Chris Froome's choice of bottom gear (38 at front, 32 rear). He said "that's not a gear, that's a Domino's pizza!"- though he had no problem with it though- but mentioned his early days with straight through blocks and 52/39 chainset rings with some amusement. Check it out on Youtube..

[Mick F]

Pick a bottom gear low enough to get you up the steepest hill fully loaded, and the highest gear you could ever need for powering down the hills as a fast as possible, then stick as many gears in between that you can afford.

I have ninety of them on my Moulton.
10sp triple plus a 3sp SA.
Bottom gear 16.7"
Top gear 135.0"

[Brucey]

Pick a bottom gear low enough to get you up the steepest hill fully loaded, and the highest gear you could ever need for powering down the hills as a fast as possible.....

as fast as possible? One would need a 200" gear. Maybe higher. But on those few occasions when I've been doing those speeds, I've not felt much like pedalling....

Pedalling down hills is (outside of racing) a bit of a red herring; a great way of getting yourself tired for no real gain in speed over distance, since you end up expending more energy net against the brick wall of air resistance than is necessary.

Anything much over 100" is pretty much a luxury/waste of time in the normal run of things (i.e. for folk with a normal cadence). With a derailleur setup choosing just one sprocket more, with one tooth less, is often a poor choice; it may (as is commonly seen in many compact double setups) ruin your chainline on your most used gears, and all for what? If an 11T sprocket is added to a 12T one, you might be able to carry on pedalling from 30mph to 32 point something mph. Big whup...

cheers

[Mick F]

Pedalling down hills is (outside of racing) a bit of a red herring; a great way of getting yourself tired for no real gain in speed over distance, since you end up expending more energy net against the brick wall of air resistance than is necessary.

It depends on the hill, does it not?

I wouldn't bother pedalling down Pork Hill off Dartmoor because freewheeling without even tucking in, you can hit 50mph.
Come down Gunnislake Hill and you'll do 40mph without even trying. Best I've managed is 47mph.

However, what about a long hill that you freewheel at 20mph?
You can pedal gently in a nice high gear at 30mph without any strain or making you tired and without having to tuck in. You can relax as well as pedal.
Loads of hills like that but you need a high gear to do it.

[NetworkMan]

Pedalling down hills is (outside of racing) a bit of a red herring; a great way of getting yourself tired for no real gain in speed over distance, since you end up expending more energy net against the brick wall of air resistance than is necessary.

....... I wouldn't bother pedalling down Pork Hill off Dartmoor because freewheeling without even tucking in, you can hit 50mph......

Errrmmm.... Just trying to remember just how far down the hill is the 40 mph 'Take Moor Care' sign
Never done that - only up - groan!

[Mick F]

Pork Hill is a good one.
It starts in Tavistock and you peel off right from the A386 onto Mount Tavy Rd B3357, and it starts as you go past Mount Kelly School. The next couple of hundred yards are quite steep, but then it levels out for a while ...................

........... but then very very gradually, you notice that the hill is starting again, and you see Dartmoor in front of you. If you've climbed it before, you know what's in store for you. You can see the road going up and to the right, and it's not worth trying to go too fast, and you know you may as well get into a lower and lower and lower gear and try to relax.

Pass the camping and caravanning site on your right, and the hill starts to bite. It gets steeper and steeper but gently and gradually. By the time you get to the layby on your left, you'll be ready for a rest.

Then it carries on and on and on. The road curves to your right and carries on just as steeply, and you cross a cattle grid and still it goes up and up and up.

Eventually, it sort of levels out, but by then you're so tired it's still hard work, but it's still climbing and it'll be windy and rarely with you. Still further, you drop down into Merrivale. What a bummer! All that climbing only to lose a couple of hundred feet going down! Then you have to climb out again, and it's steeper too and you keep going and going.

Right at the top, you're at 1,500ft and you're 6miles out of Tavistock.

Much nicer going the other way and hitting 50mph as you pass the camping and caravanning site!