10 speed on touring bikes

[HowardW]

Where is the no I only want hub gears.....

Added

Cool thanks

[andrewk]

I have a 3x9 gear tourer and a 3x10 gear flat bar tourer. To be honest I don't see much advantage either way between a 9 cog and a 10 cog block, the gear range is more important.

[Mick F]

Someone on here once said .........
Wisdom, I reckon.

Pick the highest gear you could ever want.
Pick the lowest gear you could ever need ............ maybe with a heavy load on the steep hill plus suffering from a hangover.
Stick as many ratios in between as you can afford.

[Brucey]

Someone on here once said .........
Wisdom, I reckon.

Pick the highest gear you could ever want.
Pick the lowest gear you could ever need ............ maybe with a heavy load on the steep hill plus suffering from a hangover.
Stick as many ratios in between as you can afford.

I've worked out I can afford to fit about 300 gears. Will that make my bike 'better'?

cheers

[hamish]

I voted yes because I would buy one and I wouldn't change it immediately. But I would rather not actually choose 10 speed...... and if I could choose, I would go for fewer.

[RickH]

I've not voted because I can't decide between "Yes" and "No, I want 11"!

In my more heretical moments (of which I have many) I could easily be persuaded, given a generous benfactor , that it would be worth seeing if the new XTR 3x11 Di2 system would work with drop bar Di2 shifters (hydraulic discs too a possibility)!

Rick.

[bikes4two]

Until 3 weeks ago I wold have said 'yes' but having just had a 9sp chain split on me going up some incessantly steep mountains in Portugal, I'm hesitating.

[horizon]

The lowest gear on an upright is about 17" lower than which you fall over. Even combined with this low gear, the highest gear on an 8 speed set up is higher than I need. A nine speed cassette fills in the gaps in the range. So there we have it. I cannot see that there is much wrong with 10 speed and it may be an improvement for some people but AFAICS it's a bit irrelevant. AFAIK, it's really to allow a double chainset in place of a triple but that is a completely different argument.

[Rhodrich]

Am I the only one here who when they hear of '10 speed' immediately think of a 10 speed double bike? I've done light touring with a 2x5 in the past (Viscount Aerospace Pro), with 39-52 front rings and a 14-28 cassette. Was absolutely fine in the South of England, where there aren't any hills, but I wouldn't fancy it fully loaded up serious hills.

As for a 20 speed bike, forget it! None of my stable run anything more than 14 speed double, or 18 speed triple. Quite enough for anyone, and bomb proof. 20 speed doubles or 30 speed triples, or more might give you a marginal advantage in racing, but for touring, the disadvantages of the poorer durability outweigh these considerations.

[reohn2]

I don't consider myself a very strong rider so I need a decent range of gearing from around 22" to 90".
Bottom gets me up 20%,top I can spin up to 28mph, possibly 30mph on a good day,if I need a lower set I fit a 24t inner instead of the 26t currently fitted.
I'm a twiddler not a masher.
Two tooth gaps between ratios are about right for cruising gears with three tooth for the bottom three cogs,one tooth gaps aren't wide enough to be of much use to me.
Compact 34-46/48/50/52 chainsets are a useless invention and only serve to make life more difficult for all but really strong riders or those living in mildly undulating terrain,and anyway I have a compact c/set with a 26t inner ring 'crawler' set when things get tough
Everything's going the way of compacts,with 10 or more at the back,which on the face of it makes for more extreme chainlines and narrower,possibly less durable chains without the necessary range of gearing,unless you fit an 'alpine double'.And I don't need an alpine double with a 3x8 set of gears that provide a greater range of gearing,with a stronger chain and better chainlines.
10sp,who needs it?

[gaz]

I have five sprockets on my screw-on block.

I see no reason to put the sixth or seventh sprockets back on .

[Brucey]

Until 3 weeks ago I wold have said 'yes' but having just had a 9sp chain split on me going up some incessantly steep mountains in Portugal, I'm hesitating.

any details...?

cheers

[foxyrider]

Not only would i, i have! Not only that, i've been running ten speed for about three years on Tourer 1 with a triple. The chain durability thing is a red herring, if you are looking after the bike properly they should be replaced long before they are 'worn out'. My only chain breakages in the last twenty years were 1/ on my 7Sp road bike when the chain was worn to oblivion and 2/ this year a 10Sp caused by a stone chipping getting wedged into a link and bursting the rivet.

The chains on my touring steed rarely see more than 3000km, they are often changed at @ 2000km, i use Campag Record or KMC SL (this if you aren't familiar http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/kmc-x10- ... 36988.html) chains so i'm not using basic quality or heavy duty stuff. Maybe its the extra flexibility?

[bikes4two]

Hi Brucey,
The chain in question: a side plate parted and snagged up in the RD causing an alarming bend in the mech. The chain was either a KMC or Shimano, but nothing high end. To be fair it was not new but within my guage's tolerance. I've never had a chain snap but then again I've never pushed a laden bike up so many steep hills either. So, no hard evidence that a 10sp chain would have faired worse, just one of those life experiences that causes you to pause.