This is a stupid question sorry, gearing

[Pinhead]

Before I converted my 2 bikes to "E" bikes I had 3 by 8

Now I have 1 by 8

Is the 1 (first) still the same and 8 still the same, or how can it be, as before there was 1st 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 then 2nd 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 and so on making 24 gears.

Where on the scale are they now, if you understand is 1 1/1 or mid way 1/4 or 1/8 ??? and I am not talking fractions !

Thanks

[PH]

What you had before, 3 x 8, would have been about 12 - 14 different gears and a lot of duplicates, What you have now is 8 different gears.
Where they fall within that range depends on the chainring/s before and after. It's probably gears 3 to 10, if the single chainring is about the same as the previous middle one.
On an E-bike you don't need the really low ones as you have the motor, and there's no assistance for the high ones so you probably don't want those either.

[Brucey]

it all depends on how big your 1x chainring is vs. the original chainset

[cycle tramp]

Before I converted my 2 bikes to "E" bikes I had 3 by 8

Now I have 1 by 8

Where on the scale are they now, if you understand is 1 1/1 or mid way 1/4 or 1/8 ??? and I am not talking fractions !

Thanks

You'll need the formula no. of chainwheel teeth divided by number of sprocket teeth multiplied by the wheel size to work out what you've lost in the way of gear range... if you wait a moment, someone will turn up with a nifty link to a gear calculator spreadsheet...

[iandusud]

The purpose of a triple chainset is generally to give a wider range of gears than with a single or double (although it does depend on the sizes of chainrings and sprockets used). However most bikes are over geared at the top end and, as already pointed out, an ebike doesn't need the very low gears that multiple chainrings facilitate. The question that really needs to be asked is, is the highest gear high enough and is the lowest gear low enough. If so all is rosey. I built a cargo bike four years ago and equipped it with a triple chainset (as this was what the donor MTB had) in order to give low enough gears for hauling loads up hills. I then later fitted an electric conversion ever since which I've only ever used the middle chainring, effectively making it a 1 x 8 system. Prior to the conversion I would use the middle and small chainrings making the large chainring redundant.

[Tigerbiten]

If you start on the middle chainring you have the 8 "standard" gears.
When you then shift up onto the big chainring you probably gain 2 faster gears, the other 6 overlap with the "standard" gears.
When you drop down to the inner chainring you again gain 2 slower gears with the rest in the overlap.
So you probably have only 12 unique gears, the other 12 are all duplicates of the unique gears.

As for where the new gears line up with the old one depends on the new chainring size vs the old ones.
It will probably be somewhere around big/middle chainring size and the gears will line accordingly.

[rareposter]

https://www.gear-calculator.com/

There you go, hours of fun and some pretty diagrams at the end of it to show your gear ranges.

The main thing is not to overthink it; people get into a right tizz over ratios and %s but the basic principle is: is the lowest one low enough and the highest one high enough for you?

[Pinhead]

What you had before, 3 x 8, would have been about 12 - 14 different gears and a lot of duplicates, What you have now is 8 different gears.
Where they fall within that range depends on the chainring/s before and after. It's probably gears 3 to 10, if the single chainring is about the same as the previous middle one.
On an E-bike you don't need the really low ones as you have the motor, and there's no assistance for the high ones so you probably don't want those either.

Thank you

[Pinhead]

it all depends on how big your 1x chainring is vs. the original chainset

Thank you

[Pinhead]

Before I converted my 2 bikes to "E" bikes I had 3 by 8

Now I have 1 by 8

Where on the scale are they now, if you understand is 1 1/1 or mid way 1/4 or 1/8 ??? and I am not talking fractions !

Thanks

You'll need the formula no. of chainwheel teeth divided by number of sprocket teeth multiplied by the wheel size to work out what you've lost in the way of gear range... if you wait a moment, someone will turn up with a nifty link to a gear calculator spreadsheet...

Thank you

[Pinhead]

The purpose of a triple chainset is generally to give a wider range of gears than with a single or double (although it does depend on the sizes of chainrings and sprockets used). However most bikes are over geared at the top end and, as already pointed out, an ebike doesn't need the very low gears that multiple chainrings facilitate. The question that really needs to be asked is, is the highest gear high enough and is the lowest gear low enough. If so all is rosey. I built a cargo bike four years ago and equipped it with a triple chainset (as this was what the donor MTB had) in order to give low enough gears for hauling loads up hills. I then later fitted an electric conversion ever since which I've only ever used the middle chainring, effectively making it a 1 x 8 system. Prior to the conversion I would use the middle and small chainrings making the large chainring redundant.

Thank you

[Pinhead]

If you start on the middle chainring you have the 8 "standard" gears.
When you then shift up onto the big chainring you probably gain 2 faster gears, the other 6 overlap with the "standard" gears.
When you drop down to the inner chainring you again gain 2 slower gears with the rest in the overlap.
So you probably have only 12 unique gears, the other 12 are all duplicates of the unique gears.

As for where the new gears line up with the old one depends on the new chainring size vs the old ones.
It will probably be somewhere around big/middle chainring size and the gears will line accordingly.

Thank you

[Pinhead]

https://www.gear-calculator.com/

There you go, hours of fun and some pretty diagrams at the end of it to show your gear ranges.

The main thing is not to overthink it; people get into a right tizz over ratios and %s but the basic principle is: is the lowest one low enough and the highest one high enough for you?

Thank you

[Pinhead]

I wondered because 1st on my now 1 by 8 appears harder than on the 3 by 8 motor off.

I appreciate there is "some" motor resistance, added weight is not counted as I have lost personal weight

[531colin]

I wondered because 1st on my now 1 by 8 appears harder than on the 3 by 8 motor off…….

1st on 1 by 8 can only mean 1thing ….the biggest sprocket and the only chainwheel
1 st on 3by 8 ….means which chainwheel?

The difference between the 2 “first” gears can only be the chainwheel size, unless you have changed the cassette