Gearing for touring

I have a 2007 Bianchi Volpe. When touring, I pull a Burley Nomad
trailer. Recently, I used this
setup to do a ride of the east coast of Tasmania:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stecksoft/Tasmania2010.

It was a bit tough getting up some of those Tasmanian hills. I
confess to walking some of them.
The Volpe's smallest ring is 28T, and the cassette is 11-32.

In anticipation of my next tour, I've ordered a new 11-34 cassette.
Question: is it worthwhile to
put in a smaller ring, say 26T?

With the current setup, the small ring and the big cog gives me 23.6
gear-inches. The 34 cog would
take that down to 22.2. A 26T ring would make that 20.6.

My question, differently phrased: Will 22.2 gear-inches be noticeably
easier than 23.6? Will 20.6
gear-inches be so absurdly low as to be useless?

-- Paul

On 4/26/10 6:49 PM, steck wrote:
I have a 2007 Bianchi Volpe. When touring, I pull a Burley Nomad
trailer. Recently, I used this
setup to do a ride of the east coast of Tasmania:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stecksoft/Tasmania2010.

It was a bit tough getting up some of those Tasmanian hills. I
confess to walking some of them.
The Volpe's smallest ring is 28T, and the cassette is 11-32.

In anticipation of my next tour, I've ordered a new 11-34 cassette.
Question: is it worthwhile to
put in a smaller ring, say 26T?

With the current setup, the small ring and the big cog gives me 23.6
gear-inches. The 34 cog would
take that down to 22.2. A 26T ring would make that 20.6.

My question, differently phrased: Will 22.2 gear-inches be noticeably
easier than 23.6? Will 20.6
gear-inches be so absurdly low as to be useless?

-- Paul

Sorry can't tell: do you have a double or a triple chainring setup?

BC
triplet

In article
,
steck wrote:

I have a 2007 Bianchi Volpe. When touring, I pull a Burley Nomad
trailer. Recently, I used this setup to do a ride of the east coast
of Tasmania: http://picasaweb.google.com/stecksoft/Tasmania2010.

It was a bit tough getting up some of those Tasmanian hills. I
confess to walking some of them. The Volpe's smallest ring is 28T,
and the cassette is 11-32.

In anticipation of my next tour, I've ordered a new 11-34 cassette.
Question: is it worthwhile to put in a smaller ring, say 26T?

With the current setup, the small ring and the big cog gives me 23.6
gear-inches. The 34 cog would take that down to 22.2. A 26T ring
would make that 20.6.

My question, differently phrased: Will 22.2 gear-inches be noticeably
easier than 23.6? Will 20.6 gear-inches be so absurdly low as to be
useless?

Take less stuff.

http://www2.arnes.si/~ikovse/weight.htm

steck wrote:
I have a 2007 Bianchi Volpe. When touring, I pull a Burley Nomad
trailer. Recently, I used this
setup to do a ride of the east coast of Tasmania:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stecksoft/Tasmania2010.

It was a bit tough getting up some of those Tasmanian hills. I
confess to walking some of them.
The Volpe's smallest ring is 28T, and the cassette is 11-32.

In anticipation of my next tour, I've ordered a new 11-34 cassette.
Question: is it worthwhile to
put in a smaller ring, say 26T?

With the current setup, the small ring and the big cog gives me 23.6
gear-inches. The 34 cog would
take that down to 22.2. A 26T ring would make that 20.6.

My question, differently phrased: Will 22.2 gear-inches be noticeably
easier than 23.6? Will 20.6
gear-inches be so absurdly low as to be useless?

If you've got the balance to stay upright while spinning the 20.6, it's
not too low. I'd guess most experienced touring cyclists would. How
steady do you feel with the 23.6?

If your bike will fit a 28 or 26, it is probably a 74mm BCD (if not
smaller) and if so could take a 24. You may have a bit of fuss from the
front derailleur if the small-big range gets too wide, but it's easy to
find out, and chainrings are relatively cheap. So you may have a
slightly lower option.

Changing 23.6 to 20.6 is around a 14% drop, about the same as shifting
from a 28T cog (if you have one) to a 32. See how big your last cog
shift is compared to this, and how much it helps you, then judge for
yourself.

Good luck,

Mark J.

On 26 Apr, 23:49, steck wrote:
I have a 2007 Bianchi Volpe. *When touring, I pull a Burley Nomad
trailer. *Recently, I used this
setup to do a ride of the east coast of Tasmania:http://picasaweb.google.com/stecksoft/Tasmania2010.

It was a bit tough getting up some of those Tasmanian hills. *I
confess to walking some of them.
The Volpe's smallest ring is 28T, and the cassette is 11-32.

In anticipation of my next tour, I've ordered a new 11-34 cassette.
Question: is it worthwhile to
put in a smaller ring, say 26T?

With the current setup, the small ring and the big cog gives me 23.6
gear-inches. *The 34 cog would
take that down to 22.2. *A 26T ring would make that 20.6.

My question, differently phrased: Will 22.2 gear-inches be noticeably
easier than 23.6? *Will 20.6
gear-inches be so absurdly low as to be useless?

-- Paul

The difference doesn't sound great and I know users of 22" gears.
Thinking of it at the other end of gearing, if I was using and
struggling with a 56 x13 then a 52x 13 could (I think should) (sorry,
would have, I dont go near those gears today) make all the
difference. You may want to look at other ways to improve
efficiency. Cheapest, but messy is to grease your chain. Simplest is
a spray grease, best is to warm up the chain in a grease bath. The
other major energy sapper is poor tyres. Get large section supple
tyres. Bouncy saddles do you no favours either. And position,
correct leg extension is most important in maximising energy
utilisation, along with this goes a correctly sized paiir of cranks.
Riders of average or below leg length can be hindered by the
'standard' 170mm cranks (sometimes even longer being fitted to an
average size machine.

On Apr 26, 6:49*pm, steck wrote:
I have a 2007 Bianchi Volpe. *When touring, I pull a Burley Nomad
trailer. *Recently, I used this
setup to do a ride of the east coast of Tasmania:http://picasaweb.google.com/stecksoft/Tasmania2010.

It was a bit tough getting up some of those Tasmanian hills. *I
confess to walking some of them.
The Volpe's smallest ring is 28T, and the cassette is 11-32.

In anticipation of my next tour, I've ordered a new 11-34 cassette.
Question: is it worthwhile to
put in a smaller ring, say 26T?

With the current setup, the small ring and the big cog gives me 23.6
gear-inches. *The 34 cog would
take that down to 22.2. *A 26T ring would make that 20.6.

My question, differently phrased: Will 22.2 gear-inches be noticeably
easier than 23.6? *Will 20.6
gear-inches be so absurdly low as to be useless?

-- Paul

Hi there.

How many teeth do your middle and outer front chain-rings have? You
may be able to get a lower gear by changing the inner front chain-ring
as long as your total no of teeth difference doesn't exceed the
capacity of your rear mech.

Cheers from Peter

On Apr 27, 10:13*am, bcdrums wrote:
Sorry can't tell: do you have a double or a triple chainring setup?

The current setup is 48/38/28 in front.

I might want to swap out the whole set for, say, 46/36/26. I almost
never use the
highest gears.

-- Paul

On Apr 26, 8:47*pm, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Apr 26, 6:49*pm, steck wrote:



I have a 2007 Bianchi Volpe. *When touring, I pull a Burley Nomad
trailer. *Recently, I used this
setup to do a ride of the east coast of Tasmania:http://picasaweb.google.com/stecksoft/Tasmania2010.

It was a bit tough getting up some of those Tasmanian hills. *I
confess to walking some of them.
The Volpe's smallest ring is 28T, and the cassette is 11-32.

In anticipation of my next tour, I've ordered a new 11-34 cassette.
Question: is it worthwhile to
put in a smaller ring, say 26T?

With the current setup, the small ring and the big cog gives me 23.6
gear-inches. *The 34 cog would
take that down to 22.2. *A 26T ring would make that 20.6.

My question, differently phrased: Will 22.2 gear-inches be noticeably
easier than 23.6? *Will 20.6
gear-inches be so absurdly low as to be useless?

-- Paul

Hi there.

How many teeth do your middle and outer front chain-rings have? You
may be able to get a lower gear by changing the inner front chain-ring
as long as your total no of teeth difference doesn't exceed the
capacity of your rear mech.

That number doesn't really matter much. Nobody's going to be spinning
a 26-11, unless they're bonked out with heatstroke under the Tasmanian
sun, and at that point, chain sag is the least of ones worries.

steck wrote:
On Apr 27, 10:13 am, bcdrums wrote:
Sorry can't tell: do you have a double or a triple chainring setup?

The current setup is 48/38/28 in front.

I might want to swap out the whole set for, say, 46/36/26. I almost
never use the
highest gears.

Being one of your lazier cyclists, I feel that the tallest gears are
suitable only for going downhill when gravity provides a nice assist
anyway, and are therefore useless. I spend 95% of the time on the middle
chainring. I confess that on my bikes, all with triples, I don't use the
largest chainring at all. I view it as a support for the middle ring. It
also performs the function of facade, making the bike appear to be owned
by someone who goes fast, since it would be clear to even the most
casual observer that I am a slug if the largest ring was my middle ring.
I could easily switch to a double, if I could find cheap doubles geared
like my present middle + inner, and inexpensive clicky thumbshifters
with two positions on the left and eight on the right.

[realizing that he's contributed nothing of interest or utility to the
thread he decides that he'd best be moving on now]

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"
Bend, Oregon

On Apr 26, 6:20*pm, "Mark J." wrote:
steck wrote:
I have a 2007 Bianchi Volpe. *When touring, I pull a Burley Nomad
trailer. *Recently, I used this
setup to do a ride of the east coast of Tasmania:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stecksoft/Tasmania2010.

It was a bit tough getting up some of those Tasmanian hills. *I
confess to walking some of them.
The Volpe's smallest ring is 28T, and the cassette is 11-32.

In anticipation of my next tour, I've ordered a new 11-34 cassette.
Question: is it worthwhile to
put in a smaller ring, say 26T?

With the current setup, the small ring and the big cog gives me 23.6
gear-inches. *The 34 cog would
take that down to 22.2. *A 26T ring would make that 20.6.

My question, differently phrased: Will 22.2 gear-inches be noticeably
easier than 23.6? *Will 20.6
gear-inches be so absurdly low as to be useless?

If you've got the balance to stay upright while spinning the 20.6, it's
not too low. *I'd guess most experienced touring cyclists would. *How
steady do you feel with the 23.6?

If your bike will fit a 28 or 26, it is probably a 74mm BCD (if not
smaller) and if so could take a 24. *You may have a bit of fuss from the
front derailleur if the small-big range gets too wide, but it's easy to
find out, and chainrings are relatively cheap. *So you may have a
slightly lower option.

Changing 23.6 to 20.6 is around a 14% drop, about the same as shifting
from a 28T cog (if you have one) to a 32. *See how big your last cog
shift is compared to this, and how much it helps you, then judge for
yourself.

That is the odd part about that end of the gear range -- three gear
inches is four teeth. That is a big jump. That would be a half or a
third tooth at the top end.

With nine-speed casettes, I don't see a downside to super-low gears,
assuming that the drive train is up to it. You get to a point where
spinning at 60 rpms, for example, yields a walking speed -- or lower,
but I've always found that it is better for me to stay on the bike
when pulling a trailer. Bicycles with trailers are a bummer to push up
hill -- more so than just a bike. I agree with Tim that he needs to
dump weight. I never felt the need to pull a trailer, and I've spent
months at a time riding unsupported using a normal compliment of
paniers -- although life may be different in Tasmania, e.g. you have
to carry lots of food.

For me, the big question for the OP is did you see any of these?
http://www.cartoonspot.net/looney-tunes/taz.php -- Jay Beattie