The Lounge of Terrestrial Wheelmen

[George]

The current trend in bicycle drivetrains is 1x11, with one chainring in front and a wide-range cassette of eleven cogs in the rear. Proponents say they are lighter and simpler and the only drawback is larger jumps between gears.

Since I got back into cycling a few years ago, I've been riding older 3x7 and 3x8 bikes. I've run different tire sizes and have seen the effect that has. Smaller tires means using the "upper half" of gears, to oversimplify the example, and fatter tires means using the "lower half" for the same speeds with similar effort.

Sometimes I would use every gear on the 3x8 mountain bike on longer rides because there are a lot of hills where I ride and much of that is off-road trails where low gears really help.

Example:



The bike I took to the shop is sort of a jack-of-all-trades that can run skinny road tires and fatter tires that are more fun off road. I plan to do both and want to have a wide range of gears so I can climb anything and still rocket downhill on some long, straight roads without "spinning out" and having to coast. I think a 3x9 will give me all that. It will also cost much less than a full 1x11 conversion would, since all I need is a different front derailleur, a wider bottom bracket, and one extra chainring with mounting bolts.

If I were buying a brand new bike, I'd probably get something with a 1x11 drivetrain and disc brakes like this, but I'm not.

[Tom Servo]

Oooh, that Kona's purdy.

[Cam]

It's amazing how quickly your muscles atrophy.

Ditto over here. I've done a minimal amount of exercise over the past year. I weighed myself the other day and I was 162 lbs. That is the lightest I've been in decades. I am wasting away.

On the flip side, I moved and entire truckload of dirt from the driveway to Lori's backyard garden boxes this week. Shoveling dirt for two hours a day will make you fit for sure! :flex:

[neanderthal]

Oooh, that Kona's purdy.

That Kone IS purdy!!!

It's a fine line between gaudy and pretty when things are gold.

[George]

Shoveling dirt for two hours a day will make you fit for sure! :flex:

You guys are probably tired of hearing me mention Jack Reacher novels, but someone at this forum (Josh or Nate, I think) is to blame for turning me on to them. Anyway, in one of the books, he has two jobs. At night, he's a bouncer at a bar in Key West. By day, he digs swimming pools with a shovel. It is explained that the roads and lots are too small to allow backhoes to be used.

Just an idea in case Cam is looking for work.

[SportWagon]

The 34T smaller chainring was okay, but I knew if I put on fatter and therefore taller tires, I'd be over-geared again. So, I took the bike to the shop to get a triple installed and a better wheelset that's tubeless-compatible. It's anyone's guess when the parts might arrive, but in the meantime, I hope to rack up some miles on the mountain bike.

As a cranky old fart I find it difficult to believe that with a reasonably wide-range rear cluster you couldn't just compensate for taller tires by using lower gears. Or did you actually spend a significant amount of time in your lowest gear?

[George]

As a cranky old fart I find it difficult to believe that with a reasonably wide-range rear cluster you couldn't just compensate for taller tires by using lower gears. Or did you actually spend a significant amount of time in your lowest gear?

I appreciate your interest and advice. The LBS suggested a wider range cassette to go along with the 34T chainring but didn't know when they could get one. The bike's not here now for me to confirm this, but the internet says I probably have an 11-32 9-speed cassette.

Yes, I'm in the lowest gear often, and for long (to me) climbs sometimes. And I haven't been trail riding on this bike because I know I don't have low enough gears to get "up and over" some short but really steep parts of trails where I'd rather keep pedaling than portage.

And I'll be the first to admit I'm not in shape. Wasting Away Cam and Atrophied Tom Servo and are my role models.

[JoshInKC]

On the flip side, I moved and entire truckload of dirt from the driveway to Lori's backyard garden boxes this week. Shoveling dirt for two hours a day will make you fit for sure! :flex:

As that's a major part of field season for me, I can confirm: That'll do it.

[George]

Haven't posted any ride pictures in a while. Here are some from yesterday.

Spoiler:

I think we're still a week or two away from seeing Spring arrive around here. Grass is starting to turn green again but we don't have many trees with leaves yet.

We had great weather for cycling yesterday. It was in the upper 50s F, sunny, and not too windy. We rode 14 miles, which may have been the longest the kids have ridden so far.

[Tom Servo]

Wow, that looks like a truly lovely place to ride.