I'm wondering what other riders use for gearing, specifically chainrings and cassette/freewheel ranges. I don't do gear inch conversions that well.
Thanks,
See the following article for determining the gearing for your riding style, http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Port/2945/Gears/Gears.html. I changed my stock gearing to something that fit my riding style and terrain. I went from the "off-the-shelf" Shimano 105 triple to a new Shimano XT with a 48-36-26 chainring set. My cassette is a 12-32 that I bought from Harris Cyclery. Now instead of having 2-3 gears at the top end that I rarely used, I bunched my gears a little closer and added another gear at the low end. The result is that I can ride at 30-32 mph at around 95 rpm in my largest gear. And, I can crawl up hills in my lowest gear. There is also less of a jump between gears, so finding a comfortable gear is relatively easy.
In general, most recumbent riders use a wide-range triple crankset in front (say, 53 - 39 - 28), and a wide-range cassette (11-34) in the back.
This lets people who may not be hard-core athletes deal with climbing steep hills, the traditional nemesis of recumbents.
But you may find another choice better for you, if a) the local terrain is mostly flat, and b) you are a strong cyclist. Using a closely-spaced cassette - perhaps an 11-21 - can give you more of an automatic transmission feeling. As long as you still have a granny gear up front, you can usually get out of trouble on hills.
This is the kind of thing that you need to do some individual experimentation with. And if you decide to take a tour of an area much more hilly than your usual one, be prepared to switch to wider-range gears.
Gearing
See the following article for determining the gearing for your riding style, http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Port/2945/Gears/Gears.html. I changed my stock gearing to something that fit my riding style and terrain. I went from the "off-the-shelf" Shimano 105 triple to a new Shimano XT with a 48-36-26 chainring set. My cassette is a 12-32 that I bought from Harris Cyclery. Now instead of having 2-3 gears at the top end that I rarely used, I bunched my gears a little closer and added another gear at the low end. The result is that I can ride at 30-32 mph at around 95 rpm in my largest gear. And, I can crawl up hills in my lowest gear. There is also less of a jump between gears, so finding a comfortable gear is relatively easy.
Rick Mandle
Gearing choice is... personal
Hi Jim,
In general, most recumbent riders use a wide-range triple crankset in front (say, 53 - 39 - 28), and a wide-range cassette (11-34) in the back.
This lets people who may not be hard-core athletes deal with climbing steep hills, the traditional nemesis of recumbents.
But you may find another choice better for you, if a) the local terrain is mostly flat, and b) you are a strong cyclist. Using a closely-spaced cassette - perhaps an 11-21 - can give you more of an automatic transmission feeling. As long as you still have a granny gear up front, you can usually get out of trouble on hills.
This is the kind of thing that you need to do some individual experimentation with. And if you decide to take a tour of an area much more hilly than your usual one, be prepared to switch to wider-range gears.
Safe riding,
Joel