Next Bike — What Do I Want?

[DismalScientist]

@TwoWheelsDC 48492 wrote:

One thing to seriously consider though, is that cross bikes generally have road components, so you can’t get the same low gearing that you’d find on a real MTB.

My new touring bike has a 30/28 granny gear with road components (105s) and my old Trek 620 has a 28/32 granny gear with a Deore RD. Some touring bikes have mountain RDs out of the box. I can’t say I really ever would have a need for a lower gear.

[jabberwocky]

@DismalScientist 48498 wrote:

I seriously doubt that my touring bike with road components does not have the same low gearing as a MTB. The real question is whether to get a double or triple up front.

In the 9-speed age, most MTBs had a 22t granny and an 11-34 cassette. I’ve never seen actual road components with gearing that low. Its common for touring bikes to use MTB components for that reason (my touring bike has MTB cranks, cassette and derailleurs).

[DismalScientist]

@jabberwocky 48499 wrote:

In the 9-speed age, most MTBs had a 22t granny and an 11-34 cassette. I’ve never seen actual road components with gearing that low. Its common for touring bikes to use MTB components for that reason (my touring bike has MTB cranks, cassette and derailleurs).

I saw your previous post after posting and re-edited the post you quoted to reflect actual fact patterns. I guess my mountain bike also has similarly low gearing (from the 7 speed age) and I doubt I have ever been in the smallest chainring. (Of course, I also haven’t had it on any trail that would actually require a mountain bike either.:rolleyes:)

[GuyContinental]

@jabberwocky 48497 wrote:

I don’t think most road derailleurs will shift onto a 34t cassette (some will work with a 32, but it can be finicky and isn’t officially recommended). And a road triple only goes down to a 30t small ring, whereas most MTB cranks have a 22t small ring.

Granted, you could just run a full MTB drivetrain aside from the shifters.

This is getting gear-heady but lots of CX folks run long cage MTB RDs with STI (Red/XO works perfectly on the same ratio) and you can definitely get a FD and MTB triple to work with an STI shifter. Also, Apex long cage RD will work off-the-shelf with a 32T. I have a big ol’ box of MTB parts and a little box of road parts and have built up all sorts of frankenbike drivetrains.

I can definitely think of a few times (e.g. kid in tow on the Custis) where a granny on the CX would have been nice…

[vvill]

My 26″ MTB has a 22 granny ring and a rear 7 speed 14-34 freewheel. 22-34 is pretty fun.

[jabberwocky]

@DismalScientist 48500 wrote:

I guess my mountain bike also has similarly low gearing (from the 7 speed age) and I doubt I have ever been in the smallest chainring. (Of course, I also haven’t had it on any trail that would actually require a mountain bike either.:rolleyes:)

My MTB still has 9-speed components, with a 32-22 crank and 11-34 cassette. I’m hardly ever on the granny ring in the immediate DC area, but I certainly make use of it in the actual mountains in the GW forest or up in Frederick. Some MTB trails get really steep!

My cross bike has a compact double (34-50) and an 11-28 cassette. Its doable for most stuff around here (I obviously don’t ride it on tougher MTB trails) but the somewhat steep low gearing does suck on hills off road.

@GuyContinental 48501 wrote:

This is getting gear-heady but lots of CX folks run long cage MTB RDs with STI (Red/XO works perfectly on the same ratio) and you can definitely get a FD and MTB triple to work with an STI shifter. Also, Apex long cage RD will work off-the-shelf with a 32T. I have a big ol’ box of MTB parts and a little box of road parts and have built up all sorts of frankenbike drivetrains.

I can definitely think of a few times (e.g. kid in tow on the Custis) where a granny on the CX would have been nice…

Yup, you can definitely take advantage of the fact that mountain and road derailleurs and shifters tend to be compatible. At that point, you’re basically running a MTB drivetrain though.

Fun fact: downhill mountainbikers sometimes take advantage the other direction, running road cassettes and rear derailleurs with mountain shifters to get lots of high-speed, closely spaced gears.

[DismalScientist]

After a quick perusal of relevant sites, I find that my original surmise was, in fact, correct. In general touring bikes out-of-the-box have as great a range of gearing and as low gearing as mountain bikes. The reason for this is obvious: The drivetrain on “all” (i.e. most, unlike the one I actually purchased) touring bikes is actually a mountain drivetrain.

* I’ll ignore any comments on how going from 700C to 26″ wheels actually changes the gear inches.:p

[JimF22003]

Also have the Spec. TriCross (from a few years ago.) I rode a 60-mile out-and-back on the C&O from the Cumberland end (down to Paw-Paw and back). The trail was fine, but I was pretty beaten up afterwards. I’ve ridden from the DC end past Great Falls a few times, and it’s OK if the trail is dry. I believe I used 700/35 tires.

[mstone]

I’ll be contrary here and say DO NOT go out looking for a “cyclocross bike” or a “touring bike”. Like most things in the industry, I don’t think those terms really mean anything anymore (if they ever really did). Instead, list the features you’re looking for, and find a bike that meets your criteria, whether the manufacturer has stuck it in the “CX” bin, or the “touring” bin, or the “endurance” bin, or the “urban” bin, or whatever.

On the cyclocross front, at one point that was taken to mean “more general-purpose roadish bike than a road racer” and you could expect it to be fairly solid, have clearance for fenders, etc. This was great, because “road bikes” were getting more and more specialized and you couldn’t really do much with them apart from going fast on pavement. Now you see a lot more ultra-specialized/niche “cyclocross” bikes with less flexibility. That’s presumably great if you’re actually in a cyclocross race, less great if you just wanted a flexible bike.

Side note: what is it with the US bike market that they can’t sell a bike without putting it in a category?

On the touring front: most people who are touring will laugh if you ask them when they last used 52/12 gearing. Most mass market “touring bikes” have a 50 or 52 big ring. Why? Because shimano’s road front derailleurs aren’t compatible with shimano’s mountain front derailleurs. You can make a road brifter + road der + mountain crank work, but it looks a little weird (the curve on the derailleur is wrong) and mass market manufacturers don’t like weird. (You will see that combination from specialty manufacturers, e.g., the co-motion americano.) One way around that is to use a friction front shifter, which is one reason why bar-end shifters are popular on touring bikes. But then you see bikes in the “touring bike” bin which are plain old road bikes with barcons, because “that’s what touring bikes have”. Which is great if you are happy with barcons, less great if you want brifters. Note that drop-bar shifters are one of the most expensive components you can upgrade, so I’d suggest not buying something that has barcons with the intent of immediately upgrading to brifters.

For my do-everything bike, the checklist included: solid frame + strong wheels (I’m large & wanted to carry a lot of stuff), ability to take reasonably wide tires (>32) + fenders, front & rear racks, disc brakes for wet weather, drop bars, brifters, low gearing.

How did I do? The bike came with 32 spoke wheels that I was a little leery of, but I upgraded the rear to a 36 spoke DT TK-540 rim when a car hit me and bent the wheel. Probably would have done that upgrade anyway for peace of mind. Came with 32mm tires, just swapped the rear for a 37. Can probably fit 40 or 42. One really nice thing about disc or cantilever brakes is that you mostly only need to worry about frame clearance when putting on bigger tires. I got the disk brakes. The gearing was the biggest trade-off I made, because I couldn’t find anything in the price range I was looking for that had all the other things I wanted as well as the gearing. My plan is to change out the road crank for a mountain crank when it’s time for a replacement. The point to all this? Figure out what you want, where you want to ride, what kind of conditions, etc. You may not find a bike that has everything you’re looking for, so figure out the tradeoffs that make the most sense for you.

[brendan]

mstone’s last post was one of those posts that made me think and google for about 15 minutes. thanks!

[Amalitza]

@KayakCyndi 48408 wrote:

Oh, and if you want to try my Viaje just let me know.

yes, please, whenever we finally get around to scheduling our team 10 group ride.:o I think you are enough taller than me that we can’t switch bikes for very long and be comfortable, but still…

[dasgeh]

I can’t really help with specifics, but I just wanted to +1 the point about upright geometry. It sounds like from the other bikes in your arsenal, you don’t have a lot of upright. I find that when I’m just hopping on the bike for some errands – don’t want to change into “bike clothes” or put on special shoes, the upright geometry helps. I have a dutch bike that’s very upright, that I don’t think would work for what you’re looking for, but other bikes mentioned allow a more or less upright riding position. I agree with mstone about just making a list of features, I’d just put upright position on it.

[eminva]

Thanks again, everyone . . . the excellent advice continues to roll in.

So, the decision: I’m going to get a mountain bike. Although I don’t ride a lot of MTB trails, when I do, I’d really much prefer to be on a mountain bike. If I didn’t have a MTB, I’d be foreclosing a lot of places I might like to explore. There are other reasons, too (as dasgeh notes, it would be a bike with upright geometry, my current studded tires would fit it, obviating the expense to replace those, too and I have been known to ride a mountain bike on the W&OD, so it can also be a backup commuter).

I was on the CCT on Saturday (pausing at the ballfields just south of Little River Turnpike) and saw a guy up on the hill on the Wakefield trail system gingerly making his way through on a road or CX bike — he didn’t look like he was having fun and that kind of iced it for me.

I’ll keep checking the cushions for change so I can get a really nice CX/backup commuter bike one of these days. When that time comes around, I’ll heed to sound advice to evaluate what I plan to use it for an get the right bike for the job, without regard to label. No, there’s no space for it, but I’ll make some somewhere.

We’re probably going to order this online and complete assembly at home (my husband and me). Have no fear, he knows what he’s doing. We’ve been married almost 15 years; I’m sure we’re ready for the big step of working on a bike together.

Thanks again!

Liz

[vvill]

26er, 29er or 27.5er?

[eminva]

@vvill 48642 wrote:

26er, 29er or 27.5er?

26″. That way, the studded tires I already have will fit. 😮

Liz

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