Upgrading gears

[Kamatu]

Greetings, I know, long time, no post. Long story, but I'm still riding, just not improving like I wanted to yet.

Anyway, I need to do some more upgrading and I'm going to let the LBS work with me on it, but I wanted to explain the problem here and see if anyone has any advice. Using the straight Tiara gearing for now, I was running out of gears quickly. I'm not much stronger that I was, but I'm running out real fast.

The LBS suggested 52/39 on the front, but since I'm going to change out the wheels (24" rims), I figure I might as well upgrade that gearing also and make it more of a road setup. How many gear sprockets would you guys recommend and what range of teeth? I'm not going to be climbing any mountains here, but there are some hills to go up and down on.

I just went out and counted, the biggest ring is 42 teeth, so 52/39 should work I think, but then it is just me thinking.

 

[Doug Burton]

Hey there, good to see ya again.

52/39 should be fine with 26" wheels. The Sofrider V2 uses a 53/39 as I remember.

You'll want 8 or 9 speed for the rear, 11/32 or 11/34 cassettes work well and are easily found. Remember you'll need to change your shifters.

 

[Kamatu]

Hardtailcruzer wrote: Hey there, good to see ya again.

52/39 should be fine with 26" wheels. The Sofrider V2 uses a 53/39 as I remember.

You'll want 8 or 9 speed for the rear, 11/32 or 11/34 cassettes work well and are easily found. Remember you'll need to change your shifters.

I'm on 24" wheels and going to stick with them for a couple of reasons: 1) I'm still too heavy and 2) I have some off road runs that I cannot avoid.

 

[Doug Burton]

I think the 52/39 will still serve you well - you won't spin out nearly as quickly...

 

[Kamatu]

Hardtailcruzer wrote: I think the 52/39 will still serve you well - you won't spin out nearly as quickly...

:mrgreen:

I hope to God not. According to a gear inch calculator online the difference is about 7-10mph depending on the cadence, but now I need a computer, because that means I'm getting about 20mph out of a 42 tooth ring and whatever is on the back end. I cannot maintain that cadence for a long haul yet, but I expect that will get better.

 

[Kamatu]

Couple of questions:
1) As far as I can tell, 24" wheels are in production anymore, correct? Price went up a lot to get the LBS to build them up, but several online places were calling them custom order builds too.
2) LBS advised me that I'd have to replace the crank to shift from my MB triple to a road double, yes/no?
3) If the answer to 2) is yes, is that Tiara specific or simply something I'll have to deal with when I upgrade my front chain rings?

I'm thinking about simply upgrading to a new Huffy Avarice (which will solve several problems, including the need for new wheels), and make a new rear cassette wheel and off the shelf item, but do I need to budget in a new crank to go with new chain rings? The crank was the single most expensive item on the list at $85.

Sorry about asking, but I'm still running around like a chicken with my head cut off and my research time is not long enough to dig some of this stuff out in time.

Thanks.