Any advice much appreciated.
Riding a 2×10 stumpy Evo, at 11-36 & 24+36
Now my problem is that at speed- I run out of gear on the 11R & 36 front (high), but concerned that will struggle up steep hills with my 24F & 36R (low) if I just swap for a 26+40 front. So was wondering if I get a 11-38 cassette & 26+38 front, if that would increase my high gear for more speed & keep same ‘granny’ gear for my uphills with the 38R&38F.
Hope that makes sense-
Thanks

I don’t have particularily strong legs (more of the sit and spin type) and I’ve found my front 38/26 combo perfect with an 11-36 cassette.

Can you get an 11-38 cassette?

28/40 11-36 no problems.

Its possible your hills are steep than mine (1in8)

26-36 is pretty bloomin low, and you wont struggle to keep up, you’re power output (probably) doesn’t drop off a cliff below 80rpm, just pedal slower if it really is too hard. Plenty of people ride SS, so just learn to suffer on the climbs if nececary and ride faster rather than taking in the view. I’m definatley one to mash a big gear though rather than spin. Tempted to get a fixie and a low gear to see if I can cure that with a winters commuting.

Currently running 11-36 and 22 38 on the my Titus. If works fine but is a little more prone to dropping the chain when downshifting on the chainset but it doesn’t happen often and it’s great having that range of gears on a 2×10.

Cant seem to find the 11-38 that i thought i saw last night on CRC- maybe was dreaming.
Thanks for the responses- i think i will try the 26/38 front, at least a bit more speed than currently- and will just have to improve on those uphills. 😯

Hey Pridds – what make is that then? i would like a 24/38, but could not find one anywhere- if they even make that ratio.

Hi
Running a 11-36 XT cassette, middleburn 22 tooth chainring and TA chinook 38 tooth chainring
http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/product/54/ta_chinook_10x4/ta-chinook-10-speed-black-chainring.html

Thanks!

Adding 2 teeth up front on your bigger chainring really isn’t going to give you a huge extra turn of speed. I find with 24/36 and an 11-36 I’ve got gears for everything on my Mountain bike, never really want for any more offroad.

On road, well… I’ve got a road bike for that!

Doesn’t this depend on where you ride?

Lakes and most guides still run the conventional 3 x 27. However if your local is Cannock Chase then a single speed would be fine.

I run a 2 x 10 and find myself undergeared when we go Lakes or Pennines.

You might not want for any more but the OP did, hence the question.

mboy – dont you find though if you doing longer rides and hitting 40km/hr plus speeds that you are having to pedal too fast- which messes up your balance & fun at higher speeds, even if it is sometimes a fire road.
But thanks- if you say 2 teeth arent going to make much difference- then I need a new plan. Maybe a 29er, as moving to SA and know the rides tend to be more xc than trail riding.

Buy a 38T front ring, your derailleur should cope with 24/38 on the front.

Doesn’t this depend on where you ride?

Everything is subjective (I guess hence the choice), but I’d say it probably depends a lot more on your ability to spin the pedals quicker than it does on where you ride. I’ve ridden all sorts of places, Alps included, with a top gear of 36/11 and never found myself under geared.

My point is/was that an extra 2 teeth is really not going to make a huge difference. It’ll make the gearing all of about 5% taller. In reality, not very much.

If the OP really wants taller gearing, he should look at perhaps a 40 or 42T outer ring, this will at least give a usefully taller top gear.

The reality is though that learning to spin the pedals a bit faster will probably make more difference. Unless you’re riding lots of places with 30+ mph smooth downhills offroad.

I wasn’t being facetious, sorry if my original post sounded that way. Just trying to point out the reality before the OP goes and spends a load of money for a very minimal change.

mboy – dont you find though if you doing longer rides and hitting 40km/hr plus speeds that you are having to pedal too fast- which messes up your balance & fun at higher speeds, even if it is sometimes a fire road.

In never riding long downhill fire roads that are perfectly smooth (hence require pedalling, not pumping) so that’s much less of a concern for me. But I’ll happily pedal well over 100rpm for extra speed anyway if needs be.

But thanks- if you say 2 teeth arent going to make much difference- then I need a new plan. Maybe a 29er, as moving to SA and know the rides tend to be more xc than trail riding.

A 29er with the same gearing will give you approximately (depending on the height of the tyres) a 10% increase in speed, for the same pedal rpm, due to the larger radius of the wheel. Hence you often see 29er’s coming with “specific 29er gearing” (as manufacturers like to call it) on new bikes, usually meaning smaller chainrings or a larger rear cog than on 26″ bikes.

makes sense thanks – Guessin my best choice is to then see what my derailleur can handle & go for a 40t front chainring for now.

24/40 will be well beyond what your front mech will want to do. It will shift it, but not well. I’d go 26/40 and see how you get on, suspect you’ll be fine, unless you’re regularly using the bottom gear, in which case… why a double? It’s clearly not for you!