there is no getting away with it, but trying to get 21 stone uphill, be it on the road or offroad, is not a very easy task.
so i have always been a spinner of gears. a 22/32 combo with a 12/36 cassette has been my choice over the years.

recently bought a solaris, that came with a 30t front ring and a 12/42 cassette. the low gear would be ok for most folk offroad. but i still found it a bit hard uphill offroad.
on friday i fitted a 24 single ring upfront, mated to the 12/42 cassette.

and like magic, bloody perfect.
i dont pedal downhill anyway, and with the higher gears at the bottom end of the cassette, i can still spin along nicely on the flats.
and for proper grinding climbs the 24 front with the 42 rear is ace.

all good now. 😀

Seems jolly sensible to me

In the olden days before we were all forced to love our single rings by the militant MTB fashionistas, this is what everyone did – just drop into the granny ring if you had to. No-one knew, no-one cared.

Nowadays we all have to pick one ring to rule them all.

(Disclaimer: I have only a single ring, and multiple gears at the front make my head hurt).

If it makes riding easier and more enjoyable then surely thats a good thing?

Fwiw im pretty sure that a 24-26×42 gear is pretty similar to 34×50 on the eagle drivetrains anyway….. Just without the cost 😉

Well look how fast Froome spins, and he’s supposed to be fit.

Physics. Don’t worry about it.

Single rings here on the MTBs but 42 and 46 sprockets on bikes, 32 with compact doubles on the road and gravel bikes. As long as I get my 120kg up the hill does it matter?

My Bikepacking steed runs 2×11. That’s currently a low gear of 26×40 so not far off yours. If you’re happy, be happy. I still like having the higher gears for flatter/easier terrain and for tarmac sections too, hence 2x .

2×11 for exactly the same purpose. lovely spinny legs to twiddle up anything then a bigger isn ring to move along at pace on the easier bits. I’m actually using a 25t oval onto a 42t rear, the oval is really nice for long ascents.

Pushing hard and grinding on my knees just doesn’t work, they’ll ace pretty badly if I grind on them for too long, but spinning can be done all day without the slightest issue.

Your choice is pretty sensible in my books.

I still think triple up front and singlespeed at the back is the future.

I’m a total spinner too, always preferred it, and I weigh a fairly svelte <80kg

Whatever ratios keep you riding are good ratios. It’s all about personal setup. Trying to mash a gear that’s too hard for you will only store up knee injury for later

Otoh, if you’re riding and happy with the 24 front then maybe keep an eye on how easy it is, you may find over time it feels less effort and then you could maybe try a slightly bigger chainring. There may be fringe benefits for FS bikes, some designs behave better with a particular size chainring, but that obviously doesn’t apply to a hardtail like a Solaris.

There’s zero point making yourself unhappy and causing injury because you’re worried about looking soft.

No, not soft at all.
I use 22/36 lowest gear and I weigh around half as much so getting up hills is a somewhat easier task.
I’m strongly of the opinion that the vast majority of riders are vastly over-geared. A lot of people seem to run gears the same size as an XC pro uses, except they have half the P/W ratio.

I used to spin a lot but kind of drifted away from the big and granny rings to the extent I was only using them a few times per ride, and another bike I had at the time was 1×9 with a guide so I had no choice.

When n/w became available I replaced like-for-like and get on quite well with 34T and 11-34 sometimes 36 combo. I’m not popping cartilage on the climbs it feels like walking upstairs

*rides off in high gear*

Who gives a shit, use whatever gears you have to as long as you enjoy it.

(But yes, you are a big soft shit) runs away………

I went 1 x 10 with a 42/36 gearing – was previously a spinner but have become a lot fitter since going to the Single ring up front,

Ask yourself how many of the people you know outside of biking could ride a bike up a hill at all, in any gear combination whatsoever?

And then how many people who ride bikes up hills are nowadays starting to do it with motorised assistance?

You ride a bike up hills = you’re not soft

Stop taking olives, cheese and soreen on rides and you’ll have less gear issues

Stop taking olives, cheese and soreen on rides and you’ll have less gear issues

olives and chorizo now…….not allowed the soreen. 😆

having had knee surgery a few times over the years I follow the advice of the surgeon and physio, who deal with a lot of roadies, and now spin a low gear. My road cadence averages around 90/93 and I try and keep it similar off road as much as I can. In my situation it is definitely beneficial for my knees.

Stop taking olives, cheese and soreen on rides and you’ll have less gear issues

and cleaner pockets

The downside with running a small front ring is spinning out on the downs… If you don’t have that downside then you don’t have a downside.

Personally it blows my mind (mentally) if my legs are spinning too freely without enough resistance. I do think 32/44 works well for me but it’s only recently (after a year or so of pedalling) that I’ve finally got fit enough to enjoy it and hold a conversation. I usually find myself 1 or 2 off the top ring of the cassette now which is also good for a mental boost…It’s nice to know there are 2 gears to dig into if you’ve really got a struggle on so I’d imagine it’s the same for you.

Set your bike up for your style of riding… can’t really say much fairer than that can you? If you’re on 2 wheels life is good!

In the olden days before we were all forced to love our single rings by the militant MTB fashionistas, this is what everyone did – just drop into the granny ring if you had to.

When were the olden days? 1990s for me meant the lowest gear available was 22t granny ring with 28t sprocket which is equivalent to 0.785:1, although we rode with 26″ 1.85 skinny tyres which helped reduce the gear inches.(20.39inches per pedal rev)

24t:42t is 0.57t. even on a 29er with 2.25″ rubber this is only 16.52 gear inches, I can’t even comprehend how you would keep the front wheel on the ground with that kind of gearing!

The “on fashion” I must spin at Xrpm is all well and dandy but I find that once the gradient gets sufficiently steep then no matter what gear I’m in, I’ll invariably be pedalling around 60rpm. I seem to remember Geraint Thomas writing that for the hills they handled on the TdF then they generally pedalled somewhere between 60 & 70rpm.

Off-road I find being in a higher gear to be better as you have more oomph when there’s a rough bit otherwise you can stall out.

Gearing is so personal and they say that when climbing you should be able to choose a gear that allows you to sit on the saddle and spin at 75+rpm. Yet some forums have members that slate anyone who doesn’t have a road bike with 53/39 chainrings and 11-23T cassettes to grind up categorised climbs.

I pick the gears that take me up the hil the fastest with the least effort. For me thats a nice spinny gear.

I have never thought ‘damn I wish I had a bigger front cog’ when out on the mtb, but I quite often wish I had a couple of extra cogs on the cassette when going upwards

I have never thought ‘damn I wish I had a bigger front cog’ when out on the mtb, but I quite often wish I had a couple of extra cogs on the cassette when going upwards

nail on the head.

26×42 on the fatbike. Gets me up some climbs that I’ve never managed on any other bikes and I can still go fast enough to frighten the life out of myself going down the other side, so it’s a win-win 🙂

I’m running 30-50 on eagle GX. Always nice to have a rock crawler/bailout gear.

I’ve just ridden an event in Italy on my 650b road/stuff bike and my gearing is 44/30 and 12/28. Whilst I spin out at just over 40km/h I didn’t walk up anything – and there was over 11,000m of climbing. Carrying kit for light touring – spare clothes, something casual for the evenings, food for each day and some extras, first aid kit, Chargers and cables, camera and a lightweight sleeping bag and mat in case of unexpected overnighting

Well, iirc I did tell you to go 2×11…

I did the Hebridean Way the other week on my SolarisMAX with 29er wheels and 26×42 as my lowest gear.

I’m not gonna deny that on my laden bike going up and over the hill to Tarbert or the one out of Tarbert to Lewis that I wasn’t in that gear.

That’s why I went 2×11…

i dont pedal downhill anyway,

You don’t effin need to!

Gravity sucks. 😉

metalheart – Member
Well, iirc I did tell you to go 2×11…

and i took your advice, got a 24/34 on the front, but with no front mech. dont think i will bother with a front mech either. dont see me wanting to use the 34 front.

You don’t effin need to!

Gravity sucks.

i have won every downhill freewheel race i have entered. 😆

Glad you have found a workable solution. I was just being a smartarse… 😳

I prefer to stay in the ‘big’ ring whenever I can and only bail for the hills. Especially on road sections. Buts that’s me.

Until last year I was still 3x! I’ve a ‘spare’ brand new 3×10 XT group set in a box… just sittin…. 🙄

At 21 stone I reckon ypu might be pretty soft… *pokes belly with finger