Forum menu
After seeing Merlin's sale, I'm looking at losing my front mech. Both options are going to be a bit of a faff to set up, the big cassette (General Lee adapter) a bit cheaper and clunkier, Hammerschmidt smoother, bigger range but heavier and apparently [i]a bit draggy[/i] in the higher ratios?
How does the Hammerschmidt actually work? What happens when you shift ?
just go 1x9/ 1x10 and see how you get on with your existing gears.
You have noticed the crank length, haven't you? 165mm will feel very odd if you've been used to riding 175mm. There is a reason they are so cheap....
My Mrs once had 162.5mm cranks and they felt very very weird - like your foot zipped straight through the power stroke without doing anything. Guess they'll be OK if you sit and spin a gear.
What he said, kidie bike sizes only.
They work by only having a 22t chainring, then planetary gears mean it spins 1.5x times quicker than you pedal when you shift up.
On the upside, huge ground clerance, downside they're not any tougher than XC cranks despite the weight, and do wear out.
I'd rather go X91, but don't have a good record with SRAM mechs.
I'm still holding out on gearboxes!
I like my AM version, and for 99% of my off-road riding I just leave it in low and use the full spread of gears on my 9 speed cassette. The only time I’ve felt the need to pop it into overdrive is when I’m riding one particular trail that has a 3-4 mile road tab back to my folks house, and even then I can’t say I’ve noticed a huge amount of drag, but by this time my legs are usually knackered anyway ? There’s also the option of running a 24t chainring if you want to have slightly higher gearing.
My fitness dictates that if I want to get to the top of this:
[img] 
[/img]
I need more than 34:32 or take the train.
I'm not sure about the short crank now though, thanks MickR.
There's no real reson not to have a double up front, I just want a play with new ideas/technology without spending half a thousand quid.
As far as I can see (and this goes for a few SRAM products - see also the [url= http://www.sram.com/sram/urban/family/automatix ]Automatix hub[/url]) the Hammerschmidt is a nice idea, but never seems to have been developed past Mk 1.