So I’m building up my first non-hub geared, drop barred touring bike. And I am utterly confused about gearing.

My partner has a CDF with a 34-54 double and a 11-32 cassette, and those gears are far too hard realistically with some panniers.

I’d thought that I wanted to run a 10 speed Shimano drivetrain, with a double up front as I’ve been given some 105 double STIs. Can I put on an MTB double, like an XT crankset to get easier gears? Should I sack the STIs in and run bar end shifters? 9 speed?

The incompatibility issues seem nuts compared to my nice simple 1×10 mtb drivetrain…

Are you sure the existing crankest isn’t 39-54?

A road compact would be 34-50, 34-54 sounds like far too big a jump.

Triple for touring

If you’re starting with the double shifters, how about an MTB double chainset in 40.28 or 38.26 or 38.24 like this:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-deore-m615-10-speed-double-chainset/rp-prod108774. Use a roadie front mech.

Then out the back, a 11-36 cassette, using a long cage 9 speed MTB mech which is compatible with roadie 10 speed shifters.

If you want a faster gear for when you’re unloaded, go for a triple, the trekking versions of MTB stuff are a god place to start.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-deore-m610-10-speed-triple-chainset/rp-prod106873

I have 34-50 and 12-30 on my Croix De Fer. not enough gears for the other weekend touring on Mull with panniers

I like a triple (24-36-46 / 12-28), I guess a double might work OK though it is nice to have high gears if you have long alpine descents to do.

Not sure what mech you’d use on an xt triple that would work with a road sti, mtb mechs use longer cable pull IIRC.

Sorry, she has a 34-50 chain set.

Will a roadie front mech work with the smaller chainrings of an mtb double? Is the cage shape ok?

I’m not so worried about high gears. Coming from mtb with wide range cassettes and fewer chainrings seems more sensible to me.

I have the 48/36/26 XT trekking chainset running with 105 STIs and the 105 triple front mech. No problem with capacity, just had to get the BB spacers just right on mine to reach out far enough for the big ring and at the same time not having to butcher the mudguard for when it’s in the granny ring.

I would go with a road triple, it is a lot nicer to be able to find a gear to fit your cadence, rather than changing your rhythm to match your gears when touring. Wide range cassettes are really a bit pants.

Go 11-36 at the back with your double front and 10-spd rear shifter. Use a 9-spd MTB rear mech to get the right cake pull to mech movement ratio.

My Gryphon which is set up for touring / pannier end commuting is running
XT cranks with 50, 34 rings
CX70 cyclocross front mech
10spd XT 11-36 cassette
9 spd XT rear mech
105 shifters 10spd, double front

The front mech and cranks thing becomes easier if you go road based, but I needed the MTB cranks for the bottom bracket and chain stay clearance.

How do you folk feel about 8 or 9 speed then if I was to run a triple with a close ratio cassette? seems like the advantage of 10 speed is those wide ratio cassettes.

Aha, cyclocross mech, that’s a good idea. How does your front shiftin work IGM? Can you just space the mtb cranks towards the NDS to get the right chain line?

i have a 9speed compact triple on my vaya with a 11-34t cassette. crazy wide range of gears but too big a jump between the rear gears for road work (it was the only 9speed cassette i had spare at the time and i’m running an xt mtb mech anyway) – intend to go to a 11-28t rear when it comes to new chain/cassette time. triple 9speed shifters were reasonably cheap at merlin when i got mine, couldn’t see any real advantage to pay more for 10speed stuff at the time as i had enough 9speed stuff to complete already

http://www.middleburn.co.uk/spider-road-incey-11058bcd-double

Middleburn cranks with wider / lower geared rings? I was looking for a slightly lower than road compact with a 11-25 or 11-28 at the back and ended up with a RS7 double with the right ratios for me rather than mess about mixing Shimano 10s road and MTB stuff, odd chainlines etc. SRAM 10s is cross-compatible still.

With a bit of bodging, I put an mtb triple crank set on my bike to replace the road double (50/39) – I just use the middle and inner rings and currently have them at 42/28 with a 11-32 cassette. Works nicely and gives me all the range I need. On a loaded touring bike, I think the 50/11 top gear most come with is useless – downhills are for coasting!

Jameso – thanks for pointin out Middleburn, I hadn’t thought of that at all. I like the idea of a closer ratio cassette with very wide chainring range. Do you have that setup with a standard road double front mech?

Aha, cyclocross mech, that’s a good idea. How does your front shiftin work IGM? Can you just space the mtb cranks towards the NDS to get the right chain line?

Actually because the Gryphon is a 29er MTB frame, the XT crank gives the right chain line (although I think I ran the extra BB spacer on the non-drive side to let the big ring get further over on the cassette).

The CX mech gave a better cage profile for the 50-34 than a pure road or MTB mech – a trekking mech would probably be pretty good too, but the CX mech takes up a lot less room behind the seat tube and gives better tyre clearance.

Crank option.

How about a 48-36 CX crank?

You could change the 36 for some thing smaller if needs be

I like the idea of a closer ratio cassette with very wide chainring range.

The problem with that is when you change at the front, you then have to change 2 or 3 cogs at the back to correct the massive jump in gearing at the front, not a particular problem if you are crestiing a hill and picking up speed, but if you have just hit a steep bit and are dropping gears, you lose all momentum while you get everything sorted out.

The best solution really is a road triple and either 8 or 9 speed 11-28 at the back, and unless you are hoping to bodge a solution with pre existing parts, then doing anything else is just **** around for no reason a bit of a compromise.

What is on the bike now?

There is nothing on the bike right now, I’m only just building it up now. I have been given some 105 10speed double STI levers, I like the idea of not having to buy other expensive STIs…

If that’s what you have then…

Compact double chain set, 11-36 10-spd XT rear, 9-spd XT rear mech (to get the 41 tooth capacity), road double front mech (might have to be Shimano)
Deore if XT is too posh.
34×36 should get you up most stuff.

10 speed 105 STI is perfect for the rear, I run 11-32 with a 9sp XT mech on 700c wheels with 32s.
If you’re mortal like me then low gearing (20-22″) is the priority. Top end speed is not important for touring.
I had a double front changer, flogged it cos I wanted (needed?) a triple. I use an old LX mtb front mech with a downtube friction shifter. No compatibility issues and I can trim the mech without the modern miracle of electricity.

Do as igm says,I’ve just done exactly that to my bike, though not xt cos I ain’t that posh. I’ve just come back from a test ride, all loaded up, getting ready for weekend mini tour, and it performs brilliantly. I gave it a few hills to cope with and all was fine, I’m not saying its as good as out and out tour gears, but I think it would have to be quite a severe hill to be off and pushing.

If you’re touring loaded in hilly areas, you can’t go too low. I use a triple with a smallest chain ring of either 24 or 22 (20 on the tandem) mated to an 11/34 9 speed cassette. I use 9 speed bar ends rather than expensive (and complex/potentially fragile) brifters.

If it’s for touring, set it up for touring. If for roadying, set it up for that. Trying to combine them will just compromise one or both IME.

This post has come just at the right time for me. I’ve also got a CdF with 50/34 and 11-32 and strongly suspect that if I load it up with panniers and touring stuff I’d struggle to get up hills. Researching t’internet came up with a bewildering choice of options. My cunning strategy soon changed to seeing what Spa cycles put on their steel tourer (48/38/28 and 11-32) and think about copying that 🙂

Alternatively I did come across someone opting for a double up front (40/28) and 11-28 cassette which might be a cheaper option.

I don’t think 28 front/32 rear is low enough for loaded touring in proper hilly terrain. You might think you’ll just tough it out but if you have to do this coupled with long miles day after day, you’ll be shagged.

Do you have that setup with a standard road double front mech?

Planning to use std road FD, 48-34 with 11-25, or 11-28 for loaded / hillier rides. Not a good gear spinner here so happy on that gear as I pack fairly light.
But ideally the bike needs the new road cranks they’re meant to be bringing out as the std RS7s are a tad wider than my Shimano road cranks, so I have some 170mm RS7s in fitted but almost new condition FS now -obv plug but hey.. : ) £60 posted. Mail in profile if interested.

Boblo – I might have to go smaller at the front then or bigger at the back as well 🙂

Go 44/34/24 plus 11/34 and you’ll be reet. Spa do their cheapie triple in that configure around £35 IIRC.

FWIW, I use a road triple and a 10-speed XT cassette 😆

Was planning this too. Would a medium cage 10 speed 105 rear mech not cope with an 11-34 cassette and a 33-48 double. Everything I’ve read suggests it would work ok ( but be right on the limit) but some reassurance would be good.

Jameso – YGM

I’m looking at chain lines now. Jesus.

Still can’t quite figure out what road front mech I would need for a smaller-than-compact chain set setup.

just did the way of the roses fully loaded with the family, my Pinnacle is a 1×10 setup 38 – 12-30 cassette
seems ideal although something smaller for the 16% climbs would have been useful, i coped with everything and there was a lot less to go wrong

I’d hit the CTC forum and do some searches – there’s normally a thread or two on the technical front page about gearing…

A couple of more options for you though are an IRD Alpine front derailleur, that’s designed to work with road STI’s and chainrings smaller that 50T on the big ring.

Alternatively, buy the cheapest road double mech you can get your hands on, and fit a square taper triple crankset with only 2 rings. Someone on the CTC forum uses an MTB 22-44 double (from a triple) set up, with the big ring in the middle ring position. the square taper BB means you can use shorter/longer BB axles to get the chainline right. And believe it or not a 44T chainring means you only lose a couple of gears at the top end compared with a 50T ring.

So an MTB triple chainset with a 22T granny and a 44T “middle” ring only. or a 110/74bcd triple with 24T granny and whatever middle you like (more chainring options in this route, but can only go down to 24T).

I run triples on my bikes, but on one I’ve got 24-36-48T MTB cranks running on 9speed STI’s and triple front mech (which is over capacity) all using a 107mm BB compared to the “correct” 113mm one.

And personally, I see the point of multiple chainrings is a big ratio change, so I’d prefer to be shifting 2-3 gears on the cassette in conjunction with a chainring change.

Good luck!

There’s some good tips here. It seems strange to me tht something as common as touring (is touring a niche?) is so hard to find standard options for.

My GF is off touring this summer in NI and just bought a Ridley Xbow for that purpose (though not for that alone), got the shop to change the small ring to a 34 and fit a 12-30 at the back, reading this thread it sounds like she might struggle.

EDIT – do 9sp Xt mechs work with Sora 9spd STIs?

There is no standard as people have different opinions on what constitutes a hard day. Some might be happy gurning up a 1:3 in 34/28 but when you’ve had a few days of it and still have many more to come, the ‘lower is betterer’ mantra kicks in.

I’m not in the least bit macho about it. I’ll go as low as the kit allows and freewheel at the top end grateful for the leg/arse break.

I’m not in the least bit macho about it. I’ll go as low as the kit allows and freewheel at the top end

Me too. My ‘cross’ bike (off-road tourer really) has an XT drive train with 42/30 x 11-32. This is low enough to get up the 1000ft fire road climb that is the start of my regular rides in comfort whilst still having a top gear bigger than Eddy Merckx used to set the World Hour Record with.
As a Granddad I’m not ashamed of my granny gear 🙂

We’ve done a fair bit of touring, and I’m the one that carries most of the gear in a trailer.
All I’ll say is this: Do not underestimate how low geared your bike should be!!! Get the lowest gears you can possibly find. It’s not a race, speed is not on the agenda.
I use a 26in MTB with 22/32/44 and 11-34. I use bottom gear faaaaaar more than I use top, put it that way!
Also, don’t underestimate how beefy your wheels need to be. Downhill rims would not be too much overkill. Given the choice building from scratch if use 36h Mavic 321s on a hub with a steel axle and freehub body
Also, don’t underestimate how good your brakes need to be. Now, I’m towing a trailer and I realise that’s a big load but rim brakes are hopelessly inadequate in my experience. I’m on hydraulic discs with 160/180 rotors and I’ll be putting a 180 on the back for next time. Mrs PP is on 160mm rotors but she only has rear panniers and a bar bag,’so that’s fine for her.
She’s on a 700c bike with a 12-36 9sp cassette and a 22/32/44 triple which gets her up pretty much anything!

The issue with equipment availability is not because cycle touring is nit popular – it is. It’s that outside the UK doing it on dropped bars is virtually unheard of outside the UK! at least that was true historically.