Advice: Changing Gear cassette

beefjerky

Hi

I’m not sure if this is the right place… please move if not.

I bought a MTB (Apollo Outrider) on a budget in Jan for getting to work and a bit of weekend cycling, I know now that I should have bought a road bike but anyway…

I am finding that I am pedalling really fast at times even in the highest gear and I rarely if ever use the lower gears.
Current set up is the standard setup from purchase:

• Chainset: Steel 42/34/24
• Front Mech: Shimano T250
• Gear Shifters: SRAM MRX170
• Hubs: Disc Compatible
• Number of Gears: 18
• Rear Mech: Shimano T250

I’m looking for advice on which gear set / cassette I could change to in order to get less spinning – more cycling! I guess this will also allow me to reach higher speeds which would be great.
I was looking on chain reaction cycles website with an idea of €60 max budget, would any of those suit or any advice would be great. I've no idea what I'm looking for! Cheers.

goldencleric

If there are 18 gears and 3 chainrings, then I assume there are 6 cogs in the rear cassette. I reckon you will find it very hard to get a replacement.

smacl

Probably not a great idea to put to much extra money into a €189 MTB. Better save towards a 2nd hand road bike if funds are tight. That said, for €16 you could get a set of slick tyres that would improve speed a bit. Didn't know you could even get a 6 speed cassette, maybe a 6 speed free hub?

beefjerky

Thanks for the replies.

Goldencleric - Is it possible to change the chain rings too, then would that help in finding a replacement for what I would like?

Smacl - Ah yeah I know it doesn't really make sense putting more money into it (dammit it's €60 less now than when i got it!) but I was thinking this could be doable... What benefit would the 6 speed free hub offer?

smacl

beefjerky wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Goldencleric - Is it possible to change the chain rings too, then would that help in finding a replacement for what I would like?

Smacl - Ah yeah I know it doesn't really make sense putting more money into it (dammit it's €60 less now than when i got it!) but I was thinking this could be doable... What benefit would the 6 speed free hub offer?

It's either one or the other. If the bike has a free hub, then you need to replace it with a free hub. I seriously wouldn't bother. A cheapo full suspension MTB lookalike will never be a nice ride. If a road bike is out of the budget, even a middling 2nd hand hybrid with no suspension and 700c wheels would be a much better starting point, and should be easy enough to pick up.

beefjerky

Ah I see so a freewheel is not an option at all. needs to be the same as what is on there now.

OK thanks for that – however the ride is fine, no problems with comfort or anything like that and I’m not talking about long distances either, I’m looking for options on adjusting the gear ratio, I suppose, to see if I can reduce my RPM while increasing my speed.

I thought that changing the cassette – and now possible the chainrings – would be an option. If people here wouldn’t bother doing it themselves on a cheapo MTB lookalike , that’s grand but I’m looking to see if it is possible and recommendations on gear anyone might have...

smacl

No idea which (if any) of these would fit, or what's involved fitting them; http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=7&navigation=1&menu=1000%2C2%2C84&mid=0&pgc=0&orderby=2

Could be worth investigation and/or taking a punt. May be nothing compatible with your crank, chain, or may not work with your current front derailleur. But if you could swap your 44 out for a 48, you'd get some increase in gearing.

Just from my own experience mucking about with an old 2nd hand mtb, and my kids bikes, cheap drive trains can be a bastard to set-up properly, and very frustrating. If you do start replacing bits, most important thing is to have a can of beer at your side at all times.

mcgratheoin

Bring it into Rothar and see if they'd do you a swap for something more road focused.

macnab

Do a few checks on the following when the bike is in its tallest gear: is the chain running on the smallest ring of the rear cassette and the largest ring on the front. Dont take it for granted that they are, for instance if you are in the habbit of parking the bike in the largest ring of the cassette then the spring will weaken over time and the derailleur will not travel over to the small ring even with zero tension on the cable. Count the teeth on the smallest ring of the cassette/hub, probably 14? but 11 would allow more speed. As said its probably a 6 speed free hub, but you could possibly buy a 2nd hand rear wheel with an 8 speed setup.

beefjerky

smacl - cheers I'll look into that.

McgE - nice one, didn't know about them. I might head down and have a chat there.

beefjerky

macnab wrote: »

Do a few checks on the following when the bike is in its tallest gear: is the chain running on the smallest ring of the rear cassette and the largest ring on the front. Dont take it for granted that they are, for instance if you are in the habbit of parking the bike in the largest ring of the cassette then the spring will weaken over time and the derailleur will not travel over to the small ring even with zero tension on the cable. Count the teeth on the smallest ring of the cassette/hub, probably 14? but 11 would allow more speed. As said its probably a 6 speed free hub, but you could possibly buy a 2nd hand rear wheel with an 8 speed setup.

Yes, the chain runs like that.
The smallest ring is 14 teeth on it.

That's another good one buying a 2nd hand rear wheel, would not have thought of that at all, something to ask about in Rothar too.

Thanks again

beefjerky

OK so from the answers above and a bit of reading on the gear ratios... Is there any reason I couldn't replace the current set up with these? and would that work?

Probably need to add derailleur to that list

Cassette
https://www.bike24.net/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=7717;backlink=9|2||1000,2,88||0|0|1||
Crankset
https://www.bike24.net/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=29189;backlink=9|2||1000,2,88||0|0|1||
Chain
https://www.bike24.net/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=7734;backlink=9|2||1000,2,88||0|0|1||

smacl

Not going to work if you've a free wheel, which is likely. Give this a read for more info; http://sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html Dropping into Rothar is actually the best idea so far I reckon. They might have a 2nd hand wheel with the gears your after, and they should be able fit it as well. They also might be able to do a part swap, either just the wheel or the whole bike.

kenmc

FWIW, don't waste any more money on that. Try and sell it for anything you can get for it, and add that money to whatever you were going to spend "upgrading" it and buy something newer/more fit for purpose.