bike upgrade question on gears

thesimpsons

looking at an upgrade for sister - currently has a Trek 7.2 Crank 28/38/48, Cassette
Shimano HG31 12-32, 8 speed

want to upgrade to roadbike and have spoted a Giant Avail 3 with

Cassette Shimano HG50 11x32, 9-Speed
Chain KMC X9
Crankset Shimano Sora, 34/50

seeing as she uses the granny gears for uphill would there be a big difference in loss of the triple ring between these bikes. Any LBS I talk to just baffles me with science

target is the ROK - and currently doing 80/90k spins once week with hills so fit enough

manwithaplan

28-32 is obviously a lighter gear than 34-32 but she should get slightly better power transfer on a road bike and it should be a bit lighter too. 34-32 is really an extremely light granny gear for a road bike so she should be absolutely fine with it. If she is strong enough to do 90k spins on a hybrid, she won't have a problem in the world.

ford2600

Is she really using 28-32? That is a very low gear.
My lowest is 34-28, do an awful lot of hills and usually never use it.
34-32 is plenty low enough for ROK

thesimpsons

ya the lowest is definitely being used - seen it in action myself

existing bike is quite heavy compared to road bike. I'm assuming lighter roadbike would help enormously too.

cdaly_

ford2600 wrote: »

Is she really using 28-32? That is a very low gear.
My lowest is 34-28, do an awful lot of hills and usually never use it.
34-32 is plenty low enough for ROK

My lowest is 30-32, I do not many hills and am always glad of it when I need it.

If you're not in a mad rush, it's just as nice to sit and spin rather than wreck yourself pushing something harder.

34-32 is 20% harder than the 28-32 and is equivalent to losing her two lowest gears (the ones for which I'm most grateful in the hills).

If there was a triple available in the avail, I'd be suggesting that, even with the lighter bike...

Roger Hassenforder

she'll go up almost anything with a 34/50 11-32

smacl

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

she'll go up almost anything with a 34/50 11-32

No way to talk about a lady. For shame!

smacl

cdaly_ wrote: »

My lowest is 30-32, I do not many hills and am always glad of it when I need it.

I'm suddenly feeling less guilty about my 30/28. To be fair 34/32 should be fine for the vast majority, although gappy as hell on an 11-32 cassette.

Roger Hassenforder

smacl wrote: »

No way to talk about a lady. For shame!

i was very careful how I couched that!

cdaly_

smacl wrote: »

I'm suddenly feeling less guilty about my 30/28. To be fair 34/32 should be fine for the vast majority, although gappy as hell on an 11-32 cassette.

Oh, I don't do guilt anymore. I just pedal at my own rate...





















oh, and descend like a maniac...