Possibly stupid question about gears

Mr. Manager

This is possibly a really stupid question as I know very little about bikes.

I've a Giro D'italia bike, pictured below.



It's a 14 speed bike but I'm wondering is it possible to change the cog/gears to add more? I live in Malta and the roads are quite tough at times. Just thought with lower gears it might be a bit easier?

Again, I don't know an awful lot about bikes. It might be better to buy a new one (would rather not do this)? Not sure.

I used to have a Giant Defy 4 and would like to go back to the same amount of gears and the same style of gears (the ones on the brakes).

Any info would be great!

Thanks.

Lumen

I think you have a old-school standard double chainset with 52-42 chainrings and an 14-28 7sp cassette.

This means that your easiest gear is 42-28.

You could change the chainset to a "compact double" with 50-34 chainrings.

Your easiest gear would then be 34-28.

That would make hills a lot easier.

Getting integrated shifters like you had on the Defy would not be particularly cheap. At that stage you're changing half of the groupset.

edit: you might be able to pick up some used 7sp Shimano shifters on ebay or the like.

Mr. Manager

I don't mean to sound rude but your post makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Sorry

RobFowl

I think to add gears you'd have to change a good bit of quipement on the bike.
7 speed is fairly rare these days (14 gears means 7 speed on the back and a double chainset on the front).
How much are you willing to spend and how much can you do yourself??

Mr. Manager

RobFowl wrote: »

I think to add gears you'd have to change a good bit of quipement on the bike.
7 speed is fairly rare these days (14 gears means 7 speed on the back and a double chainset on the front).
How much are you willing to spend and how much can you do yourself??

Seeing as the bike only cost me €150 I wouldn't really be willing to put more than another €150 into it. If it was over that I'd just get a whole new one. Look to pick up my old bike again here.

As for the work itself, there isn't much more past changing a tyre that I could do.

Lumen

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

I don't mean to sound rude but your post makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Sorry

http://bikestuffreviews.com/2011/02/09/road-bicycle-grears-triple-compact-double-what-does-it-all-mean/

petethedrummer

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

I don't mean to sound rude but your post makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Sorry

Just buy a different bike (something like a 2nd hand giant defy).

Also research (or figure out) how gears work or you won't understand any advice. Lumen's advice was spot on.

Mr. Manager

petethedrummer wrote: »

Just buy a different bike (something like a 2nd hand giant defy).

Also research (or figure out) how gears work or you won't understand any advice. Lumen's advice was spot on.

I appreciated the response but I stated that my knowledge on bikes was very little.

Guess I'll just grab a new bike.

petethedrummer

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

I appreciated the response but I stated that my knowledge on bikes was very little.

Do you know which cog you should be on at the back and which cog you should be on at the front to go up steep hills?

Mr. Manager

petethedrummer wrote: »

Do you know which cog you should be on at the back and which cog you should be on at the front to go up steep hills?

I just stick it to the lowest gear at the steepest parts.

C-Shore

What Lumen said makes sense, so I'll try and add to that.

Essentially, you could make it a bit easier to go up the hills by getting what's called a compact chainset (the two rings where your pedals are). This means you only have to change your chainset, and this would cost about €100 depending on the parts you choose. It could be a bit cheaper, or more expensive depending on your choice.
It shouldn't be too difficult to change, depending on a few other things that I won't confuse you with but a mechanic will check for you.

Your next option is to change the cog/gears at the back which has 7 rings, but to change that would require you buy a whole new set of equipment which includes but not limited to new shifters (like you had on your defy), possibly a new wheel, a new rear derailleur (the arm at the back wheel that sticks out and moves the chain up and down) and a new chain.
If you were to do all of that, I'd nearly suggest you sell that bike and get a new one for the money it would cost.

The other suggestion Lumen has made is that you could buy shifters like you had on your defy but there is a problem.
The bike you have in this thread is 7 speed and 7 speed is kind of an old standard now in the same way that infrared is on a mobile phone or a dialup modem is for connecting to the internet.

So the problem is that if you want to put new integrated shifters(the gears on the brakes) on this bike, you might struggle to find shifters for a 7 speed gear setup - in the same way that many stores don't sell dialup modems anymore.
While there may be some around, they're as rare as a stylish mullet.

Hopefully that helps but if you have other questions let me know and I'll try to help.

A new bike might be the way to go. It'll be a great feeling. Like your first polyphonic ringtone after spending hours entering the code for the Axel Foley ringtone on your Nokia 3310.

Aced_Up

Good luck cycling safely in Malta watch out for the bowser water leakage on the road in summer, it's like diesel on them roads especially bahar I-chaqar (can't spell)

I left after 3years, and 3 crashes

Mr. Manager

That's pretty clear to me C-Shore. Thanks for that.

I've been reading the article Lemen linked and it seems I'd need to get a compact or a triple. Malta has some serious hills.

I'll take a spin to the bike store on Saturday and get some things priced up.

smacl

Lumen wrote: »

I think you have a old-school standard double chainset with 52-42 chainrings and an 14-28 7sp cassette.

This means that your easiest gear is 42-28.

You could change the chainset to a "compact double" with 50-34 chainrings.

Your easiest gear would then be 34-28.

That would make hills a lot easier.

Getting integrated shifters like you had on the Defy would not be particularly cheap. At that stage you're changing half of the groupset.

edit: you might be able to pick up some used 7sp Shimano shifters on ebay or the like.

Probably not a runner, but I wonder whether you could get a granny ring onto the existing set-up and convert it into a triple? Could be worth asking a local bike shop to see if it's feasible and in budget.

07Lapierre

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

This is possibly a really stupid question as I know very little about bikes.

I've a Giro D'italia bike, pictured below.



It's a 14 speed bike but I'm wondering is it possible to change the cog/gears to add more? I live in Malta and the roads are quite tough at times. Just thought with lower gears it might be a bit easier?

Again, I don't know an awful lot about bikes. It might be better to buy a new one (would rather not do this)? Not sure.

I used to have a Giant Defy 4 and would like to go back to the same amount of gears and the same style of gears (the ones on the brakes).

Any info would be great!

Thanks.

The bike in the picture has downtube friction gear levers. So you could change the rear cassette from a 7 sprocket to an 8 Sprocket. (you 'd also have to change the chain).

Meh..what would I do? I'd sell the bike and buy a second hand Defy 4..:)

el tel

C-Shore wrote: »

The other suggestion Lumen has made is that you could buy shifters like you had on your defy but there is a problem.
The bike you have in this thread is 7 speed and 7 speed is kind of an old standard now in the same way that infrared is on a mobile phone or a dialup modem is for connecting to the internet.

So the problem is that if you want to put new integrated shifters(the gears on the brakes) on this bike, you might struggle to find shifters for a 7 speed gear setup - in the same way that many stores don't sell dialup modems anymore.
While there may be some around, they're as rare as a stylish mullet.

You don't need 7-speed STI shifters for a 7-speed cassette.

8, 9 and 10 speed STI levers will work.

C-Shore

el tel wrote: »

You don't need 7-speed STI shifters for a 7-speed cassette.

8, 9 and 10 speed STI levers will work.

That's true actually, I forgot that.
I've never done it, but always hear people talk about it.

Will it always leave you with 1/2/3 extra clicks on the lever or can that be restricted?
I'm not sure I could live with the disappointment of realizing those last few clicks give me nothing.

Tonyandthewhale

el tel wrote: »

You don't need 7-speed STI shifters for a 7-speed cassette.

8, 9 and 10 speed STI levers will work.

I'm pretty sure that's not the case. The spacing between 7, 8, 9 and 10 speed cogs is all different so the 10 speed shifter moves the chain a certain distance and the 9 speed shifter moves things a slightly different difference so if mis-match shifters and cassettes you won't be able to change gears properly.

What you might be able to do is find a 7 speed screw on cassette with a larger range than your current 14-28 set up (a 14-30 for instance) although I don't know how readily available such things are as they're massively out of date. You could also get a triple crankset off a crappy 6 or 7 speed mountain bike for basically no money and you could bung it on to your existing set-up with minimal change and it'd be a bit heavier and not exactly elegant but would work ok.

Joxer_S

You're a brave man cycling in Malta, some of the craziest drivers I have ever come across

cdaly_

AFAICT, 7 and 8 speed have the same spacing. If the wheel has a cassette rather than a freewheel, a change to 8-speed is easy using the friction shifters. If not, you're stuck with 7-speed.

There is a shimano 'megarange' 14-32t 7-speed freewheel to be had (comes as standard on the Trek 7.1FX). That'll be a straight swap onto the viking (if the derailleur fits) and will improve the range.

Mr. Manager

Cheers for the help lads. A lot of in depth responses. I'll drop it up to the bike shop on Saturday and see what the lads say there for fitting and pricing.

Have been looking out for a Giant Defy 4 (again) but can't seem to locate one 2nd hand. Brand new here they're too expensive.

Also for people saying cycling in Malta is madness, yes it is the pot hole filled roads and mountains hills are unforgiving!

C-Shore

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that's not the case. The spacing between 7, 8, 9 and 10 speed cogs is all different so the 10 speed shifter moves the chain a certain distance and the 9 speed shifter moves things a slightly different difference so if mis-match shifters and cassettes you won't be able to change gears properly.

What you might be able to do is find a 7 speed screw on cassette with a larger range than your current 14-28 set up (a 14-30 for instance) although I don't know how readily available such things are as they're massively out of date. You could also get a triple crankset off a crappy 6 or 7 speed mountain bike for basically no money and you could bung it on to your existing set-up with minimal change and it'd be a bit heavier and not exactly elegant but would work ok.

cdaly_ wrote: »

AFAICT, 7 and 8 speed have the same spacing. If the wheel has a cassette rather than a freewheel, a change to 8-speed is easy using the friction shifters. If not, you're stuck with 7-speed.

There is a shimano 'megarange' 14-32t 7-speed freewheel to be had (comes as standard on the Trek 7.1FX). That'll be a straight swap onto the viking (if the derailleur fits) and will improve the range.

Yeah after reading these two responses, I think that 7-8 speed can use the same shifters and then 9-10 can use the same, but not 8-9 or 7-9 for that matter.
I just remember having conversations about an extra click, but likely just 9-10.
11 speed will add even more fun or 22 speed if you're SRAM :pac:

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

Cheers for the help lads. A lot of in depth responses. I'll drop it up to the bike shop on Saturday and see what the lads say there for fitting and pricing.

Have been looking out for a Giant Defy 4 (again) but can't seem to locate one 2nd hand. Brand new here they're too expensive.

Also for people saying cycling in Malta is madness, yes it is the pot hole filled roads and mountains hills are unforgiving!

This is the important thing anyway, I hope you get on ok in the shop tomorrow and get something to get you up the hills.