Lowest gear for touring including load-pulling

[squeaker]

As a 'spinning' pensioner, 18 to 20" is about right for me.
HTH

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
18.5" gets me up Hameldown on Dartmoor off road, with a 35KG touring bike, useful gear.

http://www.49squadron.co.uk/memorials/memorial_dartmoor

[Bmblbzzz]

As a 'spinning' pensioner, 18 to 20" is about right for me.
HTH

That's a good yarn.









Sorry...

[irc]

My lowest gear is 17.6". 22x34 on a 700x35 tyre. I use it regularly when loaded touring. It is just slightly faster than walking. I did find with the standard 11-34 cassette the biggest gap in percentage terms, the 17-20 was right in the middle of my usual level ground gears and a bit wide to always get the gear spot on. Rather than give up my 17.6" bottom gear I made a custom 12-34 cassette. I find 42x12 is still plenty for touring.

On a previous tour with a top gear of 42x13 I did spin out around 28-30mph on a long wind assisted downhill of a few miles. But even then that was once in 3000 miles I felt I was my top was too low. Without a low enough bottom gear you miss it every steep hill.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I went for a wide range which on my training routes is a bit dud with only a 8S cassette, change one gear and it feels like two when you are flat out.
But with only 8 speed cassette I want versatility for exploring / touring so I went for 11 - 32 , 22 - 32 - 42.
Flat out on the flat is about 30 odd 40 downhill if I really fancy a 140 cadence
But who would really need more than 42 x 11 on a 700 x 35, you wont keep it up long even with no load so the top gears over 100 " are a bit academic, 53 x 11 is for he-men

[jacksonz]

I like 22-32-42 onto a 12-36.....

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
How heavy is the trailer

[hondated]

No, that doesn't sound flippant at all. Thanks very much for the comment. I haven't done much touring at all, but I have climbed the hill from what I remember as Spa Francochamps railway station in Belgium (though I can't find it on a map) up the hill towards the race track. OMG^10, though I'm fitter these days and would like to try it again some time. I guess it's a matter of preparing for the unknown, including perhaps the unknowable unknowns.

AT ridden that hill myself a few times, but on a motorbike.
Last time I was over there on my motorbike there was a Sportive going on and I could not believe how steep some of the hills they were climbing up.

Belgium cycle touring = low gears to me.

[sabrutat]

As a heavyweight tourer with a trailer, there comes a point of diminishing return, I think. My usual granny setup is 22 (I think, I'll have to check) on the chainring and 34 on the back (I don't know what that means, inchwise, because I'm not really a cyclist), and I can cycle up pretty much any road I've come across, but if progress is too slow, I get off and push. It may be harder work than pedalling, but 'the suck' is over quicker.

[Vorpal]

I'd say it depends on lots of things... bike, load, conditions, and personal preference being among the foremost of those. I've done light touring in the UK on a bike with the lowest gear at about 39", and I've also run out of gears and walked up a few hills with a trailer and 18" in Norway.

I think that 20" or below is a good aim for a touring bike, but if someone were planning a round the world adventure or something, I would probably recommend even lower. There's a bigger challenge in getting an expedition load over the Himalayas than there is in getting 3 changes of clothes and a tent over the Pennines.

[andymiller]

As a heavyweight tourer with a trailer, there comes a point of diminishing return, I think. My usual granny setup is 22 (I think, I'll have to check) on the chainring and 34 on the back (I don't know what that means, inchwise, because I'm not really a cyclist), and I can cycle up pretty much any road I've come across, but if progress is too slow, I get off and push. It may be harder work than pedalling, but 'the suck' is over quicker.

I don't know what that is in inches either, but I think it's about as low as you can go without a special ultra compact chainset.

My slowest pedaling is usually faster than my pushing, but it might be a little easier with a trailer without rear panniers to get in the way. But sometimes, as they say, a change is as good as a rest.

[mercalia]

26" wheel 30 teeth rear and 26 teeth front inner of triple.

Has been fine for me with a trailer - really steep roads I walk any way

[rualexander]

15.6" to 82.2" on my 26" wheel Rohloff tourer with 37tooth chainring and 17 tooth sprocket.

[Sweep]

22t chainwheel, 32t sprocket gives about 18" gear. You can go up anything.

Al

22 front, but 34 back which sheldon's calculator tells me is

17.7 on a 700 x 38 tyre.

Don't think i'll be needing any more or a 36 on the back.

My biggest ring is 42 and i can spin out fairly easily but my rear mech has at least another 2 teeth in it I think so may I may put a 44 big ring on and then for sure I think all will be Hunky Dory.

This is for my 8 speed bike but the 9 speed tourer is effectively the same.

Which confirms to me that tourers have no need at all for more than 9 cogs, whatever the "industry" may try to tell us.

Only fairly recently got my head around the figures - thanks to sheldon for his old school web calculator which offers lots of different outputs:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html

[syklist]

Can I ask what gear ratios people are using for their lowest gear for touring, potentially including load pulling such as a single or two wheel trailer?

This webpage recommends a lowest gear of about 20 gear inches, which seems very, very, low from my point of view. https://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/community ... e-up-hills But, then I haven't experience (yet) of extended tours nor load pulling of any sort.

I'd like to hear what people are running, and the opinions of experienced tourers and load-pullers.

16 something gear inches on our Rohloff bikes. This works for us on cycle tours here in Norway towing about 30-35kg of kiddie trailer and 20kg of luggage on the bike. I can manage longer 15% (?) inclines with this setup if on tarmac. The problem is that you eventually hit traction problems especially when trying to start on loose surfaces with a trailer. Chunky tyres help a bit. If I have the trailer behind me then Mrs Syklist will get off her bike and walk behind me pushing the trailer as I make the first down stroke.

18.5 gear inches on our Bromptons (and Dahons when I have built the new wheels). We tend to take less luggage when touring on folders and the bikes themselves are lighter. Although we have not done any touring with folders and the trailer as yet.