I might've ordered another bike, she doesn't know yet, I'm waiting for that right moment when we're away on holiday next week. It's got 700c wheels and a Force 1 1x groupset/10-42T, but room for something chunky at 650b.
Can I take the 650b wheels from my Sonder fitted with a 10-52 Eagle cassette and just drop it in and away I go, and just not use the 52 ring? If it is doable, is there much faffing to be done with chains and mechs?
You could *but you probably have more than one ring above 42 [ and you will forget ] so at some point expect to jam your chain and struggle to get your wheel off- trust me on that one
Personally if i was to do this i would adjust the limit screws to stop me selecting those gears rather than rely on me not forgetting. The chain probly is not long enough to get you into those gears anyway so a full solution MAY require a longer chain.
* assumes hubs are the correct width and dscs the same size.
Assuming both bikes are SRAM and 11 speed the easiest fix is a long reach 10 speed MTB SRAM MECH - its what i did to my bike so will work. Rival [ 11speed] will get to 46 with a longer B screw - it may get to 52 with a longer B screw and a goat link but never tried.
There is a more complicated way involving a 12 speed Eagle mech
I'd swap the cassette as well to keep chain wear even. A bit of mech fiddling will be required as different brands of hubs will have slightly different freewheel positions. Likewise figure on having to adjust brake caliper positions as different hubs generally have slightly different disc mounting positions....
Apparently you can shim discs in this situation which might be an easier option than repeatedly tweaking the caliper. I've not done it myself so ......
Just to clarify, the limit screw would be set so it maxes out on the big 42 cog on my 11spd 10-42, so I could potentially then use the 12 spd 10-52 cassette but stopped at the 42 cog, as it's limited by the screw anyway, or could there be different spacing between the cogs on 11spd vs 12spd which would throw that out?
I hadn't thought about brakes, I'll have to check that when the new iron horse arrives.
I think both cassettes are XD so it might just be easier to swap cassettes over whilst I'm at it.
i'm not familiar with Sram road/mtb or 11/12 spd compatibilities, but it does sound much easier just to swap the cassette out, then you wouldn't have to fiddle with the mech (maybe micro-adjustments?). The other way sounds like a PITA, and you preserve the gearing*
One thing that's not clear, are the 650b wheels/gears from an mtb? If so then the axle width will likely be different and the tyres might be too big/wide...just not sure from the original post.
*rolling ratio will be a tad different, just due to wheel and tyre diameter being probably a little less than 700c, depending on tyres.
so I could potentially then use the 12 spd 10-52 cassette but stopped at the 42 cog, as it's limited by the screw anyway
I am using 11 speed the problem is that the mech may go on to the cog but what matter is whether it comes off the cog or not* - essentially the jockey wheels wil run on the casette and not diengage - you should still be able to get into 42 nd out again though - but i would test it on a stand pedalling pretty slowly .
* I could get the biggest rear cog but the only way to change out of it was to take the wheel off
It's got 700c wheels and a Force 1 1x groupset/10-42T, but room for something chunky at 650b.
