What gear options?

[AndyTheBikeGuy]

My 2015 Rose cross bike has had a long overdue service, however it appears that hasn't related into me having the legs and lungs of an EPO laden roadie and when loaded up it's just a touch too highly geared for me, especially when I'm trying to climb techy stuff and I'd prefer to be able to spin a bit more.

It's Shimano 105 all round, 11-34 on the back and 34/50 on the front. What are my options for easier gearing? I don't mind losing some top end speed for an easier ride on the climbs.

Can I throw a wolftooth roadlink on and a wider 11 speed cassette? Does anyone know if the roadlink works with 2015 era 105?

[whitestone]

Look for a sub-compact chainset. The biggest problem might be that your front derailleur might not work with it. Also have a look at this page https://road.cc/content/feature/246424- ... adventures for some ideas.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I put a mountain bike double on my Arkose, made much more sense in the hills. I forget exactly what it is but something like 28/36.

[AndyTheBikeGuy]

Thanks both, I was contemplating ditching the big ring, as I tend not to use it a whole lot, keeping the 34 or switching to a 36 and then running an 11-40ish on the back with the roadlink.

Any idea what problems I could encounter? I've ridden the Sram Rival 11-42 with a 40 on the front and would have like a 36 or 38 instead.

[br]

I recently bought a Planet X Full Monty that came with SRAM Apex 1x11 (42 and 11-42) on 700.

I was a bit concerned on the gearing so bought a 38 (from Superstar, and they also do a 40 to fit the SRAM crank).

So far I've found the 42-42 fine for even the steepest stuff (unloaded), but I'll find out in a couple of weeks what it's liked loaded - tempted to take the 38 with me to 'swap' just in case.

My MTB by comparison runs 32 and 10-50 on 29.

[AndyTheBikeGuy]

Thanks BR,

I thought the same thing, but I noticed that the issue was when I was keeping an eye on the trail ahead and trying to avoid roots or rocks, I wasn't pedaling super smoothly which lead to a break in traction whereas in the mtb (admittedly with wider tyres), I could spin through really mucky stuff without any issues as I had low gearing to keep the power even. Hence wanting a bail out gear.

I'm feeling like I'll go for a narrow wide 36t, wide cassette and roadlink as I like the simplicity of a 1x system, but will do a bit of research into a mtb chainset too as that seems like an equally easy way.

Is there a reason my existing derailleur won't work with a smaller mtb chainset? I presume it would just be a case of buying a smaller chainset, moving the FD down and shortening the chain?

[ianpv]

My 105 shifter and front mech work with an SLX mtb triple (26/38/no big ring) on my Arkose. It's not the very best front shifting, but it works fine.

[AndyTheBikeGuy]

Thanks for throwing the cat amongst the pigeons there ianpv... It certainly would be a neater solution with only the one change.

[Bearlegged]

I've run a road triple minus the outer ring (giving 30/40 rings) and am now using an XT double (28/40).
The wider chainline on the XT meant I used to get a bit of chain rub on the outer plate of the front mech when I'm the top two years, but I've remedied this by using a jtek offset shim, which has the effect of shifting the front mech further out from the seat tube.
http://www.jtekengineering.com/other/jt ... 28-6-34-9/

[Al]

You could pick up one of the cx front mechs which work with smaller diameter rings and road sti.

I use 10speed 105 sti with a slx double chainset with 42/28 rings, a cx70 front mech, 9 speed xt rear mech and 11-36 cassette. Works great.

[yeha]

I have Tiagra on my CdF. 50/34 front rings. I dropped the rear mech with a £1.83 wolflink copy from China and used a deore 46/11 cassette which cost under £30 from bike-discount.de. Works a treat.

[AndyTheBikeGuy]

Thanks for that Yeha, did you get the roadlink or goatlink copy? I've spied the roadlink ones and they say will only go up to 36T on the road but 50t on mtb, but how does the roadlink know if it's on a road or mtb? Is it magical?

[yeha]

No idea and I can't find my order, but it looked like this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MTB-Mou ... 423ade8623
Just worked. I didn't even have to adjust anything apart from the B screw. Didn't change the chain length either. It was the first thing I did to the bike though so the chain may well have been the full length.
I'll get a picture over the weekend.

[yeha]

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[yeha]

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[Moder-dye]

I have a 10 speed 105 compact and a 12(?)-42t cassette on the back. all I needed to do was put a 9 speed mtb deore shadow derailleur on the back and a longer chain. You'll also need a barrel gear cable adjuster for the derailleur end if you can adjust at the shifter end

[petemaz]

Yeha, do you have a link for that 46/11 cassette you mention? Cheers

[yeha]

Unfortunately I stated the wrong range, it's a HG500 11-42. I must have been looking at something else and the numbers stuck in my head. Merlin cycles are selling them for £27.50. I got mine from Bike-discount.de, approx. 30euro, but I'd ordered enough to get the free shipping.

[petemaz]

Thanks Yeha, much appreciated

Unfortunately I stated the wrong range, it's a HG500 11-42. I must have been looking at something else and the numbers stuck in my head. Merlin cycles are selling them for £27.50. I got mine from Bike-discount.de, approx. 30euro, but I'd ordered enough to get the free shipping.

[yeha]

Thought I add this after the weekend. I was thinking of slagging the part off as cheap Chinese rubbish especially as this happened with 50 miles to go. But hindsight has made me realise that it saved my frame. I don't know what I hit but the jockey wheel broke and the cage was bent sideways. I removed the link, reattached the mech and carried on. Just couldn't use the big cog. I'm now buying a few spares for next time. Got away without the jockey wheel by refitting the metal bits and running the chain on them. I did notice that I've knocked teeth off the alloy big ring though.