Gear head

A "gear head" is a term my family has for people obsessed with obtaining toys. I think I qualify in more ways than one. The bike I got a year ago and by the way crashed is a double. Meaning it only has two chain rings, the gears next to the pedals. This replaced the bike that I bought with Jess before we got married. That bike was a triple. (These bike were the cheapest entry level Giant road bike that the bike shop sold.) We put a lot of miles on these bikes. I did the triple bypass ride in Colorado on my Giant. 120 miles. 10,000 feet of climbing. http://www.teamevergreen.org/node/2 I also did the Albuquerque century on it.

So, back to the story. Going from a triple to a double, I lost my three lowest gears. My lowest gear on my triple was the small chain ring 30 teeth and the the biggest gear on my cassette (the gears by the wheel), 25 teeth. Gear ratio 2.3. Gear inches 31.7. Meaning for every turn of the cranks the bike goes 31.7 inches forward. My new bike had a gear ratio of 3.0 and a gear inch of 41.2 with the small chain ring (39 teeth) and the big cassette gear (similar cassette 25 teeth). To get a similar gear ratio on my triple you would have to be in the fourth from the largest gear on the cassette. So, I lost my three lowest gears.

So, my dilemma. I have been toying with the idea of doing Mt. Evans ride this summer. Mt Evan ride is a up one of the fourteen thousand foot peaks in Colorado. Colorado has more than 50 fourteeners, but this one has a paved road all the way to the top. I really think I will miss those three lowest gears. Also Jess and I signed up for the Iron Horse this year. www.ironhorsebicycleclassic.com/citizen_tour It is a ride where you race the train from Durango to Silverton. I would like those gears on this ride as there is probably 5,000 feet of climbing.

Jess was smart. When we were shopping for a bike for her, she insisted on getting a triple. My bike was a deal I found on the Internet, and I figured I could get accustomed to whatever gearing came on it.

Well they make a compact crankset, a double with smaller chainrings, for people who want to climb or are wimps or both. But the price of a new is exorbitant, like $450. I found an incredible deal on a brand new Ultegra compact crank on craigslist for $125. Now my lowest gear has a gear inch of 35.9 inches. This gives me back about one and a half gears. There is a way to get last gear and a half. A cassette with large cog of 28, that is a gear inch of 32 inches.

So, I am a gear head in multiple ways.