02-28-2020, 02:19 PM
A recent purchase of an Elektra 7-speed cruiser came with a Megarange freewheel. I didn't like it, so today I swapped it for a regular 14-28T freewheel.
The second lowest geared cog has 24 teeth. The lowest had 34 teeth. That's a huge jump from one cog to another. I found that in a headwind, when I dropped to the lowest, I had to pedal like crazy just to get up to walking pace. And because of this whopping great cog it meant having extra chain to deal with it. This gave me a chain sagging more than usual in higher gears. Cruisers have longer chains to start with.
A 28T cog was great in headwinds on previous bikes, and being that I don't intend to use a cruiser as a mountain bike, the Megarange had to go. And once I got the new freewheel on the bike, I knew the chain would need to be shortened. Removing three links made for a perfect job.
Perhaps the bike designer thought it would be a good thing, and maybe some people would appreciate it, but it doesn't seem to me to serve a good purpose. So the Megarange is now up for sale on a local market, and I'll see who wants it. It may never sell.
Here's a photo of it. Just look at the size of that largest cog!
The second lowest geared cog has 24 teeth. The lowest had 34 teeth. That's a huge jump from one cog to another. I found that in a headwind, when I dropped to the lowest, I had to pedal like crazy just to get up to walking pace. And because of this whopping great cog it meant having extra chain to deal with it. This gave me a chain sagging more than usual in higher gears. Cruisers have longer chains to start with.
A 28T cog was great in headwinds on previous bikes, and being that I don't intend to use a cruiser as a mountain bike, the Megarange had to go. And once I got the new freewheel on the bike, I knew the chain would need to be shortened. Removing three links made for a perfect job.
Perhaps the bike designer thought it would be a good thing, and maybe some people would appreciate it, but it doesn't seem to me to serve a good purpose. So the Megarange is now up for sale on a local market, and I'll see who wants it. It may never sell.
Here's a photo of it. Just look at the size of that largest cog!
If I knew how to ride a bike properly, I'd do it every time.