I like large chainfings on my mountain bikes

[ichitan]

I recently bought a new bike. It is a 29 inch aluminum mountain bike, 3x8 speed.

For around 50% more dollars, I could have bought a 1x12 mountain bike. Most of these bikes have small chainrings.

If I put my bike in top gear, I can still apply power to the pedals at 40kph. Depending on how small a chainring is, some bikes are geared to not be able to pedal above about 25kph.

If you have a small chainring, you need to ride in the small gears to go a decent speed, and small gears wear out quicker than large gears.

Not only is my bike cheaper to buy, and should last longer before the freewheel needs replacing, but when it does wear out, it is cheaper to replace a freewheel than a cassette.

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On another bike, teeth were broken off the large chainring on a 3x setup. I replaced it with a single vintage style chainring which is even bigger than the largest of the chainrings in the 3x setup. This bike would not be good for climbing really steep hills, but is good for everything else.

With my bikes, I can go off road and on road. When I am on the road, I can go a decent speed.

[ReapThaWhirlwind]

It's all in your riding style. 5~8 gears will do the job great.

More gears are for when you need more modulation, especially when you bike a lot, facing increasing muscle fatigue day after day.

[Sybian]

Not sure if the initial post is written by a professional or extremely avid rider since 25mph/40Kph is very fast for flat terrain (no mention of downhill riding). Aside from personal customization of your gear ratios, bikes are generally geared to their expected usage and rider level. A beginner cyclist would not be expected to ride certain bikes efficiently with gearing designed for competition, nor would a professional be effectively be able to compete on a bike geared for recreational purposes.
I have trouble riding 20mph/32Kph on any bike at this stage in my life so I am choosing a much less aggressive gear ratio range providing ease for hill climbing and speed for descent on my new build, but it won't matter much if I have a single or multiple front drive since I can custom build a cassette to create a similar ratio range.

I have less fatigue when riding daily as opposed to not, but gearing was still based on leg strength and range/terrain of bike use.

[ichitan]

(03-05-2023, 04:23 AM)Sybian Wrote:  Not sure if the initial post is written by a professional or extremely avid rider since 25mph/40Kph is very fast for flat terrain (no mention of downhill riding). Aside from personal customization of your gear ratios, bikes are generally geared to their expected usage and rider level. A beginner cyclist would not be expected to ride certain bikes efficiently with gearing designed for competition, nor would a professional be effectively be able to compete on a bike geared for recreational purposes.
I have trouble riding 20mph/32Kph on any bike at this stage in my life so I am choosing a much less aggressive gear ratio range providing ease for hill climbing and speed for descent on my new build, but it won't matter much if I have a single or multiple front drive since I can custom build a cassette to create a similar ratio range.

I am not a professional cyclist. I am not fit enough to cruise long distances at 40kph. But it is nice to have the gear ration where I can ride at high speed occasionally. There are many situations where being able to ride at high speed is beneficial. Here are some examples.

If riding through a dip in the road, that is going down and up again. If I pedal fast going down, I can get a long way up the other side with the momentum.

Even just going down hill to a flat road. I try to maintain a high speed for a while, to cover a lot of distance quickly.

When approaching a hill, I pick up speed so I can get up the first part of the hill easier.

In traffic, where there are traffic lights after traffic lights, where you stop then go, again and again. I try to get up to a decent speed, so I don't get overtaken by a huge amount of traffic. Then stop peddling as I approach the next set of lights.

I have seen a storm coming, and done a sprint home, or another place where I can get out of the rain.

Even drafting behind a truck. If a truck is only going about 30kph, I might get in behind it to minimize wind resistance.

With some of the new single chainring mountain bikes, the lowest gear is slower than walking, and the top gear is slower than I like. There is also the cost. A freewheel is cheaper than a cassette.

[ReapThaWhirlwind]

I can manage 22mph uphill on average if I'm grinding. That's on rings smaller than 50T too. It's definitely possible.

I tend to find larger chainrings offer unique benefits to them in the leverage and torque. Gear ratios feel different and there's less resistance because there's less chain contact than smaller chainrings.