[10000 Lakes]

First post here. I have a 07 Rockhopper with Shimano LX (44/32/22T) crankset and would prefer not to replace it. I ride mostly roads and paved trails on my commute 90% but love the single track 10%. I want more power for the roads so I thought swapping out the cassette with a road casette would give me more power and still allow me to hit the single track as long as the biggest cog had at least 26T. But I noticed that the smal cog on both has 11T. Is there a difference? Will I get the same power from both? Where do I go from here? How can I get more power from my commuter but sill have the ability to ride single track? Thanks

 

[Gary the No-Trash Cougar]

Alternately, you could keep your old cassette and go with a slightly larger trekking/touring crank set?

 

[nachomc]

Your legs provide the power, not the cassette. All the cassette would do is give you different gearing options, which may or may not be beneficial to you and your riding.

 

[10000 Lakes]

I guess what I am asking is; are 11T cogs for road cassettes pretty much the same as an 11T mtb cog? If so then I'll get the Sram PG990 9 spd and call it a day.

 

[Gary the No-Trash Cougar]

Yes, the smallest 11t cog is basically the same on both cassettes, it's just that with a mountain cassette you're getting a wider gear range, like 11-32 as opposed to a closer 11-25 road cassette. Are you spinning out in the smallest cog/biggest chain ring combo? If so, then I think you might be better off with larger chain rings and/or longer crank arms. What about a 28/38/48 crank set?

 

[nachomc]

An 11t cog is an 11t cog. They all have 11t. What you may find different between an mtb cassette and a road cassette is the range of gearing. For example, the cassette on my mountain bike is an 11-34, while my road bike is an 11-26.

The range on my mtb is 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 24, 38, 32
The range on a 9 speed road cassette would be (12-27 cassette) 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27

As you can see the gears are more closely spaced in the center of the range on the road cassette. More fine tuning to keep your cadence up for pedaling on the road. Might make life a big hard with that 27t on a mountain bike trail if you have to go up any big climbs.

 

[10000 Lakes]

I do find myself spining out on the samllest cog and biggest chainring. I think it might be time for a larger chain rings. How will a 28/38/48 crank set work on the tails? What crank set do you prefer and why?

 

[ae111black]

go with a 46t big ring and leave it at that! thats what I did!

 

[Gary the No-Trash Cougar]

I do find myself spining out on the samllest cog and biggest chainring. I think it might be time for a larger chain rings. How will a 28/38/48 crank set work on the tails? What crank set do you prefer and why?

It will just be a bit harder to pedal than your mountain rings, but certainly not as hard as a big racing triple! Off-road I go with a typical set of mountain rings. For commuting, my old Trek rigid has a slightly taller 25-35-45 set that came stock.

 

[MTBerJim]

It sounds like someone needs another bike.

The gearing on the mountain bike is for off road, you could look into a 48 tooth big ring, but keep in mind your existing front derailleur may have to be replaced as well.

The easy (but more expensive) fix would be to look into a road/hybrid bike with taller gearing for commuting.

That's my 2 cents

 

[perttime]

It sounds like someone needs to learn to pedal.

44/11 gearing should be plenty to get a mountain bike to around 30mph.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

How fast do you want to go?

 

[10000 Lakes]

As fast as I can!! I fall into the catagory of; if it moves...pass it! I love to hang with the road bikes while I'm on a mtb and not look like I'm pedaling my ass off! I'd prefer not to buy another bike. I'll probably start looking at a bigger crankset. Thanks for all the imput!
Great website!!