[dave58]

Hi

Hello to all on the forum

So my wife has a marlin 7
Hope to do a few trails as well as commute together
So it has a single chain ring (28t)
However she seems to spend a fair bit of time in the smaller cassette gears on the road/ commute
Can we safely go up a few teeth on the chain ring ? (32- 34)
I appreciate this may be to the detriment of the hill climbing capacity but I honest do not see us doing too much of that
We will be doing trails really nothing serious

Regards Dave

 

[Sideknob]

Normally you can go up two teeth before chain length might become an issue.

I feel that 34t will definitely be too much, assuming the chain is sized correctly for the 28/46 combo.

 

[dave58]

Hi
Thanks for the reply
will try a 30 or 32 chain ring

regards Dave

 

[Lone Rager]

Yeah. Make sure the larger ring adequately clears the chainstay. 30 from 28 is a pretty small change so go at least 32. The chain will very likely be long enough, but you'll need to verify...and at a minimum check and adjust the B screw to compensate.

 

[dave58]

Hi
Thanks for the advice will try a 32t and see how it goes

Regards Dave

 

[WSquared]

Hi
Thanks for the advice will try a 32t and see how it goes

How did it go? I got my 2021 marlin 7 last Friday and after 2 rides around local MTB trails, I am debating upgrading to 32t or 34t.

On the two rides, while on the trails, I spent most of the time in the 4th smallest gear on the slight uphill inclines. Sometimes on 3rd or 2nd smallest gears on the flatter parts. I never once used the climbing gear. Pedalling like crazy on the roads to & from the trails was a bit silly...

I don't know why they fitted it with 28t as stock... That is not going to suit most people who buy the Marlin 7 IMO. For those very few people who climb 'extreme' ascents, they could be the ones to replace with a smaller chainring.

 

[WSquared]

For those of you that have upgraded to 32t or 34t, how did it go? Any issues with clearance?
I am debating to go up to 32t or 34t on my new 2021 Marlin 7.

 

[druss102]

Hi, I was also curious if I could change my chainring to 32T or 34T to gain a little more speed, although the 28/46 combo has come in handy a few couple of times. The local Trek shop said I could go to 32T with the chainstay being the limiting factor. But Trek online chat said the chainring is "pinned" and can't be replaced without changing out the crank.

 

[WSquared]

FYI, I bought 30t and 32t FSA Gamma Pro (82BCD) to try those instead of the 28t. The 32t chainring hits the frame. The 30t just barely clears it. I have an appointment with my local Trek shop this Saturday for them to swap the bottom bracket to a slightly longer (wider?) one so the chainring can sit a tiny bit further away from the frame. I'll then see how things are with the 32t and go from there.

 

[jasonmitchell42]

Between the chainring being too small and the dropper post not allowing internal cabling without warrantly voiding modifications, i'm not very happy with the Marlin 7! It's a great bike on the trails but the gearing is way to high. My bike even came with some shitty plastic pedals that the local bike shop didnt even fit because they were so crap! There goes another $80 for a decent set of pedals. Reading the comments above about having to swap out the bottom bracket makes things even worse. There's $1100 AUD I could have spent on a much better bike I think. (I've had the bike about 6 weeks)

 

[04 F2000SL]

That's why the marlin 6 is such a good buy, I've not had the chain drop and altus shifts pretty well under load. For any decent range you will need a 2x system.

 

[rydvone]

Go back to 28t ring questions. Has anyone installed 32t ring to marlin 7 successfully? May be I need change FSA Gamma Pro (82BCD) for something more popular?