Mountain Bike Vs Road Bike Gear Ratio
This means that you can use an 8 or 9 speed mountain bike derailleur.
Mountain bike vs road bike gear ratio. Fd s need to be shaped to the number of chainrings typically 2 less so common 3 on a road bike vs often 3 on a mountain bike as well as the size of the chainrings. Using a gear inch chart is one way to compare gear ratios without riding the bike. The biggest difference between a mountain bike and a road bike is gear ratio. So with the same chainrings ratio gearing on a road bike will be higher than on a mtb.
You can change tires increase pressure lock out your suspension and use clipless pedals but if you are on a typical mountain bike your gearing will still limit you to a speed which is roughly 30 slower than the same effort will produce on a mountain bike. Now for exact gearing the wheel diameter needs to be taken into consideration. The usual generic diameter value for road wheels is 680 mm so the radius would be 340 mm 340 mm 170 mm 2 0. Choosing lower gear ratios will help you learn the ways of the roadie and it won t be too long before you re regularly using the highest gears on the flat.
Road bike gears offer something very different to off road bikes speed. 26 mountain bike wheel will travel smaller distance for one turn compared to a 28 road bike wheel. A road bike with 170 mm cranks. But you ll only really understand the difference after you ve done a few miles on tarmac.
An intro to bike. For one revolution of the pedal your bike will travel a certain number of inches. That is one factor. I call this a gain ratio with thanks to osman isvan for suggesting this term.
To keep things simple let s look at just 29ers. The rear cassette is often smaller on a road bike as well you won t see a 36t big rear cog on many road bikes unless they re touring bikes. With bicycle gearing it is important to have two things. The radius ratio 2 0 x 53 19 5 58 this number is a pure ratio the units cancel out.
Know that this value does depend on wheel size. Most 8 and 9 speed shimano mountain bike and road kit is inter compatible because they both use the same cable pull ratio.