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14 speed VS 24 speed? |
hey there. i found a nice dawes bike that is a 14 spd but can somebody tell me if its necessary to have a 24? i like biking but im not hardcore, though i like going fast too! i read some reviews that if your just getting started in biking you should get more gears like a 24 spd. in a race/competition is a 24 spd usually necessary? i mean do you usually use the high gear at all? just wondering if there is an average. i also ask cuz im new and if theres something wrong w/ the bike, maintenance can be easier if its a more common gear like 24 spd right? is a 14 spd common too? i hope it makes sense...thank you in advance! A 14 speed is a 2x7 and a 24 is a 3x8. There is a lot of overlap in the gears so you don't really get 14 or 24 different ratios. E.g 52 or 39 teeth on the front with 16 or 12 on the back is the same ratio. If your new to cycling, ride off road, ride long distances or carry or tow heavy loads then you will appreciate the low gears that a triple chainring can offer. Mountain bikes are usually fitted with a triple. Road bikes usually a double. There is a trend toward what is called compact chainrings which just give a large difference between two chainrings. Cassettes (rear cogs) can have as few as 6 and as many as ten cogs. 6 is very rare. 7 was around for a long time but not common now. 8 are difficult to get in high quality. 9 is probably the most common but has been superseded by 10 recently. Some purists will tell you that you only need one speed (some of these will tell you it should be fixed.) For all of this waffle what is best for you? Well if you find a good 14 speed road bike and want to mostly ride on the road buy it. just check that it is a common cassette type so you can change it if needed. If you want to ride off road you will need the lower gears that a triple (or compact) chainring offer. If you ride mostly flat terrain while you are starting you will use very few gears. A lot of people will tell you you need more gears but as you become a stronger cyclist you actually use less 24 speeds means you have a 3rd smaller chainring. Unless you have some killer hills where you live, you might not even need it. I have a triple chainring and I rarely use the smallest one. 14 speed may be just fine for what you're using the bike for. 24 speed bikes are unneccesary unless you are doing serious off-road biking or going up 70 degree hills (which don't exist, at least where there are roads). Everything that most people do on a bike is covered with 14 speeds. 14-speed and 24-speed bikes are both very common, so there should be no problems ever in finding replacement parts. It is true that there is a lot of overlap in 24, 27, & 30 speed bikes. However, when you ride you want to find a comfortable cadence (RPM for your cranks). The more gears you have the easier it is to find that set up. I live in an area that has some pretty severe (yes, paved) hills. I have a 27 speed (3 front x 9 rear) and I use all 3 front gears all the time. If you are a beginner I would pick a set up that has 3 front cogs. One other note, be careful of 7 speed rear cogs. They haven't been manufactured in years and would lead me to believe it is a pretty old set-up. In fact Shimano has recently closed out its 9 speed rear cogs in leui of the 10 rear (x2 to make 20 speed and x3 to make 30 speed). I believe Dawes is only sold through one dealer on Ebay only. Check www.craigslist.com in your area under bikes. I have found some really awesome deals in there. Good luck, Cheers 24 spd is better I say. those really low gears are used fro downhill or when you got lots of wind with you. something |
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