Top gears

It depends on how the bike is set up.

Gear ratios for the same crank arm length and same size wheels is:

number of chainring teeth divided by number of cog teeth

So if you've got the same chainrings and same cassette with the same number of teeth mounted then yep, they're the same. For instance:

if you've got a 53 tooth big chainring and a 12 tooth small rear cog then your biggest gear ratio is ~4,42 (53/12)

If your triple had a big ring on 52 teeth and a rear cluster with a small cog of 11 teeth then your biggest gear ratio would be ~4.73 or a bigger gear which means faster for the same cadence or harder to push into headwinds or up hills.

So check the chainring sizes on both bikes and the rear cassettes mounted on both bikes. If you want to understand gearing beter, google Gear Inches which is how many racers compare gearing or check this out: http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

-Dave

Cheers for that but unfortunately the bike i'm looking at is on the net, and doesn't give any teeth or ring sizes just that it's a 14 speed. I'm just getting back into cycling purely for exercise and the area I live in is very flat so have no need for the really low gears, but obviously would still like to have good top gears, the bike is only fairly cheap one, a Viking sprint, so seems ideal just the gear sizes was only thing bugging me, thanks, Rossi.

Gears (cogs) are replaceable (to some degree), inexpensively (to some degree), depending on the bike. Hard to say without seeing the bike.

Cheers for help, have looked a bit further and found two bikes, a Viking giro d'italia 14 speed with 14/28 freewheel - 52/39 chainwheel and a coyote ronin 24 speed 11/23 freewheel - 12/23/8 chainwheel, now it's just deciding which one ?! My riding area is all flat any little tips on which one will be much appreciated for a beginner thanks. 😎

What's a 12/23/8 chainwheel?

Regardless, in flat terrain the 14-28 x 52-39 double will get you where you want to go. I lean away from triples except for recreational riders riding in mountainous regions, riders who are simply not fit, and tourists carrying loads.

Just to add, modern chainsets typically come in two sizes - standard (53/39) and compact (34/50). Couple that with the rear cassette typically 12-25 or thereabouts and you get a feel for the gear range most modern bikes have.

My bike is an old "14" speed, with 42/52 chainrings and 13-28 cassette. I could do with a lower gear for the steepest hills near me so am looking to get a compact chainset which gives me a 34T rather than 42T smallest chainring and hence lower bottom gear.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Dr Lodge [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Just to add, modern chainsets typically come in two sizes - standard (53/39) and compact (34/50). Couple that with the rear cassette typically 12-25 or thereabouts and you get a feel for the gear range most modern bikes have.

My bike is an old "14" speed, with 42/52 chainrings and 13-28 cassette. I could do with a lower gear for the steepest hills near me so am looking to get a compact chainset which gives me a 34T rather than 42T smallest chainring and hence lower bottom gear.

While I presume that you have money-to-burn, unless you are planning to switch to a new crank for cosmetic reasons ...

Why don't you simply change the inner chainring to a 39t or even a 38t chainring?

Also, your old-or-current rear derailleur can probably handle a 30t cog ... possibly a 32t cog ... certainly, 29t cog ...

• yes, in the past, I have borrowed the 30t cog from an 11-34 Cassette & the 32t from an 11-32 Cassette to restack on "road" Cassettes ...
  
• I have also notched a Shimano cog to allow it to sleeve onto a Campagnolo Freehub body
  

If you don't want to cannibalize a MTB cassette, you can buy an individual MICHE cog & restack your 'new' Cassette (i.e., substitute the 30t for the 28t cog) ...

FWIW. Here is a 29t (9-speed) Miche cog stacked on an otherwise 10-speed Campagnolo Cassette:

[IMG]cdn.cyclingforums.com900x900px LL 243f0c2d MICHE Campagnolo.jpegOpen ↗[/IMG]

Quoted message said:

Cheers for all the replies, not sure about the triple chainwheel figures either they seemed a bit odd but that's what was listed. Going by what you've all said think I'll go with the 14 speed, thanks again fella's🙂

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Rossi467 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Cheers for all the replies, not sure about the triple chainwheel figures either they seemed a bit odd but that's what was listed. Going by what you've all said think I'll go with the 14 speed, thanks again fella's🙂

Good choice. Don't know whether your rear cog set is a cassette or a freewheel, but that's not to worry about now. If later you decide you need more top end, inexpensive 7-speed freewheels and cassettes are available, usually by special order, with 13-tooth cogs. Happy riding.