Quick question about my gearing.

This isn't going to help, but just out of curiosity, what is your cadence speed?

I don't know. I'm very new to cycling; and although I have an idea of what cadence is, I don't know how I can measure it.

All you can do is change your chainrings to say a 39/53 and cassette (back wheel) to 11-23 or so. It's good to max your speed tho. Good work. Most want something smaller for hills. Cadence is counted by counting your revolutions per minute. You can buy a gadget or simply estimate by counting everytime your right foot bottoms out or something for 1 minute. Happy riding!

LS17 said:

I don't know. I'm very new to cycling; and although I have an idea of what cadence is, I don't know how I can measure it.

LS17 said:

I just got my first bike and am completely new to cycling. The bike is a good fit for me and it really is a nice ride but I think the gearing doesn't suit me. The previous owner told me it has 34/50 chain rings and a 12/27 rear sproket. It kind of seems like I need any extra gear once I'm at my max speed. Looking at my computer, I can only get up to about 24 mph tops...it seems like I need another gear to shift into because I'm pedaling as fast as I can and can't go any faster. Should I take it to a bike shop and have them change the gearing in the rear wheel or see if I can add an extra cog in the front where the pedals are? Any idea how much that would cost? I'm kind of new to this biking thing so I'd appreciate any help.

If you're pedaling in your 50x12 gear (highest gear) at 24mph, that's only 70rpm. As you ride more and develop a nice, smooth pedal stroke, you should be able to spin along at 100+ rpm without any problem. At 100rpm in your existing gearing, you'll be doing 34mph, which should be plenty.

Anyway, to answer your question, a 50/34 chainring is considered a 'compact' setup. The typical double chainring setup comes with 53/39 tooth chainrings. If you wanted to switch, you'd have to change both front chainrings and prossibly the front derailleur. Guessing at about $100 US. Before you do that, you should know that most people don't use the 53x12 gearing very often. It's a really big gear for the cadence range that most people pedal. 85-95 rpm is considered a good range for endurance riding, and people do that for hours on end.

My recommendation is to keep your current gearing for a while and work on developing a nice, steady, fluid pedalstroke by riding in a lower gear and pedaling faster.

I raised my saddle and found that the higher position helped increase my pedaling power. That and a lot of downhill riding (helps me practice good form) helped me up my speed significantly.