Mountain Bike Guru
Bicycle gurus: If I want bigger gears on my 21 speed mountain bike what do I need to do? Money *IS* an object?
I want to buy parts on eBay and do it myself. I have an old Kokomo Cignal mountain bike 21 speed with a really small high gear. I wonder if I can get road bike gears or bigger mountain bike gears. Could I get everything on eBay for $50?
You might be able to; or you might get bogged down in endless technical problems.
think about this:
- your front derailer, if you have the kind that clamps on, will need to be raised and adjusted, or possibly replaced. If you have the kind that bolts to a braze-on, you might be outta luck.
- you’ll probably need a new matching bottom bracket, depending on what’s in there now and whether you can find a compatible road crankset.
One option – replace the big chainring with a bigger one – find out what your “bolt circle diameter” or BCD is, and see if aftermarket big rings are available. Keep in mind, if there’s too much of a difference between middle and large, it won’t work well or maybe at all.
Kelowna’s Tour Guru Catherine Frechette goes mountain bike riding.
