Bike maintenance for dummies.

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Stepford Wife Apr 2017 10:23pm, 4 Apr 2017 18,740 posts	0 Stepford Wife Triples are awful on road bikes. Have you got proper STIs or those weird bar top shifter things?
richmac Apr 2017 11:49am, 5 Apr 2017 10,315 posts	0 richmac Just to change the subject... road.cc
Stepford Wife Apr 2017 9:00pm, 7 Apr 2017 18,741 posts	0 Stepford Wife SRAM as ever talking utter crap. From the people who promote 1 x systems largely because they struggle to make decent front mechs.
shanksi May 2017 2:24pm, 15 May 2017 1,405 posts	0 shanksi After struggling up a big steep hill on my road bike at the weekend, i am considering whether I need to just get tougher or if it would be worth looking at new chainrings or cassette to give a lower gear ratio at the bottom end. Can this be done reasonably simply, or do I have to replace everything and will never get it all back together in a working form again?
Tonybv9 May 2017 2:57pm, 15 May 2017 950 posts	0 Tonybv9 Shanksi, Changing chainrings generally requires no specialist tools, unlike changing sprockets. Also, cassettes with a smaller low end eg 28 or 30 mean a bigger jump between the other sprockets on the cassette, which can make it hard to find a comfortable gear at other times. What do you have fitted at the moment?
K5 Gus May 2017 3:13pm, 15 May 2017 2,145 posts	0 K5 Gus My road bike came with a 12-25 10 speed cassette, I wanted a lower "lowest" gear, so changed it for a 11-28 ( and therefore also got a slightly higher "highest" gear ). Yes, there are slightly bigger jumps between some of the gears, but not really noticeable. Got my mate to do it for me as I didn't have the necessary tools for removing the cassette. Lots of youtube vids showing how to do it and what tools you need, eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEAASx8ipsI
R4R May 2017 3:25pm, 15 May 2017 2,778 posts	0 R4R I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but you may need a longer chain and/or rear mech hanger, depending on how many extra teeth you're adding to your low gear
larkim May 2017 3:41pm, 15 May 2017 2,014 posts	0 larkim It's not a hard job, though the physical exertion to release the cassette can be a challenge. Decathlon do a cassette removal tool which is different to a chainwhip and seems arguably more robust. I've bought one, but not had to remove a cassette since!
Tonybv9 May 2017 4:29pm, 15 May 2017 951 posts	0 Tonybv9 "My road bike came with a 12-25 10 speed cassette, I wanted a lower "lowest" gear, so changed it for a 11-28 ( and therefore also got a slightly higher "highest" gear ). Yes, there are slightly bigger jumps between some of the gears, but not really noticeable." The best solution depends on how much anyone uses his/her range of gears and the terrain usually ridden. I know I would almost never use a 52x11, so it would be a wasted gear. I prefer to change the chainring. I've moved from 52-42 in my racing days to a more leisurely 50-38 with a 12-23 cassette. I spend more time on the 50 around the middle sprockets, which makes for a smooth ride.
shanksi May 2017 12:35pm, 16 May 2017 1,406 posts	0 shanksi Thanks for all the info - I meant to check what I've actually got at the moment but I think the front's 52-42 and the cassette is 12-25. I'd thought I might need to worry about chain length but hadn't considered the rear mech hanger. I don't think the bigger jumps between gears will be a problem - I suspect I'm usually in the wrong gear anyway.