Gearing…(08 TE 450)

[neversurfaced]

So stock gearing is 13/47 and I’m a complete sissy, a “wet rag” you might say; some might even go as far as to call me a “momma’s boy”. Stock gearing seems to be just fine for my forays in the desert, a leisurely stroll the likes of which afterwards one might expect to dine on a nice California red wine with some artisanal cheeses…

Lovely, just lovely…

However, whilst engaging in a bit of tomfoolery this weekend with some workaday chums, trying out the new IMS tank, I ran into a bit of a quandary. Some tight, nasty singletrack with an abundance of deep "swallow your swingarm" sandy hillclimbs had me at a loss. Whilst my chums kicked dirt in my face simultaneously threatening my mother with various unmentionable acts, they began to mock my gearing. Not knowing exactly what to say or how best to react, I picked up a large rock and beat them all to death…

Which brings me to my question, as one of my chums painstakingly drew their last breath, they muttered something regarding my gearing being “too tall”. Soon thereafter the Grim Reaper delivered the sweet release of death, so he didn’t have the chance to elaborate.

What gearing would fine gentlemen (and ladies) such as yourselves recommend for such a nagging nuisance?

Thank you for your consideration and your continued, undying support ~

 

[I8AKTM]

I used to like 13/50 on my 510....thought about going to 51 or 52 for tighter stuff.

Those numbers probably draw laughter to you desert guys, but she was darn right responsive for the riding around here.

I like a 12 on the front of my TXC 250.


paul

 

[Poopy]

LOL, good story.

By "too tall" your poor friends mean your gearing is numerically too low. (yes it seems backwards) The taller your gears, the faster you go, but every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so the taller you go, the harder its going to be to ride at slow speeds in technical stuff because your bike is going to want to stall.

Likewise, if you gear too low, you will be able to pull stumps out of the ground, but may end up doing 30mph in 6th gear redlining the motor.

If you added a couple teeth to the rear sprocket, or stepped down 1 tooth in the front sprocket, you would get your gearing a bit lower and may help you in your quest to ride tighter trails.

 

[Fast1]

So stock gearing is 13/47 and I’m a complete sissy, a “wet rag” you might say; some might even go as far as to call me a “momma’s boy”. Stock gearing seems to be just fine for my forays in the desert, a leisurely stroll the likes of which afterwards one might expect to dine on a nice California red wine with some artisanal cheeses…

Lovely, just lovely…

However, whilst engaging in a bit of tomfoolery this weekend with some workaday chums, trying out the new IMS tank, I ran into a bit of a quandary. Some tight, nasty singletrack with an abundance of deep "swallow your swingarm" sandy hillclimbs had me at a loss. Whilst my chums kicked dirt in my face simultaneously threatening my mother with various unmentionable acts, they began to mock my gearing. Not knowing exactly what to say or how best to react, I picked up a large rock and beat them all to death…

Which brings me to my question, as one of my chums painstakingly drew their last breath, they muttered something regarding my gearing being “too tall”. Soon thereafter the Grim Reaper delivered the sweet release of death, so he didn’t have the chance to elaborate.

What gearing would fine gentlemen (and ladies) such as yourselves recommend for such a nagging nuisance?

Thank you for your consideration and your continued, undying support ~

Instead of beating the snot out of the young chap you should have made him count every tooth on each of his sprockets so that he could tell you his own gearing secret. Bloody well done!

 

[naga]

Dammit Coffee! Stupid refresh ate my comment! And it was actually funny, now I gotta type it again and I'll just make it longer...

So...

Had stock 13/47 gearing on my TXC. But is felt a little, well, flaccid, limp, unexciting. So I solved the problem by sliding into a rock, breaking my big toe (again), seriously de-virginizing my Uptite skidplate (thanks George!), mangling the stock chain guide (bad ideas those - they must not have rocks in Italy), and bending the !@#@ outa the 47. Broken toe, bent sprocket, 7 mile push to a named road. Dammit.

Fortunately I had my 310's rear wheel with an Ironman Sprocket's 50 and a brand-spankin' new IRC trials tire on it at camp.

Unfortunately, I was 40 crow-flies miles from camp, solo because I'm stupid.

Hey, but I had cell phone coverage, so I called my wife at camp to worry her, 'cause I'm considerate like that. She wasn't going to be able to help much - as she had a 12 yo and a 20 month old and no bike hauler on the Xterra (not to mention no good idea where I was, despite the marked topo map and route plan I had left her).

Fortunately for me, Sharpie - that beautiful man to whom my wife has pledged the first million dollars (if I ever quit spending her hard-won money on shiny Husky-toys) - was on his way to camp with wife, kid and brand new (to him) yuppified toy hauler. So he hurries to set up camp in the impending dark, drops his yuppy-camper and hauls butt 50 road miles to the base of the mountain I'm slowly walking off of. Finds me in the dark on an obscure little road as I'm waving my iPhone over my head (those things are brighter than my Mag-lite!).

Have I said Sharpie is a beautiful man? Ask him about his Dora the Explorer bandaids some day.

Purpose of this thread jack?

So I put on the 310 wheel and ride the next day. No more flaccid, limp, unexciting rear wheel! Hello little blue pill!

Did 140 miles this weekend scouting out the Reno Ride 200 route. Mostly 2 track, a couple of hills climbs, a little single track, some I-80 scare-the-tourists. 13/50 is the golden ticket. Passed trucks on I-80 at 75-80, and still had enough down low that I was upshifting on the climbs. Did some dumb-when-you-are-solo single track on the way home - climbs like a goat. Blasted around out at Moonrocks and she would run as fast as I could stomach.

Get a 50 rear.

Go climb things.

Stop beating on your friends with rocks - think of the rocks, man.

 

[neversurfaced]

Ah, thanks gents! That’s the kind of top-notch information I was hoping for!

So…50 tooth rear seems to be the ticket eh? 50/13 = 3.85:1

Hmmm…. Does the combination of the two matter or strictly the ratio? Is 48/12 (4:1) any different from 52/13 (4:1)?


Naga – I like the cut of your jib mister! This was my favorite part:

Hey, but I had cell phone coverage, so I called my wife at camp to worry her, 'cause I'm considerate like that.

Yes sir – Those are some good times right there. Good times indeed!

 

[Joliet]

I don't ride much pavement (just connecting trails usually) and ride some technical singletrack. I went to a 12 tooth on the front and left the rear alone. So far I have not regretted it. It may wear the chain faster having that small of a sprocket on the front, but I am sure saving a lot of clutch in the tight stuff. Ken

 

[ScottyR]

50T rear all the way baby!!

The 47T sucks AFAIK.

 

[Coffee]

Dammit Coffee! Stupid refresh ate my comment! And it was actually funny, now I gotta type it again and I'll just make it longer...

People posting things like this worry me, if someone is having technical difficulties with the site I'd like to know.

Had stock 13/47 gearing on my TXC.

New bike? TXC___ ?

Fortunately I had my 310's rear wheel with an Ironman Sprocket's 50 and a brand-spankin' new IRC trials tire on it at camp.

Your TE250/310 wheel was back at camp?

Get a 50 rear.

50 rear is a popular size... I've got no clue what the internal secondary gearing is on a 2008 TXC___ or how it compares to a 2006 TE250 though.

 

[Coffee]

So stock gearing is 13/47......

What gearing...?

It's all good. I'm in the 'experiment until you find what you like' category. Change to whatever sprockets are cheap & convenient to experiment with, then later get what would be considered the 'right' sprockets for that ratio you like. 'Right' is always a subject for debate but some consider the 12T CS too small to use on a bike long term, and too big of a CS may wear/rub something. I've never seen anyone say a rear sprocket size being too big or small would cause issues other than the (obvious) gear ratio changes.


"Cheap & convenient" could easily be a chain issue - a smaller 12T CS could be tossed on without putting a longer chain on, or if the chain length is such that the rear axle is already really close to the rear of the bike maybe a larger rear sprocket which would bring the axle farther forward. Changing either sprocket 2 teeth will move the rear axle 5/8".

.

 

[naga]

Coffee -

Nah, your site is fine - its the user that needs a bug fix.

Junked a crank bearing on my 310. Complicated story, all my fault, my mechanic sucks. Thinking of motarding it now

Long story on the replacement, my wife is too cool.

TXC 450 is NICE, both the extra ponies and the better suspension. My poor little 310 was being rung out, spent more time in 6th than in any other gear, and I was stretching the throttle cable twisting it for more. Now I'm trying to remember what the clutch lever does and my right foot keeps forgetting that it is the brake.

The 310's wheel was at camp because I kept the stock rear tire on the TXC during break-in on the theory that it was such a piece of @#$# I would go easy on the bike until I wore it down - then I could just throw the other wheel on when Sharpie wanted to go drag me down Fordyce. And the 310 isn't going to need it for a while...

That'll teach me.

It is a heck of a lot easier - and cheaper - to experiment with different sized CS sprockets than to change the rear sprocket over and over. I really like the 13/50 combo - that or the trials tire - or both. I don't notice anything much missing off the very top and the bottom is SO much nicer.

I don't think I would keep a 12 on very long, just seems to be a lot of stress on the CS. I know Sharpie runs something big, like 15/47, and he climbs trees.

Wow! That was a threadjack!

 

[Coffee]

Junked a crank bearing on my 310. Complicated story, all my fault, my mechanic sucks. Thinking of motarding it now
.......

Wow! That was a threadjack!

When you are in the mood start up a thread and tell us your tale of woe... we have gigabytes of space and an unlimited number of filing cabinet drawers to file things.

It wasn't a threadjack... glad you could share your experiences.

 

[Joliet]

I don't think I would keep a 12 on very long, just seems to be a lot of stress on the CS. I know Sharpie runs something big, like 15/47, and he climbs trees.

QUOTE]

I have heard that running a small counter sprocket will wear the chain faster due to rotating the links further, but have never heard that it puts more stress on the counter shaft. Ken

 

[naga]

Probably just hold-over thinking from mountain biking. Your big and middle rings are aluminum, but the granny is steel, because aluminum gets chunked up pretty fast.

Or I could have no clue


(EDIT) Woot! 10 posts!

 

[neversurfaced]

So with just under 1/2" of thread left on my tensioners, I guess in order to go 50t I'll need to get a new chain, and a chain breaker, and that other thing...

Oh the humanity...

I think I'll go with coffee's "Cheap & Convenient" method for now, a 12tCS will give me 3.92:1, which is a hair better than 50/13 at 3.85:1...

 

[gandalf]

Dammit Coffee! Stupid refresh ate my comment! And it was actually funny, now I gotta type it again and I'll just make it longer...

naga, I loved your story, very well written. Also wanted to let you know that if you click refresh, it refreshes the screen with what comes from the server replacing what is on your computer. So, if you type some stuff and then click refresh, you will lose your edits. I'm not sure if that's what happened to you, but that's what it sounded like to me.

 

[meslowmelive]

we ride some knarly shite over here lots of hills and single track , 14 x 52 is great ,i never use first gear hardly at all mostly 2-3-4 or 13 x 50 . dont know why you blokes would be going a 12 front thats some crazy shite there .lots of wear on that chain and front sprocket a 13 wears out quick enough ,thats why i use a 14 and go bigger on the rear 52 .thats my 2 bob worth .

 

[dags]

used to run 13-50 & 53 on all before the 08, with it`s torque being better placed the 08 loves 14-50 & a 53 for ST. That`s still a tad short for longer rides, but like meslow, we ride more hills & tight stuff.
I`d never run a 12.............