Saratoga Dave
Well-Known Member
You guys will enjoy this one.
So I decided to swap out the 48 tooth chainring on my 2018 Giant ToughRoad for a 42 tooth - which is actually what the bike was spec’d to come with originally, but for whatever reason it came with the 48. All been fine for the last 2600 miles, but the way I ride I never get to the top couple of cogs and I thought it would be good to have a little more on the low end, a real stump puller gear for some of the dirt roads up in the Adirondacks and steeper trails not far from where we live.
My LBS did the swap, and today I took the bike out to see how it feels, and went to the steepest hill I know in southern Saratoga County, a semi private dead end road that you ride down into on this pretty good incline. Down to the bottom I go, turn around, and start back up, quickly finding myself in the new First gear and inexplicably having a terrible time of it. I could barely turn the pedals over halfway up the hill, but I am too stubborn to stop - heart rate troubles aside, mind you - and I struggled to the top thinking, well, that was a freaking waste of money and how did I get so weak?
And I looked down and of course I had never taken the assist level out of Eco, like a complete idiot, thinking only about the chain ring.
So a few minutes to catch my breath and back down the hill we go, and I’ll be damned if this wasn’t more like it, in Normal this time (bike has Eco, Normal and Power).
So once we get past the stunning lack of intellect and tactical awareness, it’s all good and I’m happy to have a little more flexibility for the steep stuff!
So I decided to swap out the 48 tooth chainring on my 2018 Giant ToughRoad for a 42 tooth - which is actually what the bike was spec’d to come with originally, but for whatever reason it came with the 48. All been fine for the last 2600 miles, but the way I ride I never get to the top couple of cogs and I thought it would be good to have a little more on the low end, a real stump puller gear for some of the dirt roads up in the Adirondacks and steeper trails not far from where we live.
My LBS did the swap, and today I took the bike out to see how it feels, and went to the steepest hill I know in southern Saratoga County, a semi private dead end road that you ride down into on this pretty good incline. Down to the bottom I go, turn around, and start back up, quickly finding myself in the new First gear and inexplicably having a terrible time of it. I could barely turn the pedals over halfway up the hill, but I am too stubborn to stop - heart rate troubles aside, mind you - and I struggled to the top thinking, well, that was a freaking waste of money and how did I get so weak?
And I looked down and of course I had never taken the assist level out of Eco, like a complete idiot, thinking only about the chain ring.
So a few minutes to catch my breath and back down the hill we go, and I’ll be damned if this wasn’t more like it, in Normal this time (bike has Eco, Normal and Power).
So once we get past the stunning lack of intellect and tactical awareness, it’s all good and I’m happy to have a little more flexibility for the steep stuff!
