Changing freewheel?

[Feliz]

Hi, just got my 2019 Yukon, still in the box as Im in no hurry to get on the road this time of year. I'm wondering if anyone has felt the need to change the stock 14-28T freewheel to one with a wider range? I picked up an 11-30T seven speed freewheel off Amazon just in case, I have a half dozen eBikes and all have a wider gear spacing than the Yukon so I guess I'm just being proactive. Has anyone else used a 11-30 and if so did you find the spacing between gears to large. I'm not concerned with top speed as I don't ride fast but hills are everywhere where I live. Thanks for any insight.

 

[AZOldTech]

Hi, just got my 2019 Yukon, still in the box as Im in no hurry to get on the road this time of year. I'm wondering if anyone has felt the need to change the stock 14-28T freewheel to one with a wider range? I picked up an 11-30T seven speed freewheel off Amazon just in case, I have a half dozen eBikes and all have a wider gear spacing than the Yukon so I guess I'm just being proactive. Has anyone else used a 11-30 and if so did you find the spacing between gears to large. I'm not concerned with top speed as I don't ride fast but hills are everywhere where I live. Thanks for any insight.

Not your bike but I did the same on a Ride1up from a freewheel Shimano 14-36T to a Dnp 11-30T and I found the 3 extra teeth did not do much. So I then replaced the crank chainring from a 42T to a 48T and that did it for me. Your Yukon should have a 44T up front so it would be better by 2T than mine was. An 11-44T (11T back and 44T front) combo at 70RPM will get you max 23.8mph with 29" diameter tires. See table below for different combos of max freewheel gear-chainring and rpm.

(all these speeds are for 29" tires; your Yukon 26" fat tires should measure about 29" in actual diameter)

14-42T @70rpm = 17.9mph @80rpm = 20.4mph <---- I had this stock
14-44T @70rpm = 18.7mph @80rpm = 21.4mph
14-48T @70rpm = 20.4mph @80rpm = 23.3mph
14-52T @70rpm = 22.1mph @80rpm = 25.3mph

11-42T @70rpm = 22.7mph @80rpm = 26.0mph
11-44T @70rpm = 23.8mph @80rpm = 27.2mph
11-48T @70rpm = 26.0mph @80rpm = 29.7mph <---- I changed it to this
11-52T @70rpm = 28.1mph @80rpm = 32.2mph
http://www.gear-calculator.com/

 

[Feliz]

Thanks for your detailed response it's very informative. I'll swap my freewheel and if that's not good I'll do as you did and change my chainring. Thanks again.

 

[Rsplodge]

No but I did add a smaller chainring for when I do trail-riding without power assist. I then manually move the chain over to that chainring. It's a neat chainring as it is a special 26T version but on a 104 bolt circle. Usually you can't get such a small chainring for that bolt circle.

https://usamade.myshopify.com/products/104-26t-st-pro-integrated-guard-mountain-chainring-new

...Roger

 

[Feliz]

That's cool, thanks.

 

[Jamesa]

Hi, just got my 2019 Yukon, still in the box as Im in no hurry to get on the road this time of year. I'm wondering if anyone has felt the need to change the stock 14-28T freewheel to one with a wider range? I picked up an 11-30T seven speed freewheel off Amazon just in case, I have a half dozen eBikes and all have a wider gear spacing than the Yukon so I guess I'm just being proactive. Has anyone else used a 11-30 and if so did you find the spacing between gears to large. I'm not concerned with top speed as I don't ride fast but hills are everywhere where I live. Thanks for any insight.

Hi Felix
I have had a 2019 Yukon 750 for about 5 months and am in the process of moving from the standard 14-28 to a 12-28. Not much of a change but I like to tinker. In order to get the freewheel cassette off your need a to made by Park, model FR 1.3. Then you have to cut one side of this tool with a hacksaw, spread it apart with a screwdriver, get it over the power cord and the collapse the tool with some pliers. There is a post on this web site about how to do it.

Also if you go more than a 30 tooth on the big gear you most likely will have to get a longer chain for everything to work properly, according to VoltBike.

Good luck