Derailleur Upgrade

B

b-mendenhall

New Member
I have been searching for an upgrade to the stock derailleur. One that has metal components verses the plastic parts. Wanting to stay with the current 7 speed shifter if possible.
Please advise me if you have any recommendations.
 
I know all the other Ebikes that compete with the XP, that are $1500+ use Altus components. Honestly though, purely a derailleur upgrade is probably a waste of money. Even the whole system upgrade would be wasteful on a bike like this.
 
EpicTwiglet said:
Even the whole system upgrade would be wasteful on a bike like this
Click to expand...
Just curious what determines if a groupset / full drivetrain upgrade will be worth it on a particular bike? I have the allant +7s, would I see any benefit by changing our the entire drivetrain?
 
TrailSeeker said:
Just curious what determines if a groupset / full drivetrain upgrade will be worth it on a particular bike? I have the allant +7s, would I see any benefit by changing our the entire drivetrain?
Click to expand...
An upgraded derailleur won't make a heavy fat tire bike easier to pedal. Your shifting may be a little bit smoother. Upgrading components on a $1000 Lectric may make sense to fix a specific problem, like an uncomfortable saddle, but throwing a lot of money at a better groupset won't make it ride and feel like a more expensive bike.

MTA: It looks like the allant +7s has decent components. There is nothing on that bike that I would be in a hurry to replace except the saddle and pedals.
 
Yeah, sorry about that! I didn't want to make a new thread since it seemed so similar to this one. I'm learning still 😛,and I think if I made a new thread for each question I had, that you guys would all truly "head (run) for the hills" 😄
 
That actually makes sense. The only time I've seen replacement of a group set making sense is when an owner is satisfied with a current set up but has pretty much worn out the current group set on their bike and is not tempted by the latest and greatest. IMHO in the ebike world we don't really need a wider range of gears beyond a 1x8 group and with the mega range 7 speed 11-34 from drift maniac or DNP if we are stuck with a 7 speed freewheel I'm not convinced that with a motor assist there needs to be more than 7 speeds anyway. I've got the drift maniac on my 28mph ebike and cadence is a little high at 100rpm but still not ghost peddling. Anything over 28mph becomes illegal on public paths, roads & trails anyway. Most of us ride at 16-20 mph to get decent range too (except for the occasional friendly ebike race challenge). So I can understand a little gearing upgrade but for the other items in a group set I'd wait and replace as they fail/ wear out.
 
You don't think anyone needs more than speeds? You oughta come ride where I live in SW New Hampshire. All hills, some pretty steep. It's not hub motor territory and you need to gear waaay down to get up some of our hills. OTOH, the downhill runs are great....
 
Hi guys, I hope it's okay to continue this thread (let me know if I should make a new one but this is kind of a related question). So I was out just now and im digging the motor and speed a lot. I have a few adjustments to make with stem height, etc, but the thing i wanted to ask you guys is on the drivetrain.

I notice a lot of times I either have to stop pedaling because I am going too fast and/or can't continue pushing the current gear. I also find that the lowest gear I'm using is 4. 4 is what starts me up or goes up the biggest hill on the trail which is like a 20% but very short. So I'm either having to stop my cadence or i find the next gear down I'm doing way too much than what I like.

At first I was thinking maybe more gearing would help, but since I don't really use gears 1-3, is there a way to just shift everything and make gear 1 my gear 4, for example?

Also second thing - is it possible to change the feel of a gear - i think i would also need to tweak the efforts required for some of the gears but I don't even know if that's a thing or not?

I have a 11-46t narrow wide drivetrain i think. and my chain is a standard KMC X9 (but that I can change it's more the gearing that is the problem).

Thank you all

PS I'm also asking because it hurt my knee having to stop and hold it up on the pedal for so long. I guess joints do better for me in motion.
 
Putting a bigger chainring in the front will shift all your gears higher. You can also change out the cassette in the back with a different selection of gears.
 
So I'm just a little confused since this is a thread on the Lectric XP forum and if you have a wide narrow it describes the chain ring that usually comes in a mid drive motor not the hub motor that the Lectric has and the Lectric uses a 7 speed freewheel that there are no 11-46t gear sets that exists. Post here what bike you have and I should be able to help.
 
Johny Rocket said:
So I'm just a little confused since this is a thread on the Lectric XP forum and if you have a wide narrow it describes the chain ring that usually comes in a mid drive motor not the hub motor that the Lectric has and the Lectric uses a 7 speed freewheel that there are no 11-46t gear sets that exists. Post here what bike you have and I should be able to help.
Click to expand...
@Johny Rocket I'm sorry. I should have probably started a new thread but I searched the forums and my original question related to derailleurs and so I posted here to avoid a new thread. Then, I thought I would just continue with the gearing issue, but I didn't mean to break the rules or hijack the thread. I didn't know this was on the Lectric subforum.

I'll start making only new threads from now on, and will be careful to make sure I see where a thread is located before replying to them.

Since you asked, my bike is the allant+ 7s. It's a staggard frame but I don't know if that makes a difference or not. It's a small size frame from Trek
 
RunForTheHills said:
Putting a bigger chainring in the front will shift all your gears higher. You can also change out the cassette in the back with a different selection of gears.
Click to expand...
When you say change the cassette, does that mean they offer cassettes with the same number of gears but with different feel in terms of amount of force needed? If that's true I didn't know that.

Ps if you guys would rather me start a new thread I can post in the general bike thread and put your replies in. It's up to you. Sorry again about this.
 
So in looking at the specs of your bike in my opinion there is nothing you should do. With a 46t front chain ring the high gear should with the torque of the Bosch motor get you to the 28mph on your 11t high gear in the back with a slightly quick cadence as would be expected . Starting on flat ground in 4th is harder on the drivetrain and I would say 3rd is more appropriate. 1st would be reserved for very steep hill climbing or towing a cargo trailer up steep hills, 2nd & 3rd for hills as well. The other reason to keep existing 1st & 2nd is if you loose motor power for some reason (dead battery, electrical short, etc ) you will need those gears to get you home without pedal assist. I have a similar setup but 8 speed 11-34 gearing. I'm a little past 4000 miles and twice had to manually peddle home due to power issues, once a fuse and once a miscalculated guess how much a headwind lowered my max range. I was glad both times for the lower gears. By the way, ask a road cyclist (if as I suspect you're in Florida) how many of the 27 speeds they use and it will be 3 or 4 of them.
 
Johny Rocket said:
So in looking at the specs of your bike in my opinion there is nothing you should do. With a 46t front chain ring the high gear should with the torque of the Bosch motor get you to the 28mph on your 11t high gear in the back with a slightly quick cadence as would be expected . Starting on flat ground in 4th is harder on the drivetrain and I would say 3rd is more appropriate. 1st would be reserved for very steep hill climbing or towing a cargo trailer up steep hills, 2nd & 3rd for hills as well. The other reason to keep existing 1st & 2nd is if you loose motor power for some reason (dead battery, electrical short, etc ) you will need those gears to get you home without pedal assist. I have a similar setup but 8 speed 11-34 gearing. I'm a little past 4000 miles and twice had to manually peddle home due to power issues, once a fuse and once a miscalculated guess how much a headwind lowered my max range. I was glad both times for the lower gears. By the way, ask a road cyclist (if as I suspect you're in Florida) how many of the 27 speeds they use and it will be 3 or 4 of them.
Click to expand...
myself with the same setup I always start out in the largest cog. sometimes I actually pop a wheelie :D I love the acceleration I get I shift two gears up each time and I can get going fast.
 
They do offer cassettes with different ranges of gears. If you get a cassette that is compatible with a Shimano 9 speed derailleur, it will work on your bike. The specs for the bike say that it comes with a Shimano HG200, 11-36, 9 speed cassette and not an 11-46T. So maybe I am not looking at the right specs for your bike. 46T gears in the rear are a recent thing with the trend towards 1X systems (single gear in the front). That is a granny gear used for steep hills as Johnny Rocket said.

You can use a gear calculator to determine what gearing will work best for you. Everyone is a little different. I pedal at a high cadence (90 rpm), but some people are mashers and like to pedal slower in a higher gear.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html
 
RunForTheHills said:
They do offer cassettes with different ranges of gears. If you get a cassette that is compatible with a Shimano 9 speed derailleur, it will work on your bike. The specs for the bike say that it comes with a Shimano HG200, 11-36, 9 speed cassette and not an 11-46T. So maybe I am not looking at the right specs for your bike. 46T gears in the rear are a recent thing with the trend towards 1X systems (single gear in the front). That is a granny gear used for steep hills as Johnny Rocket said.

You can use a gear calculator to determine what gearing will work best for you. Everyone is a little different. I pedal at a high cadence (90 rpm), but some people are mashers and like to pedal slower in a higher gear.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html
Click to expand...
The 46t is his front chain ring
 
Thank you guys! I'll go through the gear calculator and for now I'll leave things as is and try experimenting with different boost levels maybe.

Also I'm in Illinois but I in now exactly what you mean with Florida cyclists and not really having many hills lol.
 
Hi everyone,
Sorry I had a question on gear ratios. So if I increase the teeth count on my larger 2 or 3 gears, will that make it feel harder to pedal and help drop my cadence?

Would this cassette work with my bike (this one I think Is a little expensive though and again I'm not sure on the gear ratio)

SunRace CM993 11-50T 9 Speed Wide Ratio Cassette, Black, ST1881 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084YXMCJ...abc_DN2YEZV8WCKHZXHJ5ME1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Stefan Mikes
Upgrading Vado SL Shimano Drivetrain From 10 to 12-speed
2
Replies
35
Views
3K
Stefan Mikes
Stefan Mikes
CCroft
Unicorn search? Off-road fat step-through + internal hub?
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
CCroft
CCroft
A
New and require some advice if anyone has the time
Replies
3
Views
320
Urbancowboy
Urbancowboy
B
My Custom E-Bycco GT 2.0 / 750W Rear Hub E-Bike
Replies
1
Views
567
kevinmccune
kevinmccune
Rich W.
Need help choosing Shimano components, or….?
Replies
2
Views
1K
Greydog
G
Back