Replacement front chainring

[bazzapage]

I've done 7800km on my Turbo now and feel the need to do a cassette/chain replacement, and figure I should do the front chainring at the same time. Has anyone done a replacement -- and what with?
I'm relatively happy with the gear ratios although might like something slightly taller than 48T if available.
Thanks.

 

[reoutput]

I did a replacement with a Shimano 48T chainring and it worked fine. I don't remember what type/level it was though.

 

[Charlie Rohlfing]

I went the other way and went lower on the gearing. We have some KILLER hills around where we live. I followed Doug Ruby's instructions and put 4 more teeth on the cassette (biggest sprocket) and 4 fewer teeth on the front crank. Didn't have to touch the chain or derailleur that way. Works like a champ! Much better climbing cadence on the steeps stuff, and plenty of top end gear still to achieve 25+ mph. Here's a link to Doug's thread ... LOTS of detail about changing gearing, etc. https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/regearing-my-2015-16-base-turbo-again.7527/

 

[bazzapage]

Thanks @Charlie Rohlfing With my S motor I don't want to shorten the top end in any way. I quite like the gearing as is, I tend to be an 80 cadence guy and don't mind hopping out of the saddle to crank up a hill if needed. I tend to spend 70% of my ride in top gear hauling along at ~44-45kph; the S motor is also happy to keep pushing into the 50s so I like having the longer gearing.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

With my changeover to the 11-42 Shimano XT 11 speed on my base Turbo, I went back to the 48T. Personally, I think this is ideal since an 80 cadence gets you to the 40+kmh range in top gear. If you are riding in mountainous terrain and want to pedal monster descents in leg power, up to 54T bcd 104 chain rings can be purchased.

The bigger issue is finding matching bash guards and adjustment slack in the chain retension guard to keep the chain on. I had a pretty tough time finding the 44t bcd 104 bash guard. Most mountain bike guards support smaller chainrings and most road cranks designed for larger chain rings are bcd 110.

 

[bazzapage]

The Shimano SLX 10spd has a bashguard option AFAIK.