All the gears, no ideas

[Phil H]

I'm thinking of making Tom's bike "race legal". At the moment he's running a 50/34 chainset with a 12-25 8 speed cassette. I think that if I changed the big chainring for a 44 and built up a 15-27 cassette then that should just about make him legal. Of course, the British Cycling website being what it is, actually finding the gear restriction rules is proving difficult.

Anyway, what I was wondering was a) will it work and b) where's the best place to get the bits?

I'm not sure if he wants to race much - apart from the odd Go Ride event - but big gears can't be good for small knees. They aren't much good for my knees either.

[Dan_K]

I think I know what the real problem is here Phil - he's faster than you isn't he?

Competitive dad has to sink to dirty methods to limit his talented son. Hang your head in shame......

[Phil H]

[quote="Dan_K"]I think I know what the real problem is here Phil - he's faster than you isn't he?

Competitive dad has to sink to dirty methods to limit his talented son. Hang your head in shame......

[Paul H]

You could just disable the big ring for the race.

Sometimes the bigger non legal gears are handy if he is doing the CR so he can keep up on the descents. There has been a discussion about junior gears on this forum before (which Adam lost).

[Phil H]

[quote="Paul H"]You could just disable the big ring for the race.

Sometimes the bigger non legal gears are handy if he is doing the CR so he can keep up on the descents. There has been a discussion about junior gears on this forum before (which Adam lost).

[MJ_1993]

Paul Tunnell I believe knows this rather well after the ACC road race a couple of years ago at Hillingdon where he restricted my gears. If you cant find the restrictions on the BC website then he should know them! I think he also knows all the tricks as to how to get pass it too...

[Keith]

From this year's BC Handbook:

YOUTH CATEGORY GEAR RESTRICTIONS

CATEGORY ROAD RACING TRACK RACING ROLLER RACING
YOUTH A 6.93 metres 6.93 metres 7.93 metres
YOUTH B 6.45 metres 6.45 metres 7.40 metres
YOUTH C 6.05 metres 6.05 metres 6.94 metres
YOUTH D 5.40 metres for all events
YOUTH E 5.10 metres for all events

[url=http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/zuvvi/media/bc_files/coaching_tools_forms/gear_chart.doc]Link to some gear tables.[/url]

[Sylv]

[quote="Mo Jaffer"] If you cant find the restrictions on the BC website then he should know them! I think he also knows all the tricks as to how to get pass it too...

[Andrew G]

Getting a smaller big ring would help as it would mean he had more useful gears in his range and that would be more useful more of the time for him. You can restrict the gears for the race by just adjusting the limit screw at the rear mech so he can't get to the smaller sprockets which is what PVT did to Mo's bike for the ACC road race.

[Phil H]

I reckon so. I don't know about him, but I've come to really hate the jump from the 50 to the 34 (or vice-versa). When my chainrings go I'll probably replace the chainset with a standard double. And then punch myself in the face at the top of Whitedown.

It's just finding somewhere that will sell me a 44T (or 42T in a 110mm BCD) FSA chainring in the same nice black finish as his existing one (oo - then I'll have a spare 50!).

Keith: Thanks. I've seen that chart but the bit of information that's missing is what age "Youth A" is. I think he's a "Youth C" at the moment.

Dan: I did go out with him after labouring up the hill home on the fixie. He ripped my legs off on the climbs.

[Keith]

[quote="Phil Hawkes"]Keith: Thanks. I've seen that chart but the bit of information that's missing is what age "Youth A" is. I think he's a "Youth C" at the moment.

[Dan_K]

[quote="Phil Hawkes"]Dan: I did go out with him after labouring up the hill home on the fixie. He ripped my legs off on the climbs.