>>2007454Hey guys! It's me: peak niche entertainment guy again!
I want to thank y'all for the advice about cadence that you gave me last time. Now I'm spending 90% of my time in 6th instead of 7th gear. It took a bit of practice but now I'm spinning my legs like a helicopter. At first it felt like I was going "slower" than when at harder gears but I feel like I can go further and ride for longer when I'm not powering high torque.
Here's my question: I currently have a 40t max 11t min 8 speed rear cassette. I am thinking of replacing it with a 32t max 11t min (also 8 speed). The mechanic at the bike shop showed me how my derailer works and basically the fact that my largest gear is a 40 means that the derailer can't wrap my smaller gears as tight because of geometry and shit. He said if I drop down to a smaller max he could adjust the arm to wrap the smaller gears more gooder. I now realize that the chain was periodically skipping on those smaller gears because I was doing too much torque and not enough cadence. Still I would like the closer gear ratios for smoother shifting, and I'm not really sure that I need a 40t max. My second largest is a 34t right now and I've been practicing with it going up hill and it seems like I can manage with a 32t max. There are a couple hills on the trail I ride on that are legit 45° where even the 40t is such a pain in the ass that I would rather get off the bike and walk it up the cliff for 2 minutes. What do you guys think? Did I misunderstand something? It would be incredibly cheap to swap my casette. What do you guys think?
