Chainring/crankset question

kellzar

Hi all,

Hoping for some advice. I recently picked up a Giant Talon 4. It’s a 2x7 upfront its a 22/36. Is it possible or worthwhile to change that to something bigger? Ideally just the rings,crank without shifters/derailleurs etc

I find I’m never in the 22 ring even on steepish climbs (granted they aren’t prolonged) but find I’m spinning out on descents.

thanks

Idleater

Should be possible all right, but without seeing it one can't be sure.

The things to look for are:

Chain line: look at how close to the stays the 36 is. You can guesstimate how big a (say) 42 would be, maybe do a card mockup.

Tooth difference: 22->42 is pretty big, so you might have to change the inner one to (say) 32. You can look up the capacity of whatever derailleur you have.

You'll have to check the inner ring chain line too for the bigger ring. As an experiment, can you put the current outer 36 on the inside (unlikely to, but you'll see the problem with the rings being close to the stays).

BCD: when buying new rings, you'll need the correct BCD for the crankset.

Chain length: you'll probably need some more links

I remember back in the day the first upgrade was a middleburn 46 to make the slog over to the mountains tolerable. We ran 22-32/34-44/46 iirc.