Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?
I swapped tires from Armadillo 26 x 1.95's to 26 x 2.35 Schwalbe Big Apples. Just swap tires and ride away, right?
Wrong!
The bike weighs the same. Handling might have improved a bit. Ride is still as bumpy, but lowering tire pressure might help. Since the tires are taller, the bike stand is not touching the ground. Worst of all, the gear ratio RAISED, so the bike has a soggy response. Now my MB struggles to climb the steep parking ramp. If bumber-to-bumper traffic stops on the gridlocked hill, I have to jump off the road and onto the dirt path. The bike does not have enough low end to start up from a dead stop on a steep hill. For those unfamiliar with shift kits, pedal-assist doesn't help a whole lot. I adjusted the carb, which helped some, but not enough.
The solution is lower gear ratios. I already have a 34-tooth first gear on my cassette. Even if I do find a 38-tooth first gear, all the other gears would still be adversely affected by the taller tires. The solution is to lower the ratio on all eight gears. I can do this by replacing the 30-tooth bicycle chainring sprocket to a 24-tooth sprocket. Gear reduction will be HUGE! Gear changes in first, second and eight gears will be from 37.09, 31.64, 26.18 AND 12:1 TO 46.32, 39.55, 32.73 AND 15:1 in first, second, third and eighth gear, respectively.
With drastic gear changes, this bike should be able to climb the steepest hill. It will also be able to cruise at high speed w/a 15:1 in eighth gear.
But it goes good with your horn/mirror setup.
