Trying to find ways for a speed increase
I have a Giant Talon 1 (2022) and it handles terrain very well, but I live in a very flat region. I tend to max out the cassette on the road (I do a mix of road and dirt) and I've been wearing out the smallest two cogs pretty fast. My gut instinct is "Bigger chainring" but there isn't enough space for a larger chainring since the chainstay curves outward.
It has a Shimano Deore M4100 11×42 cassette and a 32t chainring. It would great to be able to push this bike a tad faster, but I'm not sure if I have many options. Any ideas? I'm willing to consider more in-depth mods to this bike if need be.
If the chainring was slightly further from the frame (by like 8mm) I'd be able to fit a larger one without affecting the chainline significantly, I'm not sure if there are ways to do that.
Any advice is appreciated! Thanks 🙂
by maewasnotfound
8 Comments
I’ve got the m5100 32T crankset with m5100 11/51 cassette and I’m desperate for a 34T on the front to just give me a little extra top speed. The m5100 comes with 30T and 32T options. I’ll be following this thread.
That looks like a standard four bolt Shimano crankset (104 bolt spacing? Double check).
So you have lots of options and it appears that there’s plenty of clearance. I’d pick up a 36 or 38t chainring and that should give you plenty of range and a higher top speed.
[https://static.giant-bicycles.com/pdf/giant-talon-1-en-au-2727.pdf](https://static.giant-bicycles.com/pdf/giant-talon-1-en-au-2727.pdf) Giant states 32 tooth is the max. You might be able to get a 34 on there. I wouldn’t mess with chainline since all that stuff is tuned specifically for a specific chainline.
You could look into putting a cues side swing front derailleur on there and run it 2×10 for some big range. [https://bike.shimano.com/products/components/pdp.P-FD-U6000-M.html](https://bike.shimano.com/products/components/pdp.P-FD-U6000-M.html) . Something like a 40/26 gives you more upper and lower range.
I would mount the chainring on the outer side of the spider. While this is a square taper bb, getting a shorter spindle might smooth out the chainline changes a bit.
Chainline won’t be ideal, but since you are spending more time at a faster pace, I guess it would be fine, 1x systems already run pretty extreme chain lines anyway, might wear down your chain a bit faster, so check the stretch regularly
I primarily know mountain bikes but smoother rolling tires are going to make the biggest difference. Aside from that, it’s all you. Train, build strength, practise.
As Eddie B would say to us “it never hurts to push on the pedals harder”
Can your rear hub take a 10t cassette?