Larger chainring for Cube Acid Hybrid 500

[G4WFT]

I've had the bike in the title for over a year and thoroughly enjoy it, except that I find it a little under-geared, never using anything below the smallest three sprockets. The chainring is 38t. Could I fit a larger chainring? Bear in mind I'm very much a beginner, so don't have experience in bike mechanics.

Thanks,

Tim.

 

[gw8izr]

Hi Tim, can you check if the chainring is a standard 104 mm BCD ? if so it should be straightforward (unless someone comes along and says not )

In terms of picking the size, number of teeth try one of the online calculators to model rpm of your legs versus road speed. I use this one which is self explanatory.

Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Gear Calculator

A JavaScript calculator for analyzing bicycle gearing

www.sheldonbrown.com

(edit) I just quickly pinched this page with dimensions to help measure the chainring fixing

Wolf Tooth - How to measure Bolt Circle Diameter (BCD)

Bolt Circle Diameter (BCD) is the diameter of the circle that goes through the center of all of the bolts on your chainring. On bicycle chainrings this dimension is usually measured in millimeters. It is critical to know the BCD of your crankset when you are selecting a new chainring for your bike.

www.wolftoothcomponents.com

 

[G4WFT]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I'm almost certain it is 104mm BCD. Is it generally a job you can do yourself to space the chainring? If fitting a larger one do you need a chain replacement also? As I said, I'm no mechanic!

Cheers,

Tim.

 

[G4WFT]

Sorry, didn't notice the typo - "space" should be "replace" of course.

 

[gw8izr]

Its straightforward to do with basic hand tools , the chain shouldn't need splitting but depending on how much bigger you go with the ring the chain might be a bit tight on the lowest gears. Use the calculator to see what you think might be the size you need and then look how many extra teeth it is. from that ypu can work out how much longer the chain needs to be. Halfords would almost certainly do this for you if you weren't confident.

 

[gw8izr]

Cube Acid 400 chainring upgrade

Just a quick sanity check before I click the order button! I've a Cube Acid 400 that I use on trails and on my commute. Commute is relatively flat, maybe 100m elevation change over a 6km route. I'm finding that with the default 38t and 11-34 that I'm constantly on the bottom 3 sprockets and I'm...

www.pedelecs.co.uk

have a read, it might be helpful and give some pointers

 

[Andy-Mat]

I've had the bike in the title for over a year and thoroughly enjoy it, except that I find it a little under-geared, never using anything below the smallest three sprockets. The chainring is 38t. Could I fit a larger chainring? Bear in mind I'm very much a beginner, so don't have experience in bike mechanics.

Thanks,

Tim.

Using the infos already kindly supplied by others, you might be able to do TWO changes in the direction you wish to go:-
1) change the chainring for a larger diameter
2) Change the cassette for one with a smaller diameter!

I myself have only done the second one, and from memory only, I went from a top gear with I believe 15 or 16 teeth, to one with 11. It made that bike far nicer to ride, and the feel of much less revolutions for the feet!
Same speed of course, but less effort on my part.
The work, if you buy a few special tools, which are not expensive, is easy to do and the results were great.
May I suggest that you do the cassette first and see how you like the difference, assuming for the moment that your cassette is not already at the highest possible gear (lowest number of teeth).
Then if that is not possible for some reason, or you want a still higher top gear, then do the chainring.....or the other way round, but doing both, you may find that the chain you have may still fit, or be close to.
If you remember what an "Overdrive" did for cars, the effect is I feel, somewhat similar for bikes!
If you are interested in learning more about the car version, look here:-

Overdrive (mechanics) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Regards
Andy

 

[G4WFT]

Thanks Andy. The cassette on the Cube already has a 11t sprocket and I guess you can't go much smaller than that? I feel more confident in having a go at replacing the chainring now, so I'll look at what's available and have at look at the calculator mentioned earlier to gauge what I need to look for.

Many thanks,

Tim.

 

[Andy-Mat]

Thanks Andy. The cassette on the Cube already has a 11t sprocket and I guess you can't go much smaller than that? I feel more confident in having a go at replacing the chainring now, so I'll look at what's available and have at look at the calculator mentioned earlier to gauge what I need to look for.

Many thanks,

Tim.

It was just a thought, just in case!
In my case, that made a large difference.
Cassettes with less teeth than 11 are probably like "Hen's teeth"!! Though if there are some, somebody here will know!!
I do believe that there are two "types" of cassette, incompatible with each other, maybe the "other type" from what I had on my last e-bike, I do believe had top gears with even less teeth, but its 7 or 8 years ago.....
regards
Andy

 

[TobyAnscombe]

Cube Acid 400 chainring upgrade

Just a quick sanity check before I click the order button! I've a Cube Acid 400 that I use on trails and on my commute. Commute is relatively flat, maybe 100m elevation change over a 6km route. I'm finding that with the default 38t and 11-34 that I'm constantly on the bottom 3 sprockets and I'm...

www.pedelecs.co.uk

have a read, it might be helpful and give some pointers

:waves:
if you need any help then shout. I went to a 42t and needed to get a 118 link chain. I’ve just moved to an xt setup this week so everything is still fresh in my mind. It’s all pretty easy...

 

[G4WFT]

Thank you Toby, I'll keep that in mind.

Tim.

 

[TobyAnscombe]

I went for a Gebhardt Singlespeed MTB or Road 3/32" 104mm BCD Chainring with 42t from https://www.velosolo.co.uk/shopcrank.html which, for me, works really well on my commute.

EDIT: If you are anywhere near Epping Forest then please feel free to drop round and borrow some tools ;-)

 

[G4WFT]

Thanks again Toby, that's most kind of you. I reckon what you went for will do me. Luckily, I have a mate a few miles away who is quite experienced in bike maintenance, so if I get stuck I'm sure he'll help out!

Cheers,

Tim.

 

[soundwave]

It was just a thought, just in case!
In my case, that made a large difference.
Cassettes with less teeth than 11 are probably like "Hen's teeth"!! Though if there are some, somebody here will know!!
I do believe that there are two "types" of cassette, incompatible with each other, maybe the "other type" from what I had on my last e-bike, I do believe had top gears with even less teeth, but its 7 or 8 years ago.....
regards
Andy

E*Thirteen

More range, less weight, and less money. Need we say more? TRS Plus 12 Speed Cassettes have class-leading range, and plug directly into SRAM™ Eagle™ Mechanical* and Shimano™ XTR™, XT™, and SLX™ 12 speed drivetrains. The exclusive-to-e*thirteen 9t sprocket allows you to run a smaller chainring...

eu.ethirteen.com

xd driver only tho

 

[Mattmcquiff]

Hi, one the Hybrid Nature 500 and I'm also looking to upgrade the chain ring. I can see that a larger chainring (looking at 48 from the 38T) would touch the frame of the bike so would need to add a spacer.
Having read through it appears that mine is slightly different as the chainring attaches at the centre.
Can anyone suggest what I should be buying or measuring? The chain guard is part of chainring (riveted)

 

[TobyAnscombe]

Hey hey - something like https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/products/kmc-bosch-gen-3-44t-chainring-3mm-offset might fit.. Mine did hit the frame while mountain biking (bottoming out on a log roll) so I've switched it back for 'pure' MTB. Worked great as a commuter though!

 

[Mattmcquiff]

Hey hey - something like https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/products/kmc-bosch-gen-3-44t-chainring-3mm-offset might fit.. Mine did hit the frame while mountain biking (bottoming out on a log roll) so I've switched it back for 'pure' MTB. Worked great as a commuter though!

Great thats pointing me in the right direction, Ideally need to go that extra and get some more teeth?
I see some have left the old ring in place to space the larger one further way from the frame.

 

[TobyAnscombe]

You can do that - just be mindful of the chain line https://www.parktool.com/en-int/blog/repair-help/chainline-concepts

When I setup I know that I am more likely to be at the bottom end of the rear sprocket so I look for my chain line to reflect that (aka space the front sprocket out from the frame). Just be careful that you don't end up spacing it too far...

 

[georgehenry]

38 to 48 is likely to be too big a jump. I used a 42 tooth narrow wide chain ring coupled with a 12/36 cassette, for commuting duties on the road and that enabled me to cruise most of the time above 20 mph and average 20 mph for my 10 mile undulating B road home from work journey.

 

[Mattmcquiff]

38 to 48 is likely to be too big a jump. I used a 42 tooth narrow wide chain ring coupled with a 12/36 cassette, for commuting duties on the road and that enabled me to cruise most of the time above 20 mph and average 20 mph for my 10 mile undulating B road home from work journey.

So 4 extra teeth will that make a big difference?

If I went to 48T what would be the issue of the big jump?
Although 20mph cruising with 42T sounds about right for me in fairness.

(Same issue as everyone else, i'm only using the bottom for cogs on the cassette)