Box components

[anotherkiwi]

Box Components | BMX & MTB – Box

Box Components was created with a rebellious vision and towering objective: to chart new courses and promote forward-thinking products.

www.boxcomponents.com

Came to my attention because they are bringing out an 11-42 8 speed e-bike cassette. Long cage 9 speed rear derailleur to fit. Yes it is MTB oriented but those of us who live in steeper parts of the world can benefit from a wider range.

By pure coincidence last week I ordered a Chinese 11-42 8 speed cassette to test on the trikes analog wheel... It will eventually go on Number Two and I will get a narrow wide 42 tooth chainwheel for the GSM. If my testing is conclusive I will get a CST motor and mount one one the trike too.

The box component cassette is made by Sunrace BTW.

I hope this is useful to some of you who like me think less gears the better.

 

[anotherkiwi]

The cassette arrived and it looks like, well... I paid 19€ for it and not $50 plus postage

I have a few days off work and would like to test ASAP but as usual when I have a few days off there is no weather window, even for a 15 minute ride

Here is a look at the difference with the 11-40 Sunrace



Spacing is much nicer but will shifting be as nice? Mow many less heart beats per minute will those extra 2 teeth save leaving home?

If only DNP or Sunrace made a 13-42 7 or 8 speed freewheel...

 

[anotherkiwi]

OK so it has stopped raining! Long enough for the road to be dry and clean enough for trike riding in any case.

First road test:

- it shifts much better than it looks
- 23 speeds out of 24 work, 48:42 doesn't but that isn't an issue, a derailleur hanger extension would fix the problem which isn't really a problem
- as I suspected I spent a lot of time using 48:24 and 48:20 which is the sweet spot on flattish rolling countryside (25->30 km/h*)

26:42 provides enough torque to climb anything at very low cadence but you would have little old ladies walking faster than you! I suspect that on slippery surfaces with slick tyres hill starts would be a problem.

*This test was done by a very out of condition me, haven't been on the trike since March. Climbing out of home didn't see my heart rate getting into dangerous territory but I was still a little short of breath, my pedalling cadence was definitely much higher than with the 11-40 cassette.