3 gears and 7 gears?

[Bella5]

Hi,
Please can anyone help me. I'm new to cycling (its been 30 years since I last rode a bike) and I'm looking to buy an e-bike.
This is mainly because of my age (55), weight and medical situation (blood cancer - makes me tire easily some days). I'm reasonable cycling on the flat but not on any gradient - here I struggle.
I've seen a 3 gear D-cycle bike for sale and I was wondering what the disadvantages are with 3 gears opposed to 7 gears for example.
Would there be much difference in performance?
All advice will be appreciated. thanks

 

[trex]

not much difference, unless you have crank drive, then the 7-gear have better range.
For hub bikes, 3 is better than 7 - lighter and cheaper.

 

[JohnCade]

Hi,
Please can anyone help me. I'm new to cycling (its been 30 years since I last rode a bike) and I'm looking to buy an e-bike.
This is mainly because of my age (55), weight and medical situation (blood cancer - makes me tire easily some days). I'm reasonable cycling on the flat but not on any gradient - here I struggle.
I've seen a 3 gear D-cycle bike for sale and I was wondering what the disadvantages are with 3 gears opposed to 7 gears for example.
Would there be much difference in performance?
All advice will be appreciated. thanks

If you can’t get uphill because you are heavy and you live in a hilly area then you will need a powerful bike, and that D cycle might not be. It might be too as I don’t know anything about it.

 

[Bella5]

not much difference, unless you have crank drive, then the 7-gear have better range.
For hub bikes, 3 is better than 7 - lighter and cheaper.

Hi Trex,
the gears are Shimano Nexus 3 speed hub gears. That means nothing to me but to an experienced biker it may mean a lot! Thanks for your advice

 

[Bella5]

If you can’t get uphill because you are heavy and you live in a hilly area then you will need a powerful bike, and that D cycle might not be. It might be too as I don’t know anything about it.

Hi John,
I'm about 3 stone overweight. I've borrowed an eco bike to try and can manage some small hills with low assistance, level 1 and in gear 5 but this is over short distances.
I will be mostly using the bike on relatively flat ground.

 

[JohnCade]

Hi Trex,
the gears are Shimano Nexus 3 speed hub gears. That means nothing to me but to an experienced biker it may mean a lot! Thanks for your advice

3 speed hub gears are typically used on town bikes where it’s flat. Not very good on hills unpowered.

 

[RobF]

Hi John,
I'm about 3 stone overweight. I've borrowed an eco bike to try and can manage some small hills with low assistance, level 1 and in gear 5 but this is over short distances.
I will be mostly using the bike on relatively flat ground.

Sounds like the three-speed D Cycle would suit you.

Decent bikes, and there are some good offers on them at the moment.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The more gears, the better. Three-speed is a waste of time unless you're light and your rides are flat. If you need a bike for climbing hills, get one that's suited to that purpose.

 

[D C]

It's not a problem if you have more gears than you want but it is if you have less than you need. I would go for as many gears as you can get, if you find three is not enough it's difficult and expensive to upgrade.
Dave.

 

[RobF]

Gear range is important, not number.

I'm not familiar with the Shimano three speed, but I'm sure it will have as good a range as the Sturmey one.

That's plenty wide enough, particularly on an ebike, particularly for use in 'relatively flat' conditions, particularly for an older cyclist who is presumably not interested in snicking through lots of close ratios to extract the last fraction of an mph.

 

[Chainring]

Gear range is important, not number.

I'm not familiar with the Shimano three speed, but I'm sure it will have as good a range as the Sturmey one.

That's plenty wide enough, particularly on an ebike, particularly for use in 'relatively flat' conditions, particularly for an older cyclist who is presumably not interested in snicking through lots of close ratios to extract the last fraction of an mph.

Hey, that could be me! I'm an older cyclist, who's fed-up with constant gear changes. I now have the Nexus 3-speed, and it's so smooth and convenient. I spotted those D-Cycles on EBikes Direct the other day. Very good price. I would say they are close to what this person is looking for.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I have the Shimano 14-34 Megarange freewheel. I just upgraded my rear derailleur so that I can use my 34 tooth granny gear. It is there for when the battery runs out otherwise I only use about three of the other six gears. I also took off the twist grip gear changer and replaced with a trigger system - what an improvement!

 

[Bella5]

It's not a problem if you have more gears than you want but it is if you have less than you need. I would go for as many gears as you can get, if you find three is not enough it's difficult and expensive to upgrade.
Dave.

That was my initial thoughts also but reading some of the replies maybe the 3 gear would suit my needs.

 

[Bella5]

Gear range is important, not number.

I'm not familiar with the Shimano three speed, but I'm sure it will have as good a range as the Sturmey one.

That's plenty wide enough, particularly on an ebike, particularly for use in 'relatively flat' conditions, particularly for an older cyclist who is presumably not interested in snicking through lots of close ratios to extract the last fraction of an mph.

Thanks for your rely. You've hit the nail on the head! I just want some regular exercise, also my husband had a racing bike but as he's in his 60's so we'll be taking it steady.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I can't believe that people are advising you to get a bike with only 3-speed gears. Ask them how many gears they have on their own regular bikes. Have a look through all the listings for electric bikes. How many of them have three-speed gears? Hello! There might be a reason why you won't find many! I suggest you think again before deciding.

 

[RobF]

I can't believe that people are advising you to get a bike with only 3-speed gears. Ask them how many gears they have on their own regular bikes. Have a look through all the listings for electric bikes. How many of them have three-speed gears? Hello! There might be a reason why you won't find many! I suggest you think again before deciding.

Very few people are interested in bicycles for their own sake in the way that you and me are.

For many users, 'only' three gears is a benefit because there's less to think about and mess around with, allowing them to concentrate on riding.

Ditto hub gears over dearailleurs.

Ditto twist shift over rapid fire shifters.

 

[Wander]

Before I had my e-bike I knew little about bikes in general & almost nothing about e-bikes.

After explaining the type of riding that I wanted to do martin@e-bikeshop recommended the bike he thought would suit me. Off the top of my head I wouldn't even know how many gears it has however checking the spec apparently it's got ten.

Now I find that I am up & down the gears all the time adjusting them to the 'challenge' ahead. There is no way that I could use the bike as much as I do with just 3 gears so I am with the 'more the better' brigade.

 

[Croxden]

Cars only had three gears at one time, they managed. It's often a sales pitch to add more numbers, look at digital cameras with the pixel war going on.

Go and try the bike and see how it suits you, you might like it.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Cars only had three gears at one time, they managed. It's often a sales pitch to add more numbers, look at digital cameras with the pixel war going on.

Go and try the bike and see how it suits you, you might like it.

You're joking, surely. How many gears are on your bike? I seem to remember you extolling the virtues of your 14-speed Rohloff gearbox, which is so much better than the 11-speed Shimano!

 

[trex]

you only need more than 3 gears if you use a crank drive. The 3-peed Nexus has 0.733, 1.000, 1.364 ratios, the 7-speed from 0.632 to 1.545.
One of the reasons to buy a hub bike is you don't need to change gear to suit the gradient, so 3-speed is enough.