I’m hoping someone can give me some advice based on experience, or wisdom. I have just bought a Raleigh Motus GT 2019 model, (bought on eBay, but unused as new) with a Bosch Active line Plus motor. It has a Shimano Nexus 8 speed hub gear, and 700C wheels (I’m 6 feet 2, 16 stone). My problem is that the bike feels under geared, seems a common complaint. Even in 8th gear (top) I seem to be pedalling way too fast at cruising speed (25kph), and I never use the lower 4 gears at all, not even on hills. I’m still getting used to the bike having now done 90 miles of purely leisure cycling. Sometimes I still accidentally start off in 8th gear and then try to change up, its so under geared.
Because it is a hub gear I can’t change the cassette or anything at the back, so I was thinking of fitting a larger chainring and I gather that’s quite a common mod. The current chainring has 38 teeth. There seem to be a few aftermarket chainrings going from 38T right up to 56T.
I have read this forum and there are lots of posts about this, but none are on bikes with hub gears, so with apologies I have posted this as a new thread.
Has anyone done a chainring swap, preferably on a Bosch ActiveLine Plus 2019 motor (Gen3 or 4?), and which size above 38T would you recommend for my bike, to raise the gearing for a better cruising cadence? Would 42/44T make a big enough difference to be worth it? Obviously I don’t want to overstrain the motor or hub. I haven’t de-restricted the bike by the way (although I might). Nice thing about the new Bosch is lack of drag when the motor stops over 15.5mph, I have got to around 22mph on the level but my 60 year old legs are going like the clappers.
What’s the size limit beyond which I’ll need a longer chain? This bike has hub gears and no chain tensioner (that came on the 2020 model), the rear axle seems to be midway along the dropout slot (if that’s the right term) so there is scope for some adjustment.
Because it is a hub gear I can’t change the cassette or anything at the back, so I was thinking of fitting a larger chainring and I gather that’s quite a common mod. The current chainring has 38 teeth. There seem to be a few aftermarket chainrings going from 38T right up to 56T.
I have read this forum and there are lots of posts about this, but none are on bikes with hub gears, so with apologies I have posted this as a new thread.
Has anyone done a chainring swap, preferably on a Bosch ActiveLine Plus 2019 motor (Gen3 or 4?), and which size above 38T would you recommend for my bike, to raise the gearing for a better cruising cadence? Would 42/44T make a big enough difference to be worth it? Obviously I don’t want to overstrain the motor or hub. I haven’t de-restricted the bike by the way (although I might). Nice thing about the new Bosch is lack of drag when the motor stops over 15.5mph, I have got to around 22mph on the level but my 60 year old legs are going like the clappers.
What’s the size limit beyond which I’ll need a longer chain? This bike has hub gears and no chain tensioner (that came on the 2020 model), the rear axle seems to be midway along the dropout slot (if that’s the right term) so there is scope for some adjustment.
