Chain ring and cassette recommendation

[eboy]

This has been covered before but I was wondering if anyone could link me up with a good recommendation for a chainring and/or cassette for my 2018 Turbo Levo Carbon. Not just the size but perhaps a brand/model/store in USA to get...

I currently find I am riding flatter trails/roads and routinely find myself in the last gear wishing I could have some more resistance to go faster.

I know I will lose on the low gearing for hills but just a little something extra on the high end. If I could get away with just the chainring or just the cassette that would be fine. Keeping costs down would be cool. THX!

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[eboy]

I guess also what I'm wondering is: Is just changing the chainring to a 36T (from stock 32T) enough? Or do you do better by changing the cassette as well? i.e. you gain top end and don't suffer as much on low end...

 

[TMS]

If your lowest gear in the back is with 10 or 11 teeth, you can't do much more if you want more speed with same cadence. That's why I think it's easiest to get new bigger chainring to the front.

Personally I don't understand how you can run out of gears in flat terrain. Strong legs?

 

[DanDilla]

I run 38T, from 32 original to 34 for around 3k km and now the 38 since 750km,
much better on the flats and more than enough gearing for the steepest hills we got here.
on my old cassette the smallest cogs were destroyed while the biggest ones looked mint, now the time in the smallest gear(s) have decreased while the most of the time I‘m in the 3rd or 4th cog which should spread the force evenly on more teeth. Should get me some more km with smooth shifting.
But I recommend a spare with 32 or 34t if it’s becoming steeper.

 

[JabberingJimbo]

I’m also wanting to up the chainring size from 32T as I’m finding on the down hilly bits I’m out of gears. Only run out on the flat if tarmac (yuck) but only use the bigger gears on the rear when I go “straight” back up the hill rather than use the trail
I’ve heard that Praxis are the only ones for steel, but only 32T or 36T and can’t find stock in the UK. Want to try a 34&36T.

Any other options for us out there guys?
US shops is ok as will be there on holiday soon

 

[eboy]

TMS - I have normal legs. The stock setup on the '18 Levo makes the flats too easy to peddle. You need a another gear to go to (with more resistance) and you don't have it. This seems to be widely agreed upon. My guess is the Levo is truly geared towards trails. When I ride trails/hills/rocks/roots I am fine with gearing. But if I get to a flat hard trail or road and want to ride fast it is too easy. I rarely am in the lowest gear (granny gear) so I don't mind if I lose a little for the most intense hill climb. I'm just trying to figure out is it best to change the chain ring and/or cassette? From this thread it appears folks are changing out the chainring.

 

[TMS]

Ok. I understand now. I don't have that problem in flats with 25 km/h assistance limit. I need smallest cogs only in downhill.

 

[Webike]

36 t seems to work well up to around 28 mph:

MTN 1X 104BCD WAVE™ TECH - Praxis Works

 

[DanDilla]

my problem is I got around 10km each ride to and from the trails over flats and tarmac while I rarely got a few meters where I have to share the street with Cars. sometimes there’s a Farmer. Pretty boring with 25 and no official roads.
Alloy rings work well, at least for me, the hope 34t worked nice as long as the cassette did, with 2 chains in rotation. Around 3000km

 

[eboy]

If I get a 38t are there any issues with the derailleur needing adjusting? Also is 104 the correct diameter?

 

[DanDilla]

I did use the same length of the chain, needed to adjust the b-screw. You could sure go with 2 links more but then the chain hitting the stays quite often, at least with a 34t ring.
I went through all the travel, chain is long enough even on the biggest cog which I very rarely use.
And I did not hear the chain slapping the chainstay any more, but I added slapper tape anyway.

yes, 104bcd is right, but be aware that most chainrings bigger than 32t don‘thave threads so you will need screws like these... with their ‚counterpart‘. the Short ones.
WOLFTOOTH Kettenblattschrauben 6 mm 4-Loch, 18,50

i would recommend cutting a 6mm hex bit in ca 5mm lenght so you can insert it from the back of the spider and hold it with a 6mm open end key to tighten or loose.
So you can change without removing the spider and the risk of slipping out of the nuts.
there are other threaded nuts with some Special key to get behind the spider, I would not recommend using these, if the spider spins accidentally while loosening or the key slips out you can easily crack the motor cover...
you can also glue the threads in the chainring which should normally work out but if I did use an amount of glue that I think I could get it apart later so I can reuse the threads at least one got loose so I needed the shortened bit anyway.

 

[eboy]

I officially got the new 36T installed on the Turbo Levo. My high end is definitely better. Low end has not bothered me on any steep hills I have encountered. The chain did not need to be lengthened or changed out however a derailleur adjustment was necessary. After that it was really smooth. Perhaps maybe should have gotten the 38T because on the flat road I still could go with more resistance. But I still have a noticeable difference and it's really dialed in... I got the Raceface 104 narrow wide chainring on it. Thanks for all the replies here, helped a lot!

 

[McInner1]

36 t seems to work well up to around 28 mph:

MTN 1X 104BCD WAVE™ TECH - Praxis Works

I want to go the other way - would like to go for a 30T chain ring. There is one available at your linked shop.
My question: does a 30T chainring fit to the original spider of a 2019 Levo (S-Works)?
Thanks for answering!

 

[Webike]

I want to go the other way - would like to go for a 30T chain ring. There is one available at your linked shop.
My question: does a 30T chainring fit to the original spider of a 2019 Levo (S-Works)?
Thanks for answering!

I'm not sure since I haven't tried it but there is this note on their specs lower on the page:

• """30T NOTE: is a threaded and needs M8 bolt with min 7.5mm length threads"""

You could also review available cassettes with a larger cog..could require a longer chain.
Praxis should be able to advise you since they made the crankset.

 

[McInner1]

I have ordered the 30T chainring. We‘ll see.
I will report.

 

[McInner1]

For those who want to pedal more easily on steep gradients and want to reduce the engine load, the 30 T chainring fits on the Spider and everything works perfectly!
(See answer #13)

No need to take off the spider, not even the crank!

 

[eboy]

Thanks for the report!

 

[Robin Grant]

For those who want to pedal more easily on steep gradients and want to reduce the engine load, the 30 T chainring fits on the Spider and everything works perfectly!

@McInner1 - do you wish you'd gone even lower? Thinking about putting a 30T up front and a 9-44 cassette at the back - what do you reckon?

 

[McInner1]

@McInner1 - do you wish you'd gone even lower? Thinking about putting a 30T up front and a 9-44 cassette at the back - what do you reckon?

-it‘s not possible to go smaller than 30T in front
-rear: there are 10-46 available (I think 9 is not available).

For me it was too much work to change the cassette - it‘s ok for me as it is now.

 

[Robin Grant]

My mistake - it's a 9-46 E*Thirteen TRS Plus Cassette (importantly this needs to go on an XD freehub rather than a Shimano one)

So you think a 30T on the front combined with 46 on the back would be too low?