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More than 7 speeds on a freewheel? Ok for someone that rides moderately?

Bicycles Asked on August 30, 2021

I am contemplating going from my 7 speed freewheel to an 8 speed because I want to go from a 14-28 7 speed to a MegaRange 14-34. Problem is my RD will not handle the 34 so if I have to buy a new one anyway, why not upgrade to an 8 speed freewheel? What I would ideally like to do is lessen the leap of 10 teeth as is on the 7 speed MegaRange which goes from 24 to 34 teeth. With an 8 speed freewheel, perhaps they would drop a 28 in there between the 24 and 34. Also I wonder what would happen if I just kept my “old” 7 speed freewheel (28,24,22,20,18,16,14) and somehow attached a 34T to it as an 8th gear (with proper spacing) if that would work. It would be good to keep that 28 cog so there would not be a jump in adjacent cogs more than 6 teeth. Also I have seen 13-34 8 speed freewheels and 11-34.

So my question is if I don’t ride hard, is it ok to use an 8 speed freewheel? My dropouts are spaced at 135mm from the factory. Also it would free up my old 7 speed freewheel which I can try to move over to my brothers bike which is made from spare parts anyway and has a 5 speed freewheel but he only uses the smallest cog as a 1 speed cruiser. I’d like to give him my old RD, chain (cut to proper length), 7 speed shifter… so he has some gears to play with. The front gear I gave him is the granny chainring from a triple I stripped down. I don’t know how many teeth but I would estimate between 24 and 28.

One Answer

If I don't ride hard, is it ok to use an 8 speed freewheel?

Here are two answers:

No, because a person who asks this question clearly understands the risks. The fact that someone who understands the risks is asking the internet whether the person should assume those risks indicates that the person is not capable of judging (or is uncertain of his capacity to judge) the extent to which the risks weigh against him.

Yes, because what is the worst than can happen? You bend an axle? (this is a rhetorical question)

You may find this data visualization helpful. Since you are not a "hard rider" I think you might fit around a six. I don't think anyone higher than a four should ride 8 speed freewheel.

                     Is 8 Speed Freewheel For You?
YES!<---Easy Rider---------------------------------Hard Rider--->NO!
1      2      3       4       5       6      7      8      9     10

Correct answer by jqning on August 30, 2021

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