PAP Wonders... Cassettes, Sprockets and Cogs

Our next topic in PAP Wonders... is about cassettes. Cassettes are the gears that engage the chain and the rear wheel. For a brief introduction on cassettes, look at our Parts of a Bicycle article on the drivetrain. We will be talking about the pros and cons of different cassette choices like having more cogs in your cassette and having larger cogs. We hope this can help you on your cassette choice.

My personal choice: a 10 speed cassette with 12-27 range.

PAP Wonders... Chainrings for You and Me

Here is our next PAP Wonders... topic: Chainrings. Chainrings are what engage the chain on the crankset. You can review from our Parts of the Bicycle series. In this article, we will be talking about the different types of chainrings and their pros & cons. If your building up a new bike (your first one or your next one) or maybe planning to change your chainrings, we hope that this article can be useful for you in your decisions.

One-Two-Three. There are different numbers for different uses. Mountain bikes typically have three and road bikes usually have only two. These past few years there has been a trend in mountain bikes to have less chainrings. Mountain bikes and mountain bike groupsets now come with two chainrings or just one. For road bikes, the triple (three chainrings) is available but rather rare. Also, single chainring options are offered by SRAM. This first appeared in their Force CX1 groupset (mainly geared toward cyclocross/CX riders). Now, they have the Force 1, Rival 1 and Apex 1 groupsets.

A Double Crankset - 2 Chainrings.

PAP Wonders... Drivetrain - Straight or Mixed?

PAP Wonders... is a new segment here in Pinta At Padyak. We will be wondering and discussing bikes, bike setups and other bike-related topics. In our first issue, we will be talking about the bike drivetrain. For an introduction on the bike's drivetrain, click here.

When we talk about a bike's drivetrain, common sense dictates that a straight groupset is the gold standard. A straight groupset is where all the components of the drivetrain (cranks, derailleurs, cassette, shifters and brakes) are all from the same series. By having a straight groupset, we can have the smoothest coordination between the different components for an efficient operation.

An example of a straight groupset. Pictured above is a 10-speed Dura-Ace groupset (Special Anniversary Edition).

Parts of a Bicycle: Part 5 - The Cockpit

We talked about the drivetrain of a bike in Part 4. We learned about the mechanisms that drive the bike forward. Here in Part 5, we will be talking about the cockpit. The cockpit is what connects you - the rider - to the bike. These are the contact points and related components on your bike. These include the stem, handlebar, seatpost, saddle and pedals.

Front view of the cockpit. 

Parts of a Bicycle: Part 4 - Drivetrain

From Part 3, we learned about the wheels of a bicycle. The wheels transfer the movement to the road. In this article, we will be talking about the Drivetrain of the bike. The Drivetrain is the main mechanism of the bike. It transforms the pedaling motion to the rotation of the wheels.

The Drivetrain is the main mechanism of the bike.

The Drivetrain is composed of the shifters, crankset, cassette/cogs, chain, front derailleur, rear derailleur and brakes. The big names of drivetrain manufacturers are Shimano, Sram and Campagnolo. These companies have different series for their components. Having all components from the same series is called having a "Groupset" or a "Gruppo". Although one can mix and match different components from different groupsets or different brands, there may be occasions where these would not be compatible.