is it worth upgrading my mountain bike to a better speed?

Question

i'm using a 21 speed mountain bike
is it worth upgrading to 27 speed?
does 27 speed allow you to archive higher top speed?

Answer 1

No.

Increasing the number of gears usually does not allow you to go faster, it simply adds additional steps between the gears to help you negotiate terrain better.

If you are interested in going faster, buy a road bike for your "speed need" and use your mtb for, well, mountains.

Answer 2

No. It won't, unless one of the following applies.

1) You are always getting stuck when climbing that particular stretch of technical rock cut (because you haven't got the right gear to maintain traction and momentum).

2) You are solely interested in "top speed" performance, AND the change gives you fewer teeth on the smallest cog of the rear gears. Normally, the smallest number of teeth is either 11 or 12.

3) You are solely interested in "top speed" performance, AND the change involves changing out your front chainring (the ones by the pedals), to get a larger number of teeth on the largest ring. Normally, a mountain bike has 44 teeth on the big ring.

Answer 3

If the overall gearing is the same you will not go any faster.
ie. if the large front gear is 44 tooth and the rear cassettes smallest gear is 11 tooth both gear combos will have the same overall gear ratio so both would be equal in speed. To go faster you will have to learn how to pedal faster.
The advantage of more gears comes from a better spread in gear ratios. Going from 7 rear gears to 9 will give you less pedal rpm drop per gear change. Is it worth it? for casual riding probably not, if you race or are looking for any advantage when riding with your Friends, yes.

Answer 4

the number of gears has no impact on speed, i just breaks down the tranny into more gear combos to make climbing easier. honestly, only the hardcore riders use these systems, although they are becoming standard on some of the newer, high-end bikes.

speed depends on the number teeth on each cog. the fastest you can go on a mountain bike is 48x11. the most common however, is 44x11. that means 44teeth on the largest front chain ring, and 11teeth on the smallest rear cog.

Answer 5

About the number of speeds, I don't think you could achive a higher top speed with more gears. What the extra gears do is help you have more options for different trails.

Answer 6

If you want to go fast, get a road bike. I don't care what kind of gears you have, you just can't overcome the resistance of the fat mountain bike tires to really go fast.