Gear ratios and hills and vintage gears and getting older

[glpinxit]

In the "Eroica Britannia this weekend" thread I was in danger of veering off into the exciting topic of gear ratios and said I'd start a new thread:

Not going (due to being too busy) but for future ref, how steep/long are the biggest climbs.

I havn't been on most of the route but the hill that goes up from Edale is 15% and must be a mile and half plus.

I'm quite fond of hills. We've got one nearby that touches 22% which gives a chap a feeling of achievement (and causes my old 16 spoke wheels to make some alarming noises on my early '90s bike - 39/26 lowest ratio).

The problem on my 1970s bike is this. The nice stuff I want on my bike means 144BCD chain rings. This means minimum 42 tooth inner ring (41 if you are both rich and lucky finding one). The limited range of Super Record rear mechs means the max range is pretty much 12 to 24 rear and 42/52 front. This is incompatible with the age of my legs combined with the amount of pedalling I have the time to put them through.

Any suggestions (preferably Campagnolo branded and period correct)?

 

[Deleted member 24574]

I think 42x24 is the best you can do without going modern.

I guess it's like all the other things that make modern bikes more user friendly .... If you want to ride retro you have to accept some of the discomforts that requires.

 

[Midlife]

http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/D ... t-road.jpg

Stick a period shimano dura ace on and go down to 39

Shaun

 

[bm0p700f]

Re:

gerhardt do an inner ring with 41T I think for a 3/32" chain 144BCD. Worth checking out sure I saw it in a catalogue.

15% for 1.5 miles will be hard regardless of the gearing. Gravity is evil but it allows us to ride a bike. Take with hand give with another.

 

[pigman]

Re:

you can get period-correct stronglight and TA chainsets that were designed for tourists. Of course you lose the 'campag throughout' concept. Then there were Campag Rally tripple rear mechs which might mean you can go beyond a 28t rear, but I'm not sure about whether it would be 70's period.

 

[Spokesmann]

Re: Re:

you can get period-correct stronglight and TA chainsets that were designed for tourists. Of course you lose the 'campag throughout' concept. Then there were Campag Rally tripple rear mechs which might mean you can go beyond a 28t rear, but I'm not sure about whether it would be 70's period.

I used to use a Rally on my Continental - the biggest load of sh!te I have ever used....

Sold the mech for £90 in the end to a collector in Asia. A truly dreadful piece of kit.

 

[Deleted member 24574]

Re: Re:

15% for 1.5 miles will be hard regardless of the gearing.

It's 9.8% average over 2.1km ... but with a few steeper bits ...

 

[lewisfoto]

Campagnolo offered a Nuovo Record triple chainset. Part number 1049/5 (number 148/5 as a set with longer bottom bracket) on page 74 of Catalog 17. There is a PDF on this site.

 

[stevesey]

I think 42x24 is the best you can do without going modern.

I've got 52/42 + 13/28 of my '83 Raleigh Record Sprint - original campag rear mech copes - need chain length just right to allow some space between the 28T and the jockey wheel on 42/28. It's a 980 mech not a record super - but they look pretty similar size/rangewise.

That is the limit though - if I went to 40 or 39T - I'd need to lose 2 links and 52/28 would leave very little chain slack (not that you should be using 52/2.

Thinking about a triple - but that will need a long cage mech as well (asks self I wonder if you can swap the cage).

 

[David B]

Re: Re:

you can get period-correct stronglight and TA chainsets that were designed for tourists.

Much what I'd have suggested. TA have never done "budget" (Cyclotouriste chainsets were still manufactured until relatively recently, with an RRP to match!) whilst higher-end Stronglight stuff is pretty decent too.

David