More gearing choice questions

[legrandefromage]

99, I'm thinking later into the 80s and 90s

 

[Mike-p]

Yeah, mine look like that but no fancy drilled rings. So they're better or they're the spaghetti ones?

 

[Rapparee87]

I'd never have anything lower than a 21 on principle, I don't want to look at my bike and see a cassette with something the size of a dinner plate.

 

[Mike-p]

Any principles I might have had about seeing dinner plates on my bike are swiftly shattered when I see the hairy chopsticks sticking out below my shorts...

 

[Mike-p]

So how daft is 46/26 rings and 13-23 casette? There's no doubled gears except big- big near identical to small- small. I imagine it's really annoying to your pedalling to have such a big jump at the front.

 

[non-fixie]

So how daft is 46/26 rings and 13-23 casette? There's no doubled gears except big- big near identical to small- small. I imagine it's really annoying to your pedalling to have such a big jump at the front.

Not daft at all. Actually that is a typical vintage French touring set-up:



The 46/26 would be nice for riding in a hilly or even mountainous area, but for me I'd want a larger cog in the rear for the really steep bits.

I just set up a bike for mrs non-fixie, to be used for L'Eroica. 48/30 chain rings, mated to a shortened 9-speed 11-32 cassette (now 8-speed).

Transmission is a SunTour Cyclone GT MkII ensemble. She tested it today, and it works very smoothly.

 

[Mike-p]

Great thanks, cyclone gt would be perfect but prices look a bit silly and im still not sure whether I'll stick with period friction or move a little forward in time to 8 speed index. Id say unloaded the steep bits will be ok, they're short climbs.

 

[pigman]

I was only thinking the other day that back in the 80s for racing it was all campag gears. Super record for the rich, NR for those on a normal budget and GranSport for winter bikes or bottom budget. Huret or cheap shimano, simplex and suntour was seen on mass produced bikes and better suntour was for touring bikes. And shimano crane was rarely seen.
If I could now go back 40 years and spec a racing bike, I'd have suntour gears. The mechs were well designed, had a jewelled finish and were far lighter than any of the others. And their retrofriction levers were the best working levers on the market

 

[non-fixie]

Great thanks, cyclone gt would be perfect but prices look a bit silly and im still not sure whether I'll stick with period friction or move a little forward in time to 8 speed index. Id say unloaded the steep bits will be ok, they're short climbs.

My own ride today, accompanying mrs non-fixie's test, was this German Nöll. Fitted with a 7-speed Shimano SIS rear end, shifted by early Campagnolo 9-speed Ergo's, using the hubbub cable routing. A nice and effective combination.

 

[Mike-p]

My own ride today, accompanying mrs non-fixie's test, was this German Nöll. Fitted with a 7-speed Shimano SIS rear end, shifted by Campagnolo 8-speed Ergo's, using the hubbub cable routing. A nice and effective combination.

View attachment 644881

Very nice, I actually have some 8 speed veloce levers hanging around. What rear mech are you using?