Hey John, Welcome to the list and kudos to building and maintaining your own bike! I can't help you with the gear ranges appropriate to the derailleurs you have, but I do agree with others here suggesting going with modern Shimano stuff (Deore/LX/XT rear, Sora Front - for example). For the kind of riding you are describing, I'd suggest the Riv-approved, uber affordable Sugino XD triple crank (24/36/48) and a 11-32 or 11-34 cassette. I've used a similar setup on the Atlantis for all terrain touring, daily errands/commuting, and brevet distance rides. Works great. Substituting larger chainrings is easy and cheap. And, if after riding a while, you find you don't use the granny ring or prefer closer spacing in the rear or whatever, you haven't invested loads in your drivetrain and it is relatively easy to change things out.
enjoy the build and ride! -Jay Asheville, NC On Jan 11, 12:35 am, John Ferguson <rfj1...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Hi all, > > First time on here, and it's my first time building a bike from the > frame up. I'm hoping someone here can help, as I'm a complete > neophyte. I've been riding an older (cheap) French bike for the past > 10 years and finally took the plunge and bought a Rivendell Saluki. > Frame only, of course--I could have taken the easy way out and gotten > a completed bike, but since I'm going to be traveling long distances > on this bike, I figured I needed to build it myself so I know how > everything goes together. > > I'm in the process of acquiring components; I think I have most > everything figured out, except for the following: > > I have a Simplex SLJ5500 rear derailleur and an SLJ front derailleur > from my old bike. However, I can't figure out with a high degree of > confidence what an appropriate range would be for the chainwheels and > the cassette/freewheel. Unfortunately I sold my old bike without > counting teeth. > > I'm planning on taking very long rides, sometimes multi-day, and I'm > hoping to enter some formal randonneur events this year. > > Anyone have advice for me? Anything would be appreciated; I've spent > many hours trying to figure this out. > > Thanks! > > John --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
