Michael, Thanks for explaining your take on this.
On Friday, August 29, 2014 3:57:16 PM UTC-7, Michael Hechmer wrote: > > I run 9 speed. My Saluki & Trek have triples (48/34/26 or 24) and I run > a 12-27 cassette and that clearly gives me a better low and more closely > spaced gear choices. Why 9 spd? Basically I skipped 8. I was running 7 > speed freewheels well into the time 9 speed cassette were standard. Around > 2000 it was getting hard to find decent freewheels (its actually easier > now) so I made the jump to 9 speed cassette hubs. I like a 4-1 big gear > (52/13; 48/12; 44/11) because it gives me some extra jump in rolling > terrain both to get up to speed on the downhill and to maintain momentum on > the uphills. I like the 9 spd with a 12 cog because I can use a 48 ring > and get to smaller gears when needed. The 12/27 seems right for me > although the 14 to16 is a wee bit more than I like. > > My Ram has a double because I like the variety, because you can slam a > dbl around faster than a triple, and because the shorter derailers are > faster and more reliable. Clearly the 44/30 sacrifices a gear and half at > the bottom but by using the 11/28 I don't give up anything at the top. I > ride a lot of country roads where short ramps of 12-16% are common and > getting into a low gear quickly gets rewarded. In the 30/28 I can > maintain a decent cadence at 8%, manage 10% for awhile and suffer through > the steeper stuff. I recently did a major climb (1600 ft of gain in 4 > miles) on the Ram, with that 30/28. No doubt a 24/27 would have been > easier. > > With gearing, everything is a trade off - top & bottom; gear spacing, > shifting pattern. There not only is no one right answer, there isn't even > one perfect answer for any cyclist. > Michael > > On Friday, August 29, 2014 12:06:42 PM UTC-4, ted wrote: >> >> Michael, >> >> If you would prefer more closely spaced gears (13,14,15 vs 13,15) why >> don't you use a tighter cassette and a third chainring? >> Also are you using 8sp? I thought 11-18s usually went 14,16 not 13,15. >> >> On Friday, August 29, 2014 4:31:41 AM UTC-7, Michael Hechmer wrote: >>> >>> The front shift up is a bit slower but the real issue is searching for >>> the next gear way at the other end of the cassette. I run an 11-28 and >>> have a strong preference for closely spaced gears. The jump from 13 to 15 >>> is already larger than I like, so I certainly wouldn't go any wider. With >>> The 44/30 White VBC crank & ramped rings, a campy FD & short cage Shimano >>> 6700 in the rear this bike shifts so smoothly that I never give a thought >>> to dropping or raising the front.. When I drop the chain I know I am >>> always 2 rear clicks from the next gear. The Silver DT shifters give the >>> ability to jump across the cassette when I need to, which is rare. This is >>> all on the Ram and is the best shifting bike I have ridden in 35 years, >>> including Ultegra SIS. >>> >>> Michael >>> >>> On Wednesday, August 27, 2014 6:33:00 PM UTC-4, Steve Palincsar wrote: >>>> >>>> On 08/27/2014 06:17 PM, Michael Hechmer wrote: >>>> > let us know how it works for you. My one experiment with a 16 tooth >>>> > difference left me unhappy with the shifting pattern. But I ride a >>>> > lot of rolling terrain where fast shifting gets rewarded, so that >>>> > probably influenced my reaction. >>>> >>>> Is it that the front shift itself is slow, or that the multiple rear >>>> shifts necessary to get to the next closest gear are the source of the >>>> slowness? >>>> >>>> >>>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
