I've used a 26-46-49 half-step + granny on my '74 Raleigh Competition for many years. It's currently shifted with its Huret Jubilee front with no problems. Just don't expect super quick upshifts from the 26 to the 46. This delicate ancient front derailleur does just fine. Before that I used a SunTour Cyclone front. Shifted a bit quicker than the Huret.
The SunTour has been moved it to my 24-41-44 gearing on my Hilson. A 16-tooth difference with no problems. These would now be considered "racing" derailleurs but they're necessary due to the three tooth tooth differences between the big rings. The deeper inner plates on most modern non-racing derailluers don't allow shifting over such small tooth differences. (I've ridden 1/2-stems for nearly 45 years and I no longer understand how to shift the "normal" chainring setups now -- just doesn't make sense...) GAJett On Sat, Feb 14, 2026 at 12:18 PM Bernard Duhon <[email protected]> wrote: > Ditto on that > > Heck Campy triple front works also if you are friction shifting. > > Yours sincerely, > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* [email protected] < > [email protected]> on behalf of Shannon Menkveld < > [email protected]> > *Sent:* Saturday, February 14, 2026 1:29 PM > *To:* RBW Owners Bunch <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [RBW] Re: Maximum drop between large/outer and small/inner > cog that shifts well consistently (in friction) > > If you're going friction, why not just use any Deore-or-better Shimano 6-9 > speed MTB derailleur that you like the looks of? Nothing better was ever > made by anyone, and not many were as good. > > --Shannon > > On Saturday, February 14, 2026 at 10:55:45 AM UTC-8 [email protected] > wrote: > > Thanks, Steve. I’m using an Ultegra 11 sp 50/34 double and wondered if I > could go as low as 32 for the inner ring. > > Perhaps what I’ll do is switch to a 48/32. > > If I go friction, I’ll center the outer ring on the cassette. > > On Mon, Feb 9, 2026 at 7:49 AM Steve <[email protected]> wrote: > > --- Just adding that I think offsetting the chain line a bit to favor the > big ring is a smart approach. > > On Monday, February 9, 2026 at 9:44:43 AM UTC-5 Steve wrote: > > Patrick, I've run a 50-44-24 triple (non-ramped rings) with a 1990 Deore > LX 3x FD without any issues, though it did prefer a crisp upshift. The > original small chainring was a 28t, so I may - or may not - have been > exceeding Shimano's spec for the FD. > > I don't recall if you're using 'brifters' on your Roadeo, so I should > mention that the bike was setup with friction shifting. > > Steve in AVL > > On Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 8:24:10 PM UTC-5 Patrick Moore wrote: > > I’m mentally toying with rebuilding my lovely Roadeo with silver and > friction parts instead of the industrial-looking (but seamlessly working) > Ultegra 8000 11-sp group. > > This group includes a 50/34 double. I think of switching it to a 50 + > something smaller than 34. Do any of you have a 20-tooth gap between big > and small rings? What front derailleur? How does it work? > > I’d center the big ring so that the drivetrain is a 1X + occasional use > granny. I’d use the 50 with all 11 cogs, cruising gears would be the middle > 5 cogs in the big ring, and I’d use the granny only for very steep hills. > > Would this work? Things to be wary of? > > Thanks. > > BIG RING CENTERED > 27.3" wheel > > 50 > 30 > 14 > 98 > > 15 > 91 > > 16 > 85 > 51 > 17 > 80 > 48 > 18 > 76 > 46 > 19 > 72 > 43 > 20 > 68 > 41 > 21 > 65 > 39 > 23 > 59 > 36 > 27 > 51 > 30 > 32 > 43 > 26 > > -- > > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing > services > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > *When thou didst not, savage, know thine own meaning,* > > *But wouldst gabble like a thing most brutish,* > > *I endowed thy purposes with words that made them known.* > > -- > 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 [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/61234bc7-81d4-4a3a-9e7a-fbd7752b9d48n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/61234bc7-81d4-4a3a-9e7a-fbd7752b9d48n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > > > -- > > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing > services > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > *When thou didst not, savage, know thine own meaning,* > > *But wouldst gabble like a thing most brutish,* > > *I endowed thy purposes with words that made them known.* > > -- > 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 [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/bd25b695-2c8c-4ef4-976a-09b70300a82en%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/bd25b695-2c8c-4ef4-976a-09b70300a82en%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > 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 [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/PH0PR17MB76937FCDCD5EF554798973E0CD6EA%40PH0PR17MB7693.namprd17.prod.outlook.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/PH0PR17MB76937FCDCD5EF554798973E0CD6EA%40PH0PR17MB7693.namprd17.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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