And yet, in the latest issue of Dirt Rag (a mountain bike focused
magazine), the mechanic column had a quote along the lines of "the only
thing dumber than a triple on a mountain bike, is a triple on a road
bike." Seems like a lot of folks are thinking that way.
Now, for non-loaded touring, on the hills I have ridden, a compact with a
32/42 (or 44) up front and a 12-36 rear might be fine. Then again, for a
long climb either out east or west, would probably want a 24 up front,
along with the 36 in the back.
Eric Platt
St. Paul, MN
On Sun, Jun 30, 2013 at 6:21 PM, Anne Paulson <anne.paul...@gmail.com>wrote:
> People who ride compact doubles chose those bikes. Sometimes just
> riding by them on a steep hill in your comfortable triple is enough to
> make them rethink whether their gearing is what they want. People
> sometimes buy the bike for the fitness they wish they had, instead of
> the fitness they actually have.
>
> I rode Sierra to the Sea with a friend. He is one of those
> technophiles who wants everything new, and he has some kind of
> whizbang titanium bike, with some kind of superlight wheels (one of
> whose hubs cracked during the ride, and of course there was no way to
> fix it, so he just continued on with what he said was considerable
> drag). He had what to me seemed to be absurdly high gears given the
> ride, although he did not do the steepest hills I did. I think his low
> was probably twice as high as my ridiculously low low. But after the
> ride, he emailed me about getting lower gears. Good choice.
>
> It would be great if we could get a Riv contingent on Sierra to the
> Sea. We could show another riding esthetic, opposed to the go-go-go
> esthetic that some of the fast riders have. Nothing wrong with going
> fast, or wanting to go fast, as your entire purpose of riding, if
> that's the way you feel. But it doesn't hurt to show people another
> way of thinking about riding.
>
> On Sun, Jun 30, 2013 at 4:10 PM, dougP <dougpn...@cox.net> wrote:
> > Thanks for the write-up. I plan to mark my calendar for next year (never
> > too early to plan). That's a wonderful area for cycling.
> >
> > Last year, a charity I'm involved in did a week long tour through that
> area,
> > and Sweetwater Springs was an optional route. We also used some
> interesting
> > hills in the Napa Valley. The only grumbles we heard were from folks
> with
> > compact doubles and standard racing bike gearing who were unhappy about
> the
> > hills. Since most of the event crew rides 30+ lb touring bikes, we
> found it
> > difficult to be truly compassionate about "the problem".
> >
> > dougP
> >
> >
> > On Sunday, June 23, 2013 11:20:09 AM UTC-7, Anne Paulson wrote:
> >>
> >> Last week I was on the (very fine) Sierra to the Sea ride put on by
> >> Almaden Cycle Touring Club. It was tons of fun. Rivendell was
> >> represented by me, and also JimD. The first night, I hopefully
> >> snuggled my British racing green Roadeo next to JimD's orange custom,
> >> hoping that in the morning I'd see a little red Betty Foy, but alas, I
> >> was disappointed. That was pretty much the only disappointment of the
> >> entire trip, though. The food was super and plentiful, and somehow
> >> ACTC managed to route us across the entire state of California on
> >> fabulous roads.
> >>
> >> Some of those roads were rough: Dogtown Road in the Sierra foothills,
> >> some Delta roads and the fabulous Coleman Valley Road in Sonoma County
> >> spring to mind. My Roadeo with Rolly Polys purred like a kitten. The
> >> Jack Browns might have even been a better choice.
> >>
> >> Overheard:
> >>
> >> Rider #1: My neck gets so sore sometimes when I'm riding, I have to
> >> look down for a while instead of looking ahead.
> >>
> >> Rider #2: Me too, even though I know it's not that safe.
> >>
> >> Me: Have you tried raising your handlebars?
> >>
> >> Rider #1: ?? You mean tilting them?
> >>
> >> Me: No, just moving them up higher.
> >>
> >> Rider #1: (puzzled) I don't think you can do that on my bike.
> >>
> >> Jim Warren showed up to say hello and ask about the ride, on his Hunqa
> >> with the Big Bens. The two riders with me were obviously appalled at
> >> the the idea that someone might try the ride with Big Bens. ("But
> >> they're so heavy!") In fact, Big Bens would be great.
> >>
> >> In addition to the idea that bikes need to be shod with 23 mm or 25 mm
> >> tires, a number of the Sierra to the Sea riders apparently subscribed
> >> to the common belief that extra clothing, food and equipment weigh
> >> less if you carry them in a backpack or in jammed pockets, than if you
> >> carry them on the bike. Saddlebags and front bags were not much in
> >> evidence.
> >>
> >> One day we rode from Calistoga to the Russian River. The optional
> >> route included Sweetwater Springs, one of those roads that is terrific
> >> in almost every possible way: deserted, with oak grasslands, then a
> >> secluded little valley, then a (steep) climb up through redwoods. The
> >> regular route was not too shabby either, but I chose the Sweetwater
> >> option. On the way up I passed a couple of other riders walking. I
> >> understand the appeal of compact doubles if compact doubles give you
> >> low enough gears. And for a lot of people (who are stronger than me or
> >> lighter than me or both) compact doubles do work. But riders who are
> >> walking the steep hills, or riding up them with some knee-destroying
> >> cadence in the 30s or 40s, need lower gears. It's sad to hear, "The
> >> guy in the bike shop told me..." when the guy in the bike shop
> >> obviously told the rider the wrong thing.
> >>
> >> I highly recommend Sierra to the Sea. Try it for yourself next year and
> >> see!
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> -- Anne Paulson
> >>
> >> My hovercraft is full of eels
> >
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>
>
> --
> -- Anne Paulson
>
> My hovercraft is full of eels
>
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