Living in Chicago with most of my riding thereabouts and in the upper Midwest makes all this easy.
My primary bike is a single speed. My tour bike is a 1x5. Up front is a 46. In back a Suntour Winner with 14-34 cogs. (thanks to Patrick Moore who pointed out a new cottage business in New Hampshire that repairs and preps freewheels) While my plan had been to stick with two bikes, I could not resist the temptation to get what will be my third Retrotec. More of a rough stuff cross type bike. This will also be a 1x. Plan to start with a 44 up front. The rear hub is a King single speed. I can either use a variety of King cogs, or, if gears seem necessary, the Jeff Jones (modified Shimano) 6 speed cassette - 16-36. (currently not offered on his site. Hope Mr. Jones starts making these again as I would like to have a couple more.) On Friday, August 23, 2013 11:57:58 AM UTC-5, William wrote: > > "Personally, I think the > "standard" Riv 110/74 "compact triple" is a better solution for most > riders; but I'm not a STI user and I'm very familiar with this kind of > triple and don't find them even slightly "confusing." " > > I totally agree with you there. Very useful and very non-confusing. > That's why I have that setup, with bar-con shifters on both my touring > bike and my tandem. It's fantastic! > > Furthermore, I'm glad we completely agree about compact doubles. You run > your bike like a compact double -PLUS- a granny bail out for extraordinary > circumstances that you practically never use. That's precisely how I use > my touring bike and my tandem. A close range 46/36 compact double would be > fine for you, just like it is with most people, but like a lot of people, > you also choose to be prepared for extraordinary circumstances. I have no > problem with any of that. Also, it doesn't surprise me much that when you > tried a 44/30 and a 40/26 that you found the enormous jump troublesome, > particularly on rollers. As you correctly pointed out, people have to find > what they like on the terrain they will be riding. > > I end up using my 44/30 as a 1x9 (or 1x10 on one bike) PLUS a climbing > range. If my riding was more on the Pacific coast, where there are a ton > of rollers, I would probably swap my 30 tooth ring for a 32 or a 34, > because the terrain would dictate far more frequent front shifts, as you > correctly pointed out. > > On Friday, August 23, 2013 5:35:44 AM UTC-7, Steve Palincsar wrote: >> >> On 08/22/2013 10:55 PM, William wrote: >> > "Regardless of the cassette in question, the "big jump" is due to the >> > 53.8% difference between the chain rings." >> > >> > My jump is 47% between chainrings. That's much bigger than the 27% >> > jump from your 36 to your 46, but it is smaller than the 50% jump from >> > your 24 to your 36. I don't know if I should go mad or not! >> >> There's a difference between going from a rarely used small granny to >> middle ring, and a routine, do it all day long on every ride, shift from >> small to large chain ring. It takes a lot of drama to force me to shift >> to the granny, and I don't mind a little of the same getting off of it. >> It happens only in exceptional circumstances: I spend most of my time >> riding in rolling country, not the mountains, and in rolling country I >> don't have to use the granny. A wide range double, on the other hand, >> is shifted often. >> >> However, everyone has to find gearing that they're happy with. There are >> obviously some who can tolerate frequent wide-range crossovers, and -- >> especially with the new breed of ultra wide range cassettes like the >> 11-36 -- many whose needs are fully met by them. Personally, I think the >> "standard" Riv 110/74 "compact triple" is a better solution for most >> riders; but I'm not a STI user and I'm very familiar with this kind of >> triple and don't find them even slightly "confusing." >> >> >> -- 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/groups/opt_out.
