Obviously gaining a bit more speed would be nice but really I'd just like to be able to bowl along and up the hills a little easier.
I never stand up, always seated, and I don't push big gears. My current top gear is 91". So I reckon I need a range of 18-100 ish gear inches.
At the low end I need 24 chainring, 36 sprocket. = 18".
I could specify the Audax with Tourer triple gearing, which in one configuration would give me 18-108 gear inches as a 9-speed triple, 24/36/44 & 11-36, just about perfect. I don't want to buy the tourer as I want something that's more progress-oriented, just not with the high gears which I won't use.
But I'm wondering if I might benefit from just having a double 10-speed. Can I just eliminate the middle ring? A 24/42 10-speed would get me up to 103 gear inches.
The ratios look widely spaced to me compared to my Rohloff at about 13.6% throughout. The 10-speed looks slightly better in that regard.
My question is, does the saving of the middle ring give rise to other issues ? Is it a pointless saving ? As a triple it would be 9-Speed (as supplied by Spa), as a double 10-Speed. Will it even work at all ? What are the wear issues ? 9-Sp vs. 10-sp ? How many 'non-usable' gears will there be ? Just looking for opinions on either configuration really.
