Brucey wrote:remember also that some folk (mostly not experienced cyclists) tend to pedal at near glacial speeds, and insist on having absurdly high gears fitted, else won't buy a given bike. Many is the time when (on the basis of riding 100 yards down the road in a state of some over-excitement) someone has said "I need bigger gears than this", confidently proclaiming that a 100" gear is 'too easy'. A deal of patient explanation is then required to persuade them that if they were to use that gear properly, they would be averaging about 30mph, not 15mph....
cheers
When I were a lad, 142 years ago, a 4 speed Benelux was enough. In fact there was a 46/49 double chainwheel too, with seat tube changer - but I never used it and wore out the 46 ring whilst the 49 remained pristine.
However, I was then young and ignorant. Over a lifetime of cycling (well, 58 years) I have come to have a "need" for close ratios at the back. I can't abide a 2 tooth jump at the fast end and must even have 18-19-20 in the range! The three rings at the front provide three ranges, for fast, normal and Pennines (or anywhere in Wales).
Happily I raced (when at my fittest) on a highest gear of 52X13. In fact, I employed a schoolboy block of 15-21 for many races as it had 1 tooth jumps all the way through. Always I was in the sprint, although on occasion I couldn't twiddle quite fast enough to see orf that Mathews.
Call me a pea-sensitive Princess but I go best when the gear ratios are close, even now that I'm an old tourist. And all those tiny sprockets are a waste of ratios. Oh yes they are!!
So, although I have the 52/39/30 triple rings, I also have a chopped 11-speed cassette of 14-32. I had to buy two (11-32 & 14-28) to make this, which is annoying. I fail to see the point of adding cogs at the back of the 12 & 11 variety! Who are all these MAIMILs foolishly peddling down 1 in 4s at 40mph when they could be freewheeling at 52mph if they just tucked their knees and elbows in?
Cugel
“Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence are usually the slaves of some defunct economist”.
John Maynard Keynes