On Monday, October 20, 2014 11:23:13 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 10/20/2014 6:10 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:





That or the more common 42 - 24 was a large reason why many

people tried bicycling but gave it up. That low gear wasn't

low enough for many who were just getting into bicycling nor

was it low enough for many who wanted a lightweieght bicycle

for general running around, commuting or to run errands with.

I wonder if during tthe 1970s and 1980s bike nooms if a gear

of even 34 - 24 or 34 - 30 would have kept more would be bicyclists

in the sport? That in turn would h ave made for safer riding due

to far more bicyclists on the road.



I've read many times that hills are one of the big items that dissuade

people from cycling. In general, flat cities tend to have more cyclists

than hilly ones (although of course we'll hear about exceptions).



And I remember letting one friend of mine try my bike with its (then)

newly installed triple crank. His remark: "Wow! It doesn't matter if

there's a hill or not!" And he soon bought a bike with a triple.



But as with most technical aspects of bicycling, people don't understand

what's important, and few salesmen explain it. 12 speeds were always

portrayed as better than 10, 14 better than 12, etc., but few people

bothered to ask about how low the gears were. In fact, a lot of the

gear count was wasted (for non-competitors) on gears above 100 gear

inches. Much better to give them lower gears, even if seldom used.





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- Frank Krygowski

Yes, the high gear of just over 100 gear inches with the standard 52 x 14 combination on jmany road bikes was too high for a lot of people. Now theyre selling bicycles with a 53 chain ring and 12 or 11 teeth cogs as standard. In my opinion it'd be a lot better to have lower gears on the standard bikes for the general public and the higher gears for the more elite riders. It seems to me that over gearing many bicycles results in bicycles tthat a lot of people can never hope to use the high gears of - ever. That turns people off bicycling.

Far too many times i have people ask me where i'm going to ride. When i tell them and they ask if there are any hills tthey're usually put off because their bikes just don't have the low gears they need.

Changing from a 52 - 42 double to a 30 - 40 -50 triple is very expensive for a lot of people as it means getting a new crankset, bottom bracket (if it's a sealed unit) chain and many times a new rear mech. If they're really unlucky, they need a new fron mech too.I really believe that a lot of people are sold bicycles that are totally unsuited to their actual needs. Cyclo-cross bicycles with wided clearances and barzeons for racks etcetera are very popular here in town due to those bicycles being so versatile.

Cheers