I rode fixed on a 40x15 for some time, but found a 40x14 to be better for my commute and rides up to around 30 miles.
Over the last 4 months I've switched back to freewheel mode, with a 16T White Industries freewheel and a 46T up front and no small ring - I just didn't find myself using it. A few of the rollers and short climbs in Portola Valley and Woodside are a bit of a grind, but I really like taking the QB out for pleasure, especially when its spitting rain.... Freewheeling is nice (compared to fixed) - it really has introduced me to how well the bike corners. -br On Jan 24, 5:11 pm, PATRICK MOORE <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sat, Jan 24, 2009 at 5:36 PM, charlie <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I think the Quickbeam concept of a non derailleur or hub gearing > > system is appealing to many, myself included. It is simple and solves > > the problem of adequately handling varied terrain without too much > > convenience. I like the ability of making it a four speed for that > > occasional long steep climb up towards our local mountain or the > > ability to add a slightly higher ratio for a ride such as Seattle to > > Portland. When I get enough money together I would like a QB as my > > poor mans version of it is not ideal. > > The problem with just adding a three cog in the back is that you won't > > get the wider range of ratios that you would using that 32 tooth up > > front with perhaps a 22 tooth on the flip side or a fixed 14 tooth and > > the 40 tooth for flat rides. the neat thing is the QB allows one to > > set it up as they prefer for their type of terrain. If a guy has > > Charles 'Atlast' legs and an ideal power to weight ratio he can often > > get away with just one gear. An IG hub is nice but is still more > > complicated and fragile at least in one respect. For riding off road > > I'd rather have a freewheeling non derailleur setup. As a road > > commuter bike it would make more sense to have an internal HG if your > > route was hilly. Most city commutes however are fairly flat so one > > gear seems enough unless it starts or ends flat or with a long section > > of climbing or high headwinds. I just think the QB is kinda cool so I > > want one. > > My poor mans version exists atwww.cyclofiend.com > > Well put, except that your URL leads to an icon menu and not your particular > bike. > > If I regularly rode more than 30 miles at a stretch, I'm sure I would, in my > condition, be screaming for multiple gears. But still, if the QB allows an 8 > tooth gap in chainrings, it will allow an 8 tooth gap in cogs, and each > tooth difference in your cogs will make much more of a ratio difference than > a tooth dropped from or added to a chainring. > > This evening as I hauled a 15 lb load home from the grocery store on my 69" > fixed Riv commuter, up a 2 mile incline against a 3/4 headwind (NW gusts to > 21, I heading West then North), trying to approach 15 mph, the desirability > of a lower gear option struck me with, you might say, a painful slap. But > then I realized that all I had to do was pedal more slowly, so I backed off > and let my speed slide down to a 10-13 mph slog that made things much > easier. But of course, a 6 mile grocery run return leg is far from a loaded > tour or even an all day hilly gravel run. > > Of which thinking: back in the Uniglide days, when lockrings were screw on > small cogs, someone made a portable device for touring kits that allowed you > to use the wheel and frame themselves as levers to remove the locking small > cog. Would that not work for fixed cogs, too? Not that I'd care to use it > for routine en-route gear changes, but I'm curious if it might work for > roadside repairs for the fixed gear tourist. > > Another meandering thought: Mitch Harris of the Boblist and of much > experience riding fixed gears said that old tourists in Britain routinely > used 72-78 inch fixed gears for touring, which I suppose means, not carrying > 40 lb across the Sahara but a loaded Nelson from hostel to hostel. Still, > 78" seems pretty darn high for long distance riding, unless you are much > younger than I am. What gears do y'all of longer distance fixed or ss riding > (let's say 40 miles or more at a stretch) favor, and over what terrain? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
