Stupid or dangerous? Absolutely! Fun and challenging? Absolutely! --Eric [email protected] www.campyonly.com www.wheelsnorth.org
On Feb 9, 2009, at 10:58 AM, Jeremy Till wrote: > > Framebuilder Matt Chester has posted some good info on pre-derailer > Tour setups, mostly as part of his sporadic "Wednesday's Wisdom of the > Past" series: > > http://mattchester.blogspot.com/2008/01/wednesdays-wisdom-of-past-1921-tour-de.html > > From the sources he quotes it looks like the favored setup was two > freewheels on a flip-flop hub, with different single chainrings fitted > depending on the profile of the stage. In another post a source says > that the racers always used freewheels, and posited that riding a > fixed gear in the race over such terrain would be stupid and/or > dangerous. > > > On Feb 8, 8:53 am, Eric Norris <[email protected]> wrote: >> Well, "The Dancing Chain" doesn't help much: >> >> "Henri Desgrange, who had long opposed variable gears, eventually >> relented and permitted derailleurs in the 1937 Tour de France. Given >> the enormous popularity of the Tour, this was hailed as the ultimate >> victory for the rear derailleur." >> >> I do recall reading somewhere that the riders in the TdF were either >> all fixed or all on freewheels due to the advantage in downhills and >> cornering offered by a freewheel. Fixed riders would have been at a >> disadvantage, so all the bikes were kept the same. Perhaps multi- >> speed freewheels made their appearance before the derailleur needed >> to >> shift on them in 1937. >> >> --Eric >> [email protected] > > --Eric [email protected] www.campyonly.com www.wheelsnorth.org --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
