On the topic of gearing, I recently went from a wide range double to a triple and find it to be an improvement in one important way. On the double I had the total range I needed (46-30 front, 12-30 or so, generally enough for most east bay hills). But I found that I was cross-chaining on the gears that I find myself in most often (those gears were mostly in the big-big range or small-small range). I converted to a triple with a 40 chaining up front (48-40-28), and my favorite cruising gears are now in the middle of the sprocket (I’m guessing 16-20 range) on the 40t chainring.
All this to say, next time you’re on the hilly type of ride that you want this new bike for (on your current bike), think about what gears you’re in and how you might want to change them. Do you want a lower low end? Higher high? And what is the middle gear range that you find yourself riding most of the time? That could help make your decision on a triple (which, as you know, is a little heavier and a little more complicated due to having to shift across 3 rather than 2 chainrings, both in the mechansm and in your riding habit). Greg On Sunday, November 26, 2023 at 8:29:37 AM UTC-8 sarahlik...@gmail.com wrote: > And it was a beginner ride with a avg 12 mile posted pace. I almost told > him i hoped I hadn't held him back from making a personal best time on that > ride! > > My other bikes are set up perfect for what I do, so no stripping! Although > I might have to consider that myself to bring in money for my bike habit. > > On Sunday, November 26, 2023 at 7:45:47 AM UTC-8 Ted Durant wrote: > >> On Sunday, November 26, 2023 at 9:25:01 AM UTC-6 sarahlik...@gmail.com >> wrote: >> >> You always need a Hilly Bike... Do it! >> >> A list full of enablers :-) >> >> >> I had an injury (shoulder) last year and had what I would call total >> fitness depletion so I have been building back up from what feels like >> zero. >> >> I'm very sympathetic to that. I've had a bunch of weird stuff happen >> over the last few years, including a drug that started killing my red blood >> cells, so I have felt like I've had to restart the engine a few times. That >> might be one reason why my bikes are all set up the same way ... trying to >> stick with what works in terms of positioning, while I get the other things >> going. >> >> >> So while I figure that out I'm open to seeing what a lighter built up >> bike can do. >> >> Far be it for me not to be the enabler of buying another Riv, but have >> you considered stripping down one of your existing bikes and trying some >> nice, light tires? In my experience, tires make by far and away the biggest >> difference to how a bike feels, and if you've dialed in a good riding >> position, you could start there (and maybe a wider range set of gears in >> back). Removing a rear rack can also remove some stiffness from the rear of >> the bike, but I don't know how many people would feel that difference, >> especially on a bike that's already fairly stout and on cushy tires. >> >> with exception to the guy who led the first beginner ride I went on, >> looked at my bike and stated, "I hope I can ride slow enough..." >> >> >> Hoo boy, just the kind of person you want leading a group ride... one of >> the reasons I stopped going on group rides. >> >> Ted Durant >> Milwaukee, WI USA >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/76d0d6b4-f083-45df-8896-edf2c7579f5cn%40googlegroups.com.
