Leah is going to ask Will why small complete Clems come with a 38T big ring, while big Clems come with a 34T big ring.
Will is going to answer Leah that they come that way because big Clems have bigger wheels than small Clems. Bigger wheels make all the gears higher. That's why. The highest gear on a small Clem is 93 inches. The highest gear on a big Clem is 89 inches. Pedaling that top end gear at a moderate spin of 110RPM will get you up to 30MPH. If your twiddling about town requires you to have gearing to get you way above 30MPH, then you are a lot faster town-twiddler than I am. My town twiddling is in the 12-15MPH range, and I never use a 90 inch gear unless I'm rolling fast down hill and can't be satisfied with coasting. More likely, this comes down to the spinners vs the mashers. While 110RPM is a perfectly normal moderate spin for me, many of the masher-set freak out at 60RPM that they are pedaling way too fast. If you are a dyed in the wool masher, a 90-inch top gear probably isn't high enough. Some mashers brag about how they are perfectly content at 30RPM or lower. The masher-types likely would disapprove of the stock gearing on Rivendell completes. A 44x11 on a 700c x FAT rear wheel should be good to allow you to pedal up to and above 40MPH. It takes a long and steep descent to get me above 40MPH. I would think a grocery-run-Clem would be a bit scary going a lot faster than 40MPH Bill Lindsay El Cerrito, CA On Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 10:17:57 AM UTC-7 Drew Fitchette wrote: > Leah, I'd love to hear what you find out. > > My clem has a triple on it, as the previous owner swapped the chain guard > for a 44. > > After riding around the neighborhood and the light trails near my house I > can't imagine a 34/24 satisfying my needs around town. > > - Drew... whose bottom bracket is *still* creaking. > > On Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 1:02:46 PM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! > wrote: > >> Sounds largely speculative. >> >> These bikes are shipped all around the world. People use them as >> commuters and shoppers and sometimes use them as hillibikes. Very few of >> them will ever ascend Mount Diablo. No matter, I will just email and ask >> the source himself and then you’ll know for sure. >> >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Apr 1, 2025, at 12:49 PM, Piaw Na <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> On Tue, Apr 1, 2025 at 9:45 AM Leah Peterson <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Piaw, >>> >>> Do only tall people on 59 and 64 Clems ride Mount Diablo? Enlighten me. >>> >> >> Tall people tend to be heavier which translates to a lower power to >> weight ratio. They also tend to have more damage to their joints if they're >> heavier. But I suspect that many short people would also pray for lower >> gears when they attempt Diablo. To paraphrase what John Finley Scott wrote >> about Sonora Pass, this is where 42x21 drivetrains pray for chapter 11 >> bankruptcy proceedings. >> >> -- >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/ksvlbi-Jd6w/unsubscribe >> . >> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >> [email protected]. >> >> To view this discussion visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAPh0EZ6G1xMtVs-xN6%2BNWhekU10wtzp7smvuQJzY4_2fmT6X1w%40mail.gmail.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAPh0EZ6G1xMtVs-xN6%2BNWhekU10wtzp7smvuQJzY4_2fmT6X1w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> >> -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a0aca015-1e17-472e-88b6-4fb4c6100777n%40googlegroups.com.
