On Dec 29, 2011, at 10:30 AM, PATRICK MOORE wrote way more than this: …snipped... conventional racer gearing is also silly for most mortals….snipped
Here is my experience with gearing and mortality. Some ~25 years ago I was riding a custom bike built by Dave Porter in Albuquerque, NM . The bike had Campy Nuvo Record parts. As I recall the double crankset was a 50/42. The seven speed freewheel was a 13-26. In those days this worked fine for me for climbing to the Sandia crest( 5k vertical). Riding the high mountain passes from Durango to Silverton, Co was great fun. Doing fast centuries was a blast I loved that bike and continued to ride it for many years. As I entered my 50's and then 60's I gradually discovered that I was no longer interested in or capable of climbing steep mountains or hills. Getting a carbon bike with a triple and then a Rivendell with a triple and even lower gearing was my personal cycling renaissance. A reason that 'most mortals' often end up on racing bikes with inappropriate parts (high gears/skinny tires) is the narrow way that bicycling get promoted and marketed. All racing, all the time, is not a great foundation for a life long sport. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, -JimD -- 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.
