Michael: interesting. I've driven through VT and NH and find the terrain like a doll-house NM*: small and steep: little valleys and abrupt, small hills.
* North central NM is pretty green, unlike south-of-Santa Fe; tho' not so much as NE and the east generally. Again, the green, like the ups and downs, is more spread out -- "diluted." Years ago I used to obsess about gearing and insisted on a relatively wide range (say, 30" to 100") with steps of about 5 gear inches between each gear -- used close ratio rear clusters with front triples. After riding fixed and ss exclusively for a number of years, I found, when I went back to multiple gears, that I like a series of close ratios in the middle cruising ranges (say, 60" to 75" for pavement, 50 to 65" for dirt) and some big jumps to small and large gears on either side. I also find that I shift far, far less than I did years ago: interesting: I ride with my brother who, himself, is rather blase' about gearing, and, riding behind him as I usually do (because he sets a slow pace that I am psychologically incapable of doing) I notice that even he shifts about three or four times for each of my one. I tend to leave things in the, say, 70" gear until it hurts to stand, then bail to a 40" or 35" gear. At any rate, the hoped-for new 36/24 X 9 systems (11-30 or so for the road, 12-34 or so for the dirt) will give me these few close ratios in the middle while giving me ample high and low end gears for the exceptions (tho' I rarely bother to pedal downhill, nowadays). Man, I love climbing, at least on <= 1 mile hills of < 10% -- had fun doing so this afternoon on the grocery-loaded 72" fixie. Downhills, I can tolerate those. On Sat, Apr 7, 2012 at 2:48 PM, Michael Hechmer <[email protected]> wrote: > Patrick, I have not yet ridden in NM, but we have mountains in Vermont too. > My sense is that the climbs in the West are considerably longer than in the > East, but every mountain pass in VT has at least a couple of kilometers of > 20-25%. I try to avoid carrying more than a couple of pounds of gear on > rides with one or two of those! Back(dirt) roads here, where I do most of > my riding, often have sections and ramps in the 20 - 25% range that are just > long enough to seriously bog down in. My Rambouillet has a White Ind crank > with a 44/30 and a 9 speed 11-28. My Ebisu touring bike has a 48/34/26 > with a 12-27, but I throw a 24 on when I go to my sisters, which involves > crossing White Face Mt in NY, a 5 mile climb at an absolutely relentless > 10-14%, perhaps that's more like NM. With a 24" gear it takes one day > shorter than forever! Even touring on the tandem, my wife and I don't get > up to 40 lbs of gear. Just us, the bike, racks and water gets to 400lbs, so > we run a 26/32 with 26" wheels. > > Generally I prefer to run closely spaced gears for most of my riding and > then switch to something more helpful when I know my old body will need it. > > On Saturday, April 7, 2012 12:12:19 PM UTC-4, Patrick Moore wrote: >> >> As Steve said, for loads and long hills and long rides. I rarely climb >> in anything under a 35" or so, but if I ever (hah!) do some loaded >> touring in northern NM, the consensus is that some low bailouts might >> be very welcome. Further, there are some steep, short sand-bogged >> hills around here for which a 20" low might be welcome. >> >> The principal reason for a change is that, with a 36/24 X 9, I can do >> 99/100 of my riding in the outer ring, while with the current 46/36/24 >> X 7, one must switch between high and low ranges (46/36) for steep >> hills and off road. >> >> And I can put that 48 t cut down ring guard on the 46 position so that >> it all does not look so wimpy. >> >> On Sat, Apr 7, 2012 at 5:11 AM, Michael Hechmer <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > Are you trying to ride up the walls of your house? What exactly do you >> > need >> > a 24/36, and how fast do you have to spin that gear to keep the bike >> > upright? >> > >> > Michael >> > >> > On Friday, April 6, 2012 8:08:14 PM UTC-4, Patrick Moore wrote: >> >> >> >> 1. The stock mini 2-bys seem to have 42 outers. Do any of y'all use 36 >> >> outers? >> >> >> >> 2. If so, (a) Do people laugh at you? (b) Do you notice any additional >> >> friction? >> >> >> >> I think I've scored steel 36 and 24, so wear ought not to be an issue, >> >> right? >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Patrick Moore >> >> Albuquerque, NM >> >> For professional resumes, contact >> >> Patrick Moore, ACRW >> >> http://resumespecialties.com/index.html >> > >> > -- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> > Groups >> > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> > To view this discussion on the web visit >> > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/qokQKAoxsUUJ. >> > 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. >> >> -- >> Patrick Moore >> Albuquerque, NM >> For professional resumes, contact >> Patrick Moore, ACRW >> http://resumespecialties.com/index.html > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/VVqJXIjXzPcJ. > 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. -- Patrick Moore Albuquerque, NM For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW http://resumespecialties.com/index.html -- 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.
