Having gotten to the point in life where I have enough spares on the shelf to make it to the finish line, this is more an academic than actual discussion for me. With Loose Screws closing up, one of the few sources of good old stuff is now gone. There certainly are still new freewheels to be had, from IRD direct in 5,6 or 7 speeds
http://store.interlocracing.com/fr76and5sp.html The ubiquitous Shimano Hyperglide https://shop.sunrisecyclery.com/item/13986?gclid=CNW9nOaqzLQCFQY5nAodvQUAHQ and some mega range cheap stuff for comfort/mountain style use. The "Grouch" is right that the rich selections once avail are gone, but that is the way of almost any technology. We can still make it work though. On Thu, Jan 3, 2013 at 6:54 AM, Steve Palincsar <[email protected]> wrote: > On Thu, 2013-01-03 at 00:18 -0800, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > As far as I can see, we bike consumer types have NOTHING to complain > > about. There has never been such a wide selection of bikes, parts, and > > accessories from which to choose. 5/6/7 speed freewheels are still > > available (and becoming more so, not less), if that's your thing. > > Barely available, and with a tremendously restricted availability of > gearing combinations, compared to years past. Where is the old cog > board that let you make custom gearing? Where do you find 5 or 6 speed > freewheels for half-step gearing? Where do you find quality freewheels? > Nowhere. > > But it's indexed shifters where the pressure gets applied. Do you like > 9 speed and brifters? What do you do when your Shimano STI units fail, > as they all eventually do? Can you even buy a replacement other than > NOS? > > > Yeah, you can buy 10sp or 11sp systems, too, but nobody is forcing > > you to do that. > > Yes, actually they are forcing you. Can you get a new 7, 8 or 9 speed > Ultegra or Dura Ace quality STI unit? Can you get any wide range 8 > speed cassette that doesn't start with 11? Can you buy a new road bike > equipped with a Shimano group of 105 quality level or above with > anything but 10? Can you buy any new road bike equipped with Campagnolo > that isn't either 10 or 11 (and almost all 11)? > > > There is no retro-grouch persecution for us to rally around, though I > > will concede that you'd be hard pressed to find a new rear derailleur > > as crappy as what was considered state-of-the-art in the 1970s. > > "Inexorable pressure and the ever-present threat of obsolescence" is how > I'd characterize it. "Persecution" is putting it a bit strong, but > claiming the pressure does not exist is denying the truth. > > > > -- > 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. > > -- 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.
