It's just as easy to get infatuated with low gears you never or rarely use as it is with hi gears. I use a 44/30 with an 11-28 in the rolling countryside of Vt. on an unloaded Ram. It works great for me. This gives me all the convenience of a double with all but 1 low gear of a triple. Don't drive yourself crazy over one gear at the top or the bottom. There are other variables to consider, with every choice requiring trade offs. Consider how far apart the ratio choices are physically located. If you have lots of choices but they require multiple and double shifts you can spend a lot of momentum searching for the next gear. Also, consider how close you want the gears to be. Wide range cassettes always sacrifice easy jumps. You can find yourself shifting from too hard to much too easy; my stoker screams a lot when that happens.
There is a lot of logic behind some popular options. 14 teeth between outer and middle rings provides a wide range of gears and a rational shifting pattern. 10 teeth provides crisper shifting, especially in a triple, but limits range. Try to find out what really works for you. I like 44/30 on a double but prefer 48/34/26 on a single bike and 48/38/26 on the tandem. I am willing to struggle a bit on the steepest hills in order to have crisper shifting a tighter ratios most of the time. As a generalization I would offer that shorter cage detailers usually offer more predictable, quicker shifting than longer cages, but that also implies less range between the hi and lo, which brings me back to my original point. What do you most want and what are you willing to do with out. Michael On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 5:31:46 PM UTC-4, Edwin W wrote: > > I have the 40/26, with 11-32 8 speed in back. I use the bike for commuting > and occasionally have a kid on the back. I don't have a front derailer yet, > but if I ever use the granny (haven't yet), I might consider a front > derailer. > > I reach all 8 rear cogs with no problems, friction bar end shifter. > > Edwin - "1x8 is great" > > On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 3:54:37 PM UTC-5, Jay in Tel Aviv wrote: >> >> My current setup is basically MTB gearing - 26-36-46 in front and a 9 >> speed 11-34 cassette. >> I hardly ever use the granny because it's pretty flat where I live. But I >> do use it when I hit the hills loaded. Most of the time I am in the middle >> or big ring and smaller cogs. The wide-low concept seems perfect for me. It >> would gives me an incredibly useful range of 32-98 inches without shifting >> up front, and a low range of 21-64 when needed. >> >> I could simplify even more by going 1X9, but I'm not sure what the >> benefit would be. >> >> Jay >> >> On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 11:28:07 PM UTC+3, Minh wrote: >>> >>> yeah, the Sugino "double" with the chain-guard is really just a sugino >>> triple. so swapping out the big ring for a guard and the inner for a 26 >>> would work. >>> >>> Can i ask what you have on your triple now? i have a bashguard-40-34 >>> setup, and find the 34 is plenty low for me with my freewheel (ird 13-28), >>> even loaded down for camping i find it ok. >>> >>> >>> On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 4:23:20 PM UTC-4, danmc wrote: >>>> >>>> I created a wide low out of a triple XD2 for my wife's Betty Foy. >>>> Actually I went 42/28 as the 9-speed cassette is a 12-34. No problems >>>> hitting all 9 cogs. Left the chainline where I would for a triple figuring >>>> that she wold be on the large ring 90% of the time. >>>> >>>> Dan >>>> >>>> -Marin >>>> >>>> >>>> On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 12:50 PM, Jay in Tel Aviv <[email protected]>wrote: >>>> >>>>> I assumed I would leave the chain line alone. WIth this setup I would >>>>> be in the middle ring most of the time. >>>>> >>>>> On Wednesday, June 19, 2013 10:43:26 PM UTC+3, Ginz wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Do folks with the wide/low find that they can hit all nine cogs while >>>>>> in either chainring? Does moving the crank's chainline outboard a >>>>>> little >>>>>> bit help in that regard? Or, is that not necessary? >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> 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 post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> -- 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 post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
