On 08/28/2016 03:20 PM, dougP wrote:
Tim:
I've not read some of the replies from recently but my 2 cents is to
go with the Rivendell standard triple with a 24 tooth granny and the
12-36 Shimano cassette. While one may not use the lowest gear often,
it is certainly nice to have & does not require giving up anything to
get it. A variety of factors can make such an extreme low gear
useful: health issues, age, gradients, altitude, loads, heat, you
name it. I've done several tours in your area and the San Juans, and
those frequent short steep hills will have you often going for the low
gears. With modern drivetrains there is no sensible reason not to have
wide range gearing on your bike.
While I don't disagree that there are situations where extremely wide
gearing (including a 24 x 36 or 18" low gear) can be useful, such
gearing is not without some cost. The spacing on cassettes that include
a 36T (or even a 34T) large sprocket tend to be rather wide. With few
exceptions, they have 11T small sprockets, and the exceptions have 12.
They generally have 2 tooth differences on the smallest sprockets,
widening as you go down the block. That may well be eminently suitable
for a heavily loaded bike that has massive inertia and tends to slow
down dramatically once the terrain starts to rise, but for a
sprightly-feeling, light and lightly loaded road bike, most cyclists are
happier to have as many 1-tooth shifts as possible, in order to have
closely spaced gears. If you're giving that up because you actually
need those larger steps and those extreme high and low gears, then fine;
but if you're giving them up and are getting in return gears that are
too high and too low for your needs, that's no bargain. It all depends
on the bike, the terrain, the rider and the load.
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