And 7 is Heaven :-) I totally agree with Shannon about the 9sp 12-36 with it's particular combination of cogs for cassettes. A 12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32-36 progression is the only cassette I find suitable in actual riding. I don't even use the 12 or 36 on my Bomba, using the seven 14-32 cogs with 24/36/44 rings. I don't need a overly high or overly low gear, and I live in a area of many steep hills. If I lived in the high mountains with long descents maybe I could use a gear over 100 gear inches, but not necessary. Enjoy the ride. It's seemingly forgotten how riders used to be so much more versatile in their ability to spin very fast and yet power up climbs at very low rpms. Seems marketing and "choices" makes one soft ........ as does so much of "modern living". Heck, on another cycling forum the riders of the latest electronic shifting for bikes act like anyone who doesn't go along with it has something wrong with them. That's funny, I was thinking the same of them ! "Them them them, it's always *them thar thems* to blame for everything wrong in *them thar *World ! Ahahahaahaha ! So you see, everyone is the same leaky boat.
I still prefer thread on freewheel hubs for their simplicity, gear choice, and shifting feel though. I have some NOS Sachs FW's in a 13-32 (13-15-17-20-24-28-32) which is my preferred progression. Suprisingly Sunrace makes a 7sp FW, 14-34 that is 14-16-18-21-24-28-34 that I find acceptable. Shimano and all the brands you never heard of use some sort of mega jump from 24 to 34, (loud buzzer sound) , *them thar* is all wrong ! Ahahaahahahahaa ! On Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 11:49:42 PM UTC-4 [email protected] wrote: > As an aside, the Shimano 9-speed 12-36 might be the single most versatile > gear cluster ever made. > > It's a 12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32-26, so you've got 13%, 14%, and 17% jumps > between cogs. On a 700Cx32 tire, a 45t gives a 102 inch top gear, and a 48 > gets you to 108. > > And the fun is just beginning! > > If you want to build a 1x9 around-town bike, a 42t chainring gives a 32 - > 95 inch range, and 42t rings are available for just about every BCD ever > made. > > For a sporting road bike, you've got a bunch of cool options: > If you use a 48/34 double, you get a 25 - 109 inch 2.5-step alpine. > If 1.5-step is more your style, you've got several choices. 48/39 is > pretty sweet on 130 & 135 BCD cranks, with a 30-109 range and 5-8% steps > across the cruising range. For smaller BCDs, you can do 42/34 and get 26 to > 95 inches. > If you've always wanted to try a half-step double, but couldn't cope with > the narrow range, the 12-36 is, again, the answer. 42/39, 45/42, and 48/45 > all work. The gear ranges are 30-95, 32-102, and 34-109, respectively. > > Triples? > Yeah, we can do triples. Just add a 24-30 tooth granny to any of the > above, and BOB's yer Uncle. Let your derailleurs and shift pattern > preference guide your choice. For a sport-touring bike, I'd probably go > with the 45/42/30. 22 useful, non-duplicate gears from 18 to 102 inches. > Half-step on the middle and outer rings, with a 3.5-step shift to and from > the granny. Which, with either brifters or indexed bar-ends, is no problem. > (Full disclosure: I have this crankset on my '85 League Fuji, with a > 14-16-18-20-23-26 freewheel. Shifting is Suntour: AR double up front, 1980 > Superbe out back, with Silver d/t levers. I like it a whole lot, even with > the 87 inch high gear.) > > To top it all off, Shimano 9-speed parts are good looking, plenty light, > shift incredibly well, and are about as reliable as a shovel. And > everything but the front derailleurs interchanges with everything else. > > There's also an 8-speed 12-32, which I use on my mid-90s GT Karakoram with > 42/34/22 rings for a 18 to 92 inch 1.5-step + granny. Shifting with LX > Rapidfire levers is excellent. And, for the 10 speeders, SRAM makes an > otherwise-identical 11-36. All of the chainring combos work the same for > the 8 and 10-speeds as for the 12-36 9-speed, you just get less / more > range. > > --Shannon > > -- 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 view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/c3416bf3-d890-4806-bc24-74fa9e3afc46n%40googlegroups.com.
