I am over and over again struck by how well modern many-cog and ramped cassettes shift under friction and how little trimming is required (even in front, once you get the FD cage properly centered.
But! I use customized cassettes and have 2 wheelsets, one with 48 mm slicks and a 13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-22-25 and one with 54 mm light knobbies and a 14-15-16-17-18-19-20-22-25-28. The individual cogs are either 10 or 11 speed singles from Miche or Ali Express, and I’ve noticed that shift points between individual cogs can vary between cassettes; the “middle of cruising range” 18-19 shift on the knobbies requires considerably more cable pull when shifting the cruising equivalent 17-18 on the slicks (I ride more or less 1 cog smaller with the slicks). It’s not a real-world problem and after a couple of fudged shifts I auto-correct. On Fri, Aug 8, 2025 at 9:31 AM ascpgh <[email protected]> wrote: > Friction shifting removes barriers to feeling a higher level of precision > in shifting gears, if you have any interest in that. > > I have a custom 650B I built with an indexed 9-speed drivetrain. I have > been riding in that mode since new, and it still functions very well. It is > mindless and works with a snap-click, which goes along with the definite > click, click, click of the Silver rear cassette hub's ratchet. > > My orangesicle Rambouillet and its mosaic drivetrain has Suntour Accushift > bar end shifters directing a Mavic 841/5 RD on a Shimano 8-speed XT > freehub with a 13-30 cassette and Mavic 860 FD between 46/34 rings on > the TA Zephyr cranks. > > The concoction of that drivetrain is an environment where friction permits > me to appreciate the value of these many iconic parts' operation. Under > way, I hit shifts with quiet accuracy by feel and lever position. Between > the very quiet shifts and the free hub's very muffled ratcheting, it is a > bike that highlights any extraneous sounds and makes me aware of how > audible any proximate modern bikes' drivetrains are as they operate. > -- 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/CALuTfgv1bdBkOtu8W9j5mqH0XWzyY_X2LHj0Ukq5NPDN7S-MsA%40mail.gmail.com.
