On Jul 20, 12:52 pm, MobileBill <bud...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> 2) She has a low tolerance for complicated shifters, and it's > unlikely she will need a wide gear range _ but I'm not keen on 8-speed > internal hubs. Any thoughts on whether an 8-speed cassette with > single chainring in front can be set up to suit the needs of an > occasional, inexperienced rider? First kudos for buying your wife a nice bike. Second, I can empathize with the problem around shifting, my wife had the same resistance to this learning. But I have simplified it for her. I installed bar end shifters on her bike and she has learned to understand them because the direction of the shifter matches the direction of the chain movement. This is not true with any STI or grip shifting or even DT shifting. Lift the shifter and lift the chain - that gets reinforced much more quickly than trying to figure out an STI shifter. Silvers work great but a 9 speed set up with the Dura Ace will also be pretty simple and reliable. We're in VT so a single ring wont work, but I have set her bike up with a 46/36/26. She spends about 90% of her time in the 36, 9% in the 26, and about 1% in the 46; so she has very little front shifting to do. The 36 with a 13-28 7 speed is pretty nearly all she needs or wants, but starting from scratch I would choose 9 speed for her. My Rambouillet is set up with a 44/30 dbl and an 11-28, 9 spd cassette. With a HG cassette I get very smooth friction shifts and I also rarely shift out of the 44. I only drop the ring on hills that are over a mile and more than 7%. I use the White VBC, which is beautiful and expensive, but you can duplicate this set up with a mt bike crank, or use an inexpensive sugino with a chain guard for a big ring. I'll bet she would like the chain guard. Interesting though, now that we have a tandem my wife rarely wants to ride her Sequoia. keep the rubber side down, and remember the sooner you fall behind the more time you'll have to catch up. michael -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
