Sound's generally correct to me. Though there is some advantage in having closely spaced gears on long runs so that you can get your cadence right, hence the benefit of having 10 or 11 speed cassettes (lots of dosh though). My alfine set up has very odd spacing, with a large gap between (if I remember correctly) 6 and 7, which is a bit awkward when you are spinning on the flat at about 20 mph - 6 too low, 7 too high. Not too important for commuting though.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help
How many gears do I need?
(34 posts)- Started 14 years ago by seanspotatobusiness
- Latest reply from kaputnik
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Posted 14 years ago #
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Personally, I wouldn't want my only "do everything" Edinburgh bike to have a gear range of much less than 4x/400% (which coincidentally it what I get with 22-32-44t chainrings and a 13-26 cassette). Shimano's current hubs do no better than 3x/300%; although the Alfine 11 will have around a 4x/400% range, the hub alone will cost more than £300 (OK, so still cheaper than a Rohloff ...).
I'm not sure that I would want to rely on coaster brakes here either - fine on the flat, but Edinburgh isn't. Well, only in parts.
But horses for courses ...
Posted 14 years ago # -
My actual MTB only has a 300% range (a little under, at 11-32). It was so much hassle keeping the front mech working that I switched to a 1x9 speed arrangement.
The lowest gear is enough to ride up a wall. Of course, it spins out at less than 20mph but on even the mildest descents, gravity provides quite enough excitement for this rider!
Horses for courses indeed.
Posted 14 years ago # -
I saw one of these in the bike park today, with a stem about 2 feet tall! I presume they had the wind behind them on the way into the office, I would not want to try that into today's headwind, never mid the crosswinds swirling around town and at 26 kg, never mind inclines!
Posted 14 years ago #
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