13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. That's a corncob Popeye would make a pipe of.
Disc brakes and 1x drivetrains. These are the sort of things that belong on mountainbikes, are questionable on cross bikes, and should make an immediate trip to the rubbish bin when it comes to road bikes. Change for the sake of change; gimmickry masquerading as innovation. And to make matters worse, the appearance of 11-speed blocks has killed the last vestige of the complexity of our sport: block composition and size.
The question of gear choice was once one of the most critical decisions a Cyclist could make when tackling a course. In The Rider, Tim Krabé describes his gear choice and those of his competitors; throughout the book, he fixates upon which gear he is riding in. José Manuel Fuente used to use higher gears that the other climbers to intimidate them. Andy Hampsten famously rode only odd-numbered gears because obviously even-sized gears made his palms go sweaty.
Sean Kelly belabored his choice to use a 13-25 block versus a 12-23 for the 1989 World Championship Road Race. He knew he couldn’t climb as well as the other favorites and wanted a 25 to save his legs over the final climb. If, however, he managed to get over the hill, he would surely need the 12 in order to win the sprint. It was a classic catch-22; use a block that he could win the sprint with but get dropped on the climb, or get over the hill and lose the sprint. The race lay in the balance of a single tooth on a cog.
We used to build our blocks, not buy a complete cassette on ebay. The idea was to keep the gears as close together as possible with a straight block being the holy grail and the relative smallness of the biggest gear being a declaration of your status as Hardman. Every tooth beyond a 1 tooth jump was a sacrifice; every step beyond a 21 or 23 tooth cog was a silent admission of your sissiness as a Cyclist. The Pros today are riding 11-28 blocks on every kind of terrain, every day. Even at Paris-Roubaix, one of the only races flat enough to still require little more than a 19 even for us mortals.
Committing to nothing lower than a 19-tooth gear requires a suitcase of courage, poor planning, or both. And it looks tough as nails, that tight cluster of gears at the back wheel. Not like these big dinner plates we see riding around all over the place these days. You could serve a nice helping of Steak Frites on some of these modern blocks. Disgraceful. And while I’m not building my blocks anymore, I’m certainly still choosing a cassette for the terrain and plan to continue doing so until I’m pushing up daisies, thank you very much.
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View Comments
@unversio
Can I use SRAM floss for a Campy chain though?
All of this talk about cassettes/gears/etc. has me thinking about a thought I had on a ride yesterday. I recently got a new #1 (Caad 10 w/ Ultegra 11 spd group- 11-28) and I realized I will hardly ever push the 11 around. When I bought the bike I was making all the lame "this one goes to 11" jokes and all that. I don't mind having 11 options, but I'm wondering how much of a necessity it really is to somebody with some pretty weak guns like myself...
@PantaniForever
I hear ya! Makes you wonder how the pros in days of yore managed to ride anything what with their 42/52s and 6-7 speed freewheels. Positively neanderthal by today's standards!
@Matt
Almost never.
@bob droege
A 50 is not a big ring.
Hmmmm, I smell snobbery and elitism with a hint of Luddite. Of course you are all driving round in your 1970's cars, listening to your forty year old stereo systems and wearing flared trousers as well aren't you? To me everything I've read above is just moaning about modern gearing because your didn't have it when you were in you prime. Instead of admitting this you reminisce about how tough it was in your day and think today's cyclists are a bunch of softies. What do you think the guys who rode the old bone shakers would say?
The nine-cornfield: Standard cob 13-23, Dutch cob 13-18, Swiss cob 13-26
@bob droege
WTF? Why?
@frank
It is demoralizing at times when you're thinking "you've got somewhere else to go" on the back. And another rider comes up to tell you that you're already in the Richard Gear. I shared this term with Clive de Sousa on a mountainous ride and he used it against me -- for his own entertainment.
@Paul Chilton
This, and topics like it (e.g. lugged steel frames, downtube shifters...) shine a light on the apparent contradictions in appreciating this sport. And when viewed from the outside it does appear to be snobbery, or elitism, or a touch of Luddite. But to truly love cycling is to embrace the modern while longing for the past and paying homage to the giants of the road in whose shadows we ride.
And while I would be more than happy to roll in a magical space car I also appreciate when a freshly washed and waxed second generation Camaro comes rumbling down the road blasting Johnny Cash from the 8 track. In fact, I fucking love it.
@Matt
Tell me more about this q-tip technique.