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
@Oli
Of course, real men rode a 53 or 54, and Kent Bostick turned a 55. And I... Was not a real man. Sigh....
@frank
Sorry, I got carried away by the photo caption - I wasn't talking about the bike, just in general back in the day.
We used to refer to the classic Regina Oro (gold colored) in 13-17 as a "corncob cluster".
That photo gave me the vapors.
Allez le douze.
@Oli
Totally knew that and totally indulged in the fantasy of telling you what's what about Eddy.
@Nate
Allez le fucking douze, motherfucker.
@frank
Allez le douze, coont.
Disc brakes are awesome.... Disc brakes on road bikes will be awesome.... They will look awesome, perform as well as they look, and more importantly provide that much needed industry sales boost that bike makers look for.
Lets face it we are suckers for new gear...and if you are a sucker for retro...you will still be partaking in the that concept of having someone, at some time, make you pay for something that you want !
Tell you the truth I couldn't tell you what ratios or whatever I ride...that might not be V enough for most here...but I know one thing... I know how to harden up and just fucking pedal whatever gear I am in.
@Resty
Triple? Turn in your man card!!!
I have to come clean. Late last year I got tired of spinning out my single speed MB and converted it to 1x10. Having a little self-respect, I went 11-25. Totally pleased with the results.
A couple months later my RB front derailleur completely crapped out. Dead frozen in the middle of a long ride. Emboldened by the MB conversion, I stripped the front end, centered and bolted on an Absolute Black narrow/wide chainring, and switched the 12-25 cassette for an 11-28. The conversion gives up 20% on the top and 10% on the bottom.
I have about 3000 miles on the converted bike, and honestly I really like it. Lighter, simpler, cleaner appearance, and less to clean up after rain rides.
470 miles of the ~3000 was riding the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway back in May. Plenty of time was spent in the lowest gear, but I never needed lower. The question of how it would do in fast pacelines was put to rest on Cherohala Challenge. It works fine except my pulls have to be on the flats or uphill.
Odd, I admit, but it might make sense for some riders. FWIW, this setup has not changed my average speed at all. Slower on downhills, but rested and faster on the climbs.