Three gears: a lever and no more wing nuts. Luxury.
One of my favorite stories in Cycling is of the 1989 World Championships. It was a very lumpy parcours, with a particularly tough climb near the end of the circuit. Sean Kelly had a brilliant sprint but could get over the climbs handily enough that he fancied his chance to finally win the rainbow bands. With only 7 gears at his disposal and a 53/39 chainset, he faced a catch 22: should he select a 13-25 block, or a 12-23. With the 25, he could spare his guns but would be on the short side of his sprinting gear. On the other hand, with the 12-23 he would have the optimal gear for the sprint but risked blowing the guns out with too big a gear on the climb.
The question was: spare the guns and arrive at the finish with good legs but a short gear, or chose the gear to win the sprint but risk getting dropped on the final climb? (LeMond, who won the race, chose a 54/42 and a 12-23 for the race. They were obviously different kinds of riders.)
The modern Cyclist is a spoiled one, with 11 speeds at their disposal. The most common cassette in use today is the 11-28, which features a bigger sprinting gear and a much lower climbing gear than Kelly could ever have dreamt of. Gear choice is not one that seems to factor any more; riders are more concerned with compact versus standard than they are with how closely packed their rear sprockets are. We’ve lost a bit of the art; a bit of the thinking and weighing of options that used to factor into winning races.
To take this even further, I was recently given a Super Record EPS groupset as part of a 40th birthday gift from Campagnolo. I haven’t ridden it enough yet to have an opinion of it, but two things are certain: the shifting is flawless and I have less to do with it than I did before.
Even riding downtube shifters was a way of managing your effort; if climbing out of the saddle, shifting would require sitting down in order to move the gear lever. In a sprint, you could shift with your knee, but this was more hammer and nail than it was precision in action. Even that was comparatively luxurious when compared to the Campagnolo Dual-Rod shifting system and the flip-flop hub which was changed with wing nuts before that.
One of the beautiful things about Cycling is that while it is fiercely traditional, it also embraces technology and the evolution that comes with it. Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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Nice article Frank, and timely as always as I've been thinking a lot about gearing recently.
I recently acquired a proper set of training wheels (Ultegra hubs, DT spokes and Mavic Open Pro rims), and at the same time as doing the Great Tyre and Cassette swap (old training wheels to commuter, commuter rear wheel to turbo wheel, etc) changed my chain. Made me notice that one of my two road cassettes for the Nr#1 is worn.
I've kept the 11-28 (I don't like it but it's functional) for the training wheels and have been pondering cassette choice for the 'race' wheels. My choice is either a 12-26 105 cassette (can cope with all but the steepest climbs) or an Ultegra 11-23. Both have the sacred 16t which I'm missing more and more on the cassettes I currently own.
I think I may end up with both - 12-26 for general riding on the nice, 'race' wheels hilly road races and 11-23 for crits and TTs. The only time I can see me NEEDING the 52x11 is in a crit sprint or on a downhill section of a TT.
@frank Nice article, it's good to remind our selves not loose the connection with the bike and that shifting is a skill that needs to be honed. On the flip side though, as the shifting gets easier, people shift more often rather than working harder to maintain momentum as the gradients change.
BTW, that crank doesn't look much like it's Camagnolo, what is it? The spider looks a lot like one of my Cannondales.
Touched the new ride on Thursday evening, sweet !! It was however not difficult to spot you behind that wispy growth I assume you consider a beard.....article is spot on
@Teocalli
I will, absolutely, WILL ride the Strade Bianche before I leave Europe in four years. That is the number one priority after I ride the RVV this year. Moreso than L'Etape or any other ride that is the one I literally dream of.
Well despite my long-standing disapproval of electronic shifting I've just started my 14 y.o. daughter on that dangerous path.
Coincidence more than design, to be fair.
I was looking for a frame and I was going to do some swapping around and put a Campag groupset on. My bike that lives on the trainer really doesn't need a Super Record drivetrain with ceramic bearings.
However a guy from our club was selling a Ridley Excalibur and offered to leave the Di2 on there for an extra 250 quid. Seemed too good to pass up.
By the time photos work again I should have it in a form suitable for public display. It's bright green but the saddle is red and white. And the stem angle is not pretty at all. Apart from that it's all good.
Mind you, how a 14 year old who can't keep her phone charged is going to cope with electronic gears is going to be interesting.
@Buck Rogers
I thought I had a great line here.....
Me: How about going to Florence for my birthday?
VMW: That's an idea, where did that come from?
Me: Seemed like a change.
VMW: There wouldn't be a cycling event there would there?
errrrr.....maybe........
@ChrisO
See @Chris' advice: "On the flip side though, as the shifting gets easier, people shift more often rather than working harder to maintain momentum as the gradients change."
@KogaLover
I was thinking of it from the point of view of being stuck in the big ring because she forgot to charge the bloody battery.
Seen more than a few adults do it !
@Teocalli
If you've never been then just do it. It is a superb event, in a beautiful country. I can't wait to do it again (though won't be 2017). I wrote about it and added a few photographs) in my sports blog, that I think you can find by clicking my name.
David
@ChrisO
That's exactly my point! Not charging the battery means she'll get stuck in the same gear which is better for training one's guns.I also note that I go faster on my old steel bike when going uphill because it has less gears and downtube-shifting is more cumbersome.