Categories: Accessories and GearDefining MomentsLa Vie VelominatusLook ProTradition

Shifting Sands

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.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

Teocalli says:

Nov 9 2016 at 11:21 am

@MangoDave

Speaking of old shifters, my front downtube shifter on the Somec isn’t tightening down properly. I have to use so much force that I’m sure the D-ring is going to snap off. Hand-tightening is not possible. I’ve taken it apart and everything appears to be assembled correctly. Maybe one of you seasoned mechanics like @Oli can help me. It’s C Record, Syncros era.

If you put an extra washer on the outside does that make it work?
Teocalli says:

Nov 9 2016 at 11:24 am

@MangoDave

Also, I can't remember without taking one of mine apart, but is the nylon part the same on both sides? If so try swapping them over and see if the problem transfers with the part.
Teocalli says:

Nov 9 2016 at 11:26 am

@Teocalli

In fact try swapping all the common parts one by one to see if one part is worn/at fault.
MangoDave says:

Nov 9 2016 at 11:46 am

@Teocalli

@Teocalli

In fact try swapping all the common parts one by one to see if one part is worn/at fault.

Thanks. I wondered if a very thin washer would fix it, or just a new nylon piece. It looks like there are a couple of common parts, but it's hard to tell

.
frank says:

Nov 9 2016 at 1:17 pm

@chris

@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.

Campa stopped making a 177.5, so this is actually my old Rotor 177.5 while I wait for Rotor to build me a new 177.5. Carson Hedrick sprayed it in matte black and it looks completely badass.

You make a great point at maintaining momentum, but I don't see EPS vs Mechanical making that all that different; the DT shifter to Brifter with powerglide was the big innovation there. But I do think I'll use the 39 more. So easy to shift.
frank says:

Nov 9 2016 at 1:19 pm

@ChrisO

@KogaLover

@ChrisO

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.

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.”

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 !

I think Campa lets you set it in whatever gear you want once its dead, but my bullshit meter is landing somewhere between "I am sure I heard that" and "I might have dreamt that", so there is no telling if that's true or not. And, on account of me not being a sissy, I'm not looking it up in the user manual.
frank says:

Nov 9 2016 at 1:22 pm

@Rick

My cycling journey has taken me through all manner of shifting. My first bike, a Raleigh touring model, featured friction shifters. The first road bike that I owned, a Bottecchia, was an upgrade to indexing on the down tube. The nine speed Trek 5200 that I rode for years shifted via the brake lever, which was a quantum leap in shifting ease. My current eleven speed Ultegra is very similar to the nine speed with the exception of having a 22.2% increase in gear choices.

I loved riding each of these machines. The experience of riding each one was a bit different but the enjoyment of the ride was always the same. The more the technology changed, the more the joy of riding stayed the same. Oddly, I think my favorite ride was the Bottecchia that had indexed shifters on the down tube. There was something very pure and old school about riding a Chromor frame that necessitated reaching down for shifting gears.

Enjoy your new Groupo Frank, and happy belated birthday.

One of my favorite bikes ever was my Cannondale with Shimano 105 dt shifters and...wait for it...SCOTT DROPINS.

And the more it changes, the less it stays the same.
frank says:

Nov 9 2016 at 1:26 pm

@Clean39T

I’m thinking about going to a 42/52 with an 11/32, but I’d like to have it go 11/13–25/27/32 so I effectively have 8 very useful gears in the middle and three at the extremes. The smaller gap up front would make for seamless shifts and the 42 would allow me to cruise efficiently up to 22-24mph before up shifting.

I have a 42T I've had laying around. Can't understand why I haven't loaded it up. I rode it briefly in the Spring a year or two ago, when I was out of shape, but I should really have it on the #1 at all times.

@Oli

@Teocalli

It was called the Cambio Corsa and you certainly did have to pedal backwards to shift. I’ve tried one and it’s fiendishly hard to use at first!

FUCK SAKE!!

@Oli

@frank

Thanks mate!

…now can we have our photo privileges back please?

Done!
frank says:

Nov 9 2016 at 1:29 pm

@chris

@Teocalli

@frank

You may be better going back to the NL!

The good news is that the Vbugetatis has OKed the Strada Bianchi. So just need to be online for the next release slot on the 26th.

If he went back to the NL, Frank would be the least Dutch guy in the room. I’m not sure he could cope with that.

In Hoxton, Frank would feel at home with all the other Rule #50 deniers…

You must not have noticed my face. I got a TUE from Wiggin's DS, and I will shave it off in Spring. I consider it winter wind resistance training.
Teocalli says:

Nov 9 2016 at 1:29 pm

@MangoDave

@Teocalli

@Teocalli

In fact try swapping all the common parts one by one to see if one part is worn/at fault.

Thanks. I wondered if a very thin washer would fix it, or just a new nylon piece. It looks like there are a couple of common parts, but it’s hard to tell

.

Yes assuming the thread is good then it wold appear as though the D-ring thread is bottoming out so an additional waffer thin mint - err washer - should hopefully sort it. If the thread is good then it should not take effort to tighten - does it thread easily when you screw the D-Ring bolt straight into the stud without the shifter or any parts? If so then it sounds like wear on the washers or nylon part so a very thin additional washer should be fine.