Re: group poll; cogsets

>>>>It's not the number of cogs that matter, it's the range. The benefits
of ever-finer steps are minimal if any, I think.

Properly done, 3x5 is enough to get a person anywhere in the world. I
certainly think they could have stopped at, say, 7 or 8 in the rear.


- Frank Krygowski
---------------

HI Frank...

I agree with you, it is the range that matters most. Especially if
one does a few calculations and realizes the number of redundent
ratio's one has. A half-step granny system can be designed as a 6x3
and actually have nice close ratios up top and a wide range down low.
The only way you can split the 12-13 shift is with a half step up
front..

As far as where to have stopped, 8 seems like a nice place. My
personal attitude is that if I do pay attention and build my own cog
sets when needed, I get the ratios I need and not a bunch of
cogs/ratios that are pretty much worthless. An example is the most
recent bike I put together. An old Univega Gran Turisimo. 52-38-24 up
front, 11-28 on the back. The 11-28 is what they had. The 11 cog is
pretty much useless, something I could do without so essentially I have
a 7 speed setup.

Few cogs means wider chains, wider cogs that last longer.

More cogs mean one must make some compromises. Lots of "advances" in
technology are the result of trying to pack more cogs back there.
Wheels are compromised by the need to dish them, the old freewheel hubs
were fine at 120mm with a narrow 5 speed cogset but at 126 and 130
required a free hub to keep from fracturing.

More cogs means cranks with wide Q factors, personally I would rather
have a crank with a low Q factor than an extra couple of cogs. The
7400 series DuraAce cranks are nice and narrow but with an 8 speed
cassette the chain barely misses the crank arm in high gear. So what
did they do, they invented the "Low Profile Crank" which is of course
typical marketing hype/bull because the chain rings still need to miss
the chain stays so the crank arms are spread wider to miss the chain...
I doubt they would have gone over quite so big if they had been
marketed as they should have been: High Profile Cranks.

I enjoy riding a nice corn-cob on a flat course but ironically one has
to pretty much built that one too, at least that's the way it used to
be. There was quite some time where Shimano wasn't putting an 18 tooth
cog in a road set so one had to snag one from an old MTB cassette... I
like an 8 speed 18-11 with a 56 tooth big ring

And too...

I suggest that if your gears aren't low enough and/or high enough, that
is not because you don't have enough cogs to choose from, rather the
range is just too narrow.

Just some stuff from another old crank....

Jon

.

Relevant Pages

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