I took 5 cogs off my record cassette, and filled the void with spacers. Freaks out the young.
georgeargiris sandiego,ca
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Bob Hanson Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 9:41 AM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Too many cogs
An amusing subject which often comes up in discussions with both local bike mechanics and especially among younger cyclists who have known ONLY modern 8, 9, and now 10 speed cassettes.
I'm probably just a bad rider, but I often find I forget to shift even when I should. It's sometimes just old habit that gets me off the saddle during climbs, when I really should just be saving my energy and using those additional gears which I sometimes forget are at my disposal. So, for me newfangled multi-multi-multi speed hubs are a waste.
Yesterday, I had remembered and referred someone else to a splendid interview with betweenRivendell's Grant Petersen and Jobst Brandt who is an engineer, industrial designer, an avid cyclist who annually probably puts in mileage comparable to many Pro Racers, and moreover, is the author of "The Bicycle Wheel" book.
Here is a brief excerpt from the interview which I think will be a delight to many like-minded curmudgeons among this group:
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GP... Shifting? I have no idea what you ride, but I'd like to know what it is, and why. ErgoPower, STI, Campy downtubers?
JB... I use downtube shifters (seldom) and use a 6-speed FW because 5-speeds are dead.
GP... If 5-speeds were still available, would you ride them? And what do you mean seldom? Do you mean you seldom shift?
JB... I mean I'm not preoccupied with always being in the optimum gear or following some unwritten precepts on cadence and the like. I ride a gear that's about right and leave it at that. I'm not moved by the admonitions that I will ruin my knees because I'm not turning 120 rpm. I've ridden too far to believe that. The range of gears hasn't changed much in the last 50 years, only the number of gears in that range. I don't believe that they are useful, necessary, or and good for the design of the rear wheel. Five or six is plenty, nine is gratuitous hardware and multiple redundancy.
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I truly love that final sentence.
Brandt's frequent comments on numerous discussion groups are a joy to read. He comes off as both the most infuriatingly pompous, opinionated, individual one can possibly imagine, and at the same time (to my mind) the most well spoken and witty writer I can think of.
Here is a link to the complete interview:
http://web.archive.org/
And, here is also a website which shows photos from some of the vacations which he has now taken annually... since 1960... a bicycle tour through the Alps, often on roads which still look like the White Roads of L'Eroica.
http://www.trentobike.org/
Good reading and viewing for today ~ yet another (very uncommon) snowy day in Albuquerque.
Cheers!
Bob Hanson, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA