Luddite.
Ted Ernst
Palos Verdes Estates
CA USA
> I'm down to one and it don't freewheel.
>
> chuckschmidt
> spasadena,ca
>
>
> On Dec 29, 2006, at 10:01 AM, George Argiris wrote:
>
>> 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:
>>
>> =====================
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> ====================
>>
>> 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/
>> docs/jo
>> b
>> st.html
>>
>> 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/
>> Tour_of_the_Alps/
>>
>>
>> Good reading and viewing for today ~ yet another (very uncommon) snowy
>> day in Albuquerque.
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>> Bob Hanson, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA