Careful, Ted, compared to the Ergo shifter/10 speed cassette/carbon fibre frame, rims, spokes, bars, stem and crank crowd, we're ALL Luddites here. Of course, most of that crowd don't know what Luddite means.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
ternst <ternst1@cox.net> wrote:
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