At 03:33 PM 04/12/2007 -0500, Adam Hammond wrote:
>However, friction shifting and ramped cassettes (from what I read)
>don't appear to go well together. It seems that "ghost shifting" is a
>problem. I'm only planning on running 8 gears in the back, so things
>aren't as narrow as a 9 or 10 speed setup would be. But it seems like
>it would still be a problem.
I don't think having a freewheel or cassette has anything to do wiith it. My Nuovo Record RD works really well with a 7-speed Shimano freewheel with the "funny teeth". In fact, it runs quietly even when it's off a bit, which can result in auto-shifting to the next gear. Thing is, with the cogs so closely spaced, it's very easy to over-shift. With 8 cogs the problem would be worse and would need a delicate and precise touch. That's where index shifters would be more foolproof, assuming, of course, that everything is adjusted spot-on. (Many years ago I used to wonder why derailleurs couldn't be index shifted the same as hub gears and concluded it was because a cable could not be depended upon to stay in adjustment for very long to shift 4 or 5 cogs. I remember getting my son a bike with index shifting, and sure enough, one day he couldn't get any gears without a lot of noise and I had to fiddle with the cable adjustment. Most other kids would have taken it to the bike shop, the same as people now take their computer controlled cars to the dealer.)
Anyway, with 8 cogs on the back, you'll have 16 or 24 gears. Do you really need them all? How did we ever manage to get by with 3, 4 or 5 fifty years ago?
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada