Originally Posted by
big chainring
Vintage steel still works for me. Very nice ride on these early 70's boom bikes. Long wheelbase and extremely comfortable leather saddle. No problems keeping up with group rides, till they crank it up to 25+. But thats my lack of fitness, not the bike.
I can still ride my 30-pound (as ridden with tool kit, rear rack, water bottle) mid-'70s Fuji at an average speed of over 17mph on my 12.5mi (each way) commute
including the time waiting for traffic lights, etc. My riding speed is generally just shy of 20mph. AND I do it with a 13-21 six-speed ultra-spaced freewheel and 120mm rear spacing. I am usually in a 80-inch gear +/- 7gi. I have no need (or the legs/lungs at my age/conditioning
) to run in the 90-100gi range.
Similarly, I ride my lighter (23-pounds) '86 Miyata 710 in the similar gear range. It is just a tad quicker, but I attribute that to the lighter and more supple 150tpi tires that it wears... Oh, and the Miyata wears its stock 13-26 six-speed freewheel although I have yet to use the two larger rear cogs since the biggest hills on my commute are highway overpasses.... I suppose I really should put one of my 'spare' 13-21 six speed freewheels on it - and probably will come it's next refurbishment - which should give me more gearing choices in my preferred range.