Originally Posted by
Drew Eckhardt
The general public pedaling 60 RPM thinks 52x14 (a typical big boom big gear) is too slow, and if you don't sell them something larger another company will.
Bike companies make more money from fewer SKUs. 11 and 12 cogs allow enough range you can have a fairly reasonable low gear and spacing starting with a 10 or 11, so that's all they make.
Now Campagnolo makes 12 speed with two options: 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-26-29 and 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-19-22-25-28-32.
I'd have to dig up old catalogs to count the 8 speed combinations - 12-19, 12-21, 12-23, 12-26, 13-21, 13-23, 13-26, 13-28 ....
I'm among the significant minority that wants one tooth jumps through the 19 cog which is unlikely to happen.
Ah, a fellow after my own heart. LOL
I have an MTB that I put a drop-bar and bar-end shifters on. It has a 24-38-48 triple crankset. Most of the time it wears 26" x 1.5" smooth tires. It has 9-cogs in back. That cassette was made up from two Sunrace 9-speed cassettes and is a 11 - 19 corncob. I love it on the gently rolling hills some of my routes have.
Cheers