In 1974 I built my wife a custom bike from a bare Peugeot UO-8 frame, a TA Professional crankset, and the original SunTour VG-T derailleur and Sunshine-Araya wheelset from my Nishiki Competition. Being too cheap to replace the 52-42 ringset, I devised a 1.5-step + granny freewheel for her: 16-18-21-24-32, which is the then-common 14-16-18-21-24 with top gear deleted and the granny added. It gave her a great hill-climbing granny and an adequate 88 gear-inch top, with a decently tight progression through the middle and upper ranges. Years later, Shimano introduced megarange freewheels w/ a similar 24-32 or 24-34 drop at the bottom. My setup always shifted very well, thanks to the SunTour slant planograph design.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069