How many speeds does a person really need?
02-24-20, 11:10 AM
#51
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Truth is, I don't really "need" a bike at all. I could survive without one but my quality of life would suffer. The short answer to your question is: I "need" to have however many gears it takes for me to feel like I'm having fun. There are clearly advantages to having lots.
02-25-20, 12:12 AM
#52
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WOW! 22 miles?! Im in New Orleans too, Thanks so much for explaining this. I just recently took a job in the CBD and none of the parking garages have clearance for my exceptionally tall van 
so Im trying to research alt travel methods lol. This helped a lot- I was wondering if multiple gears here in flatland was necessary. 
so Im trying to research alt travel methods lol. This helped a lot- I was wondering if multiple gears here in flatland was necessary.
02-25-20, 01:14 AM
#53
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I only need one, but it has to have a TANK and good tires.
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02-25-20, 03:23 PM
#54
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I like good old 7 speed cog sets. They'll fit on 126mm & 130mm dropouts (with a spacer). and, they're cheap as dirt. Shimano and Microshift still make brand new shifters for them. And, If all else fails you can just connect friction shifters to them. What's not to love?
02-25-20, 06:45 PM
#55
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02-26-20, 09:31 AM
#56
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Well, after riding around town some on my "new" old 10 speed, I can say that I only really stay on the smaller front gear. I use just about the lowest 5 gears, those are great. The overdrive gear is just too tall for my tastes in most situations, unless I'm going down a very steep hill and somehow want to go EVEN faster!
But it's at least nice to have the option. Good for cruising too.
But it's at least nice to have the option. Good for cruising too.
02-26-20, 10:39 AM
#57
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Well, after riding around town some on my "new" old 10 speed, I can say that I only really stay on the smaller front gear. I use just about the lowest 5 gears, those are great. The overdrive gear is just too tall for my tastes in most situations, unless I'm going down a very steep hill and somehow want to go EVEN faster!
But it's at least nice to have the option. Good for cruising too.
But it's at least nice to have the option. Good for cruising too.
There is a huge difference in riders. I look at Stava segments ledger boards and see that the top riders are 4X faster than me on hills and 2X faster on flats. On a tropical segment near me, there might be 1,500 riders with posted times. The riders in the top 50 are dramatically different from those near the middle or the bottom and the bike manufacturers make the bikes to be usable by everyone. (Wind drag is the square of the speed, so it works out the best ones are 4X stronger overall)
So on this one hill, I use the lowest or second-lowest gear and ride up at 6 MPH the fastest person on the same road is going 26 MPH and does it as a sprint He is also less than half my age and rides 55 miles a day on average. Looking at online data I see far more variation of rider ability then I see in terrain difference gears are made to accommodate.
02-27-20, 10:28 AM
#59
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Well, after riding around town some on my "new" old 10 speed, I can say that I only really stay on the smaller front gear. I use just about the lowest 5 gears, those are great. The overdrive gear is just too tall for my tastes in most situations, unless I'm going down a very steep hill and somehow want to go EVEN faster!
But it's at least nice to have the option. Good for cruising too.
But it's at least nice to have the option. Good for cruising too.
Cheers
02-29-20, 05:50 PM
#60
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on flat surfaces, I like to ride my road bike like its a fixie, but on steep inclines - I'm often reaching for another gear, especially now at the beginning of the season
02-29-20, 07:21 PM
#61
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I need a Pinion P.18 mated to the SA 3speed Cassette hub with an 11 speed cassette on there (probably the EDCO 10 speed compatible one) Just want a few gears for cruising around town. While 594 may seem like not enough to most people almost like running a single speed or something I think I could make it work. It is a shame I couldn't get a Rohloff hub that has a Microspline freehub instead of a pesky cog, that would give me a few extra gears for climbing.
02-29-20, 07:28 PM
#62
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I think I replied to the OP 16 years ago, when this thread first started. Back then, I was probably using five of my 20 gear combinations. These days, I'm probably only using four, but you have to adjust for inflation.
03-01-20, 08:32 AM
#63
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Or... you could just wuss out for "e-" speed....
03-01-20, 11:54 AM
#64
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Can anyone tell me what the advantage is to having a 9, or even an 8 speed bike is? Likewise with a triple chainring in the front? I'm assuming I'm missing out on something really basic about gearing, but I don't quite understand the need for so many cogs, or especially for 3 chain rings.
Thanks for the feedback
Thanks for the feedback
03-01-20, 01:27 PM
#65
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its more about gear ratio than from speeds, speeds config is more to dont let jump so much about gear ratios of your bike, each speed is a gear ratio, search : sheldon brown gear calc
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