Robvolz 

I was going through my chain rings last night and shocked to find several 47 tooth rings.

I usually use a 53/42.

Other than maybe a pista, when would someone use a 47?

iab

Prior to 1958, when Campagnolo ruined it all, it was common to have a 3-tooth spread on the big and small ring. Most common was 52/49, but they could go down to 48/45. Certainly 50/47 was conceivable. If you are talking about "modern" stuff, racers got soft. Wimps needed a 42.

_MG_9280 by iabisdb, on Flickr

mpetry912 

Spence Wolf used to sell top end road bikes with a 47 or 48T big ring for "normal riders".

"You don't need the big gears".he used to say

My yellow Cinelli (20 miles from new) is so equipped.

Previous owner Hunter S Thompson

and yes those are Jim Merz titanium crank bolts

/markp

Reynolds 

Don't know about the 47, but for me a 48/13 (a little less than 53/14) would be more than enough on flat roads.

Garthr

I seem to recall riders in the 70's using 52/47 cranks(or something close to that) for a race like Paris Roubaix where a lower gear just wasn't necessary. Whaddaya know a quick search yielded just that ! A sweet looking Molteni bike, possibly a team bike. https://contenderbicycles.com/blogs/...essels-molteni

Glamour shots !

Robvolz 

I so rarely use my 52, 53 or 54. The jump is huge and while I like keeping up RPMs, I don't see the need to accelerate and pass cars in hilly Portland.

I think I'll try a 47/42.

Thanks for the input all.
Robert

Jeff Wills

I was going to ask “47 tooth in the outer or inner position”? I agree that a 47-13 is adequate unless you have a tailwind coming out of the Columbia Gorge.
(There were sub-freezing, 100mph gusts at Vista House in the Gorge a couple days ago. We are still waiting for it to get above freezing.)

P!N20

Your limiting factor may be if the front derailleur tab is low enough to allow for proper adjustment. I run 50T big rings and the gap between chainring and derailleur is more than I'd like, but it works so you might be OK.

Mad Honk 

Rob,
I would ride the 47-42 combo and think in terms of half step gearing. As an older guy, the range is better for me. How many do you have in your stash? With enough, there is a potential for some Panto Merckx levers as trade bait. Smiles, MH

eljayski 

48-32 rings with Campy Chorus, ftw! 13-34 cassette yields < 1:1 granny. great where I live . . .

Portlandjim

I use a 47/36 on the front, with a 13/28 freewheel. This combo allows a normal Campagnolo Super Record rear derailleur to shift all the gears nicely. I use this on very steep hills, I can go up without walking. High gear is OK for slow old me. The chank on this bike was modified by the late great Jon Williams.

Jim Merz

repechage

Portlandjim - having trouble figuring out how a Record 144 BCD arm could be machined to a small enough BCD and show the material that presents on your bike. Maybe with a short production G.S. 5 bolt arm. I doubt material was built up then cut back.

Portlandjim

The starting crank arms were the out of production IRD defender in the 110 version. The chainrings are TA. They were made to look similar to Campagnolo Record arms.

Jim Merz

Portlandjim

One more bike of mine with 47/36 chainrings. The arms are Chater Lea, I made the chainrings patterned on Holdswoth Allez rings. The bike is a 1946 Holdsworth Cyclone. Jim Merz

davester

I have 47-42 chainrings on my Cinelli, which results in a perfect half-step gear combination. The lack of a real high top gear just means that I spin out a little earlier on descents.

obrentharris 

Now there's some High Gonzo provenance!
Brent

seagrade 

Beautiful bicycle, but the description is incorrect. The photographs show a crankset that if not very nearly is very actually 53/42.

However, 52/47 and similar half-step chainrings were not uncommon at Paris Roubaix and for flatter time trials in this era. Earlier still several of Coppi’s later bicycles featured 47t inner chainrings, irrespective of terrain…

mhespenheide 

I don't, but I could be happy with it. Not in its vintage use, but as the outer ring. 47-11 is still likely a taller gear than I really need.

Garthr

You're right ! I thought it didn't quite look right but I got swept away by the beauty the bike. The Coppi era especially were all the epitome of hard men. I don't know if it's just the images I find but most of the riders back then(Coppi era) were thicker, more muscular, especially the lower half. It seems they had to be to push the large gears.

sd5782 

Another old guy here, but also fairly flat riding environment. I have 47-36 on one double. 46-36 on another and triples in that sort of range but with a granny. I love the gear calc website to play around. Without long hills to go down 47 is tall enough for me.

bikemig 

46, 47, or a 48, outer works fine for me. I'm well past my racing days. I can spin all the top gears with an outer in the upper 40s and an inner in the 30s gets me up the (few) 10% local grades in style.

One of the reasons I'm partial to French bikes is that it is a heck of a lot easier running a "compact" double on them than on Italian bike assuming you want to stay with campy cranks.

Sierra

This is how I set up my '71 Paramount P15. I've since replaced the 36t granny with a 32t(I'm old and like low gears for hills).

ollo_ollo

My 83 y.o. memory claims I have a Grand Jubile with a 48/36 double driving a 5 speed 14/28 FW, but the bike is currently 3000 miles away in Oregon, so I can't count teeth to confirm. Could be a 47 or 46 big ring. The combination does well in Willamette Valley and foothills. Don

John E

I have standardized on 46-38 1.5-step gearing with 13-26 in back. Top gear is only 1% lower than the 50/14 (96.4 gear-inch) I used for decades, and I can go 10% lower than with my previous 50-42 ringset, without messing up my ratio progression.

1959 Capo (128mm BCD Nervar Star) and 1982 Bianchi (130mm BCD Ofmega): 46-38 / 13-26 6-speed. Top ratio = 95.5 gear-inches. Works with Campag. NR on the Bianchi's short derailleur hanger tab.
Mountain bike (110 BCD outer): 46-38-28 / 12-30 8-speed (13-26 6-speed, plus the 12 on top and the 30 on the bottom). Top ratio = 99.7 gear-inches.

These are the most satisfying gearing combinations I have ever used. .

Mr. Spadoni 

Got to wonder if there were still any lizards clinging to it when HST sold it.