Barrettscv 

This is all very true. Half step gear progression dictated the interval between chainrings and cogs. A 53 & 49 chainring set worked best with a 14-16-18-21-24 cluster. Increasing the interval between chainrings or cogs usually created redundant gear combinations. Neither solution was ever ideal for the sport/touring cyclist.

RobbieTunes

Adding the "t" just seemed like the thing to do.

Andy_K 

Eleven triples and three compact doubles in my stable (plus two more frames with triples hanging without wheels). The only bike I've got with a traditional double is my 1983 Gios, and even that's got a 49-42 double. My bikes are built for riding.

Drillium Dude 

Show 'em a pic of your Molteni De Rosa!

DD

Andy_K 

Definitely "happy but not correct."



I've been thinking about putting the triplizer on the Gios and making this the token "traditional" bike.

Classtime 

I'm reading "correct" as describing the bike as configured when It first left the shop. From the 1982 review posted by Speedoflite "The 12-22 seven-speed freewheel is an avant-guarde piece of equipment for serious road racing in the mountains." I'm going to be happy with a 13-24 on most of my Vintage Racing Bikes.

jeirvine 

My '70s steel with 144 NR/SR all have 53/41 and 13-28. Fine for unladen sporty riding around here.

mstateglfr 

Vontage 110/74 triple cranks that use 2 rings have been on all my older bikes for a few years now.
I got tired of having to limit when I would use the bikes.

Its been great- the bikes get used a lot more and the cranksets still look like the originals.

non-fixie 

For L'Eroica and such I try to keep things within the rules and sort of correct, so no long cage derailleurs and triples. A 35 gear inches low is what takes me up the hills of Tuscany and the Ardennes:



On my touring bikes I'm off the correctness scale, as I'm still in pursuit of the perfect touring bike. Looks and comfort dictate things here. My latest test mule:

OldsCOOL

My classic racers will wear the gearing they were meant to. I dont ride them everyday, anyways. They will be taken and thrashed in shorter, less hilly rides on Strava routes on occasion. However, the ‘88 Cannondale Crit wears a 50/34 up front and a 7sp 12-28 cassette. That bike is my road warrior (up to 70mi rides) and just straight up boogies. That crankset is subject to change as I still have the 53/39 just in case.

tkamd73 

I just put 28t freewheels, and or cassettes on all my CV bikes, not a big deal, no issue with the RDs
Tim

Barrettscv 

Non-Fixie, I'm always interested in your expertise, especially on all things Eroica. Are triples and long arm rear derailleurs in any way officially forbidden? I understand that period correct light weight steel racing bikes that are popular at Eroica would not have had triples back in the day, but is putting a triple on an otherwise legitimate Eroica bike either officially or unofficially discouraged?

I had always thought that a triple like this would be permissible (46, 42 & 30 "triplitizer" with a long arm Simplex RD)

crank_addict

When did Campagnolo first offer a triple - early / mid 1970's?

For grins; pro's from not long ago
https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussi...ainring-cranks

non-fixie 

Well, they won't kick you off the course.

I think.

On a more serious note, I am just too vain to put a triple or a long cage derailleur on what is supposed to look like a racing bike. I'd rather walk up the steepest bits.

I have used small BCD cranks and "touriste" rings in the past so I could mount a 34 or 36 T inner ring, but was never really happy with how they looked. I've found that a 37 or 38 T inner works well enough for me, and allow me to use much nicer cranks.

BTW, the '68 Anquetil above has a 35" low gear, not the 38" I mentioned. The inner ring is one of Jon Vara's 37T's.

RiddleOfSteel

I appreciate corn cob FW's on vintage race bikes, a la my '85 Specialized Allez SE. It just looks so perfect, so "catalog" with that 12-19 piece, skinny tires, and Benotto Cello Tape. For Seattle practicality, which is an absolute must if one is to consider riding their bike on any road or path outside of "the Burke-Gilman Trail," I have bumped to an IRD 13-26T FW. That's as large as I want to go as it ruins, IMO, the vintage aesthetic going any larger.

For everything else, a 53/39 double up front and an 11-28T (10s) out back is the ticket to getting the most practical climbing and descending gear range possible. I refuse to do a sub-50T big ring as I'd end up in that ring often when on the flats. A 39T grabs all the 'normal' low range stuff, and the 53T takes me down long steep hills without spinning it out within the first 100 feet. I find I run through a 34T small ring way too quickly when on the flats (a 39-12 combo in the city when commuting home is common enough), and having to shift up two-thirds through my flat-land speed range is annoying when a 39T takes me right up to the natural "up shift" point.

Triples are fantastic, and I equip my Paramount and any other touring bike proudly with them. Some days, I don't care how slow or 'easy' I wish to get up a hill, so long as I'm pedaling it and not walking it. The Paramount runs a 53/39/26 and a 11-28T 10-speed setup.

Miele Man

I have two vintage MIELE bicyles with triples and Campagnolo 9-speed Mirage Ergo levers and rear derailleurs.

I have some vintage bikes with 42-52 chainrings and rear cogs varying from 21 teeth to 28 teeth.

I have a fun-ride MTB with 26" x 2.125" knobby tires that has a 28-38-48 crankset and an 11 -19 teeth 9-speed corncob cassette on it.

Cheers

browngw 

I rode last years Tour de Norfolk on my 1965 Dilecta Le Blanc with a more modern 14-28 freewheel and the Stronglight 52-42 chainrings. I mostly ride off road and gravel and only have the Dilecta set up as a "road" bike with 28mm tires on Super Champion rims. Some of the short steep hills encountered on a very hot humid day were on the edge for my comfort. A good friend offered to put together a 13-31 Regina America 5 speed freewheel for me. I will be installing it shortly. The Sun Tour long cage GT RD should handle it fine. I have an older SuperCycle Excalibur (Bridgestone) that has more than enough with a 34T low cog and a similar CR.

New 13-31 freewheel

Existing 14-28 Sun Race setup.

pfaustus

I grew up in a hilly area and back in the day I purchased an Apex copy of a Stronglight triple with a 28 low in front. I had a custom suntour freewheel made up 17 or 18-32, since the 14 and 16 were pretty useless in a place where heating the tires off the rims when going downhill was a repeated occurrence. I had played with the gear charts and wanted a compact triple, which meant TA back then. It was way outside my price range. Now everything gets cheap compact triples with a 45ish high, because racing just isn't on the agenda.

mstateglfr 

You find the 53/11 necessary? Your screen name pic is accurate!

Chubby715

I'm still riding Campy SR (circa 1980s) with a 42/53 chain ring and a 14-23 Suntour Ultra 6. I'm using the big chain ring 95% of the time, so the small chain ring only gets used on short, steep climbs. And I turn 60 later this year.

RiddleOfSteel

Definitely. A steep hill is very slow to go up, but conversely very fast to ride down. I intend to have my dessert! As a non-climber, and as a rider that runs at a medium cadence (as opposed to being a spinner, though I can hit 120 rpm), flying down a hill is the reward for all the suffering going up hill. There are a ton of steep (5-10% up to 18%) grades everywhere you look and ride, and anything over 5% as a downhill will have me spinning up to a 53-12 or 53-11 soon enough. I greatly dislike spinning out at the start of the hill and simply coasting the rest of the way. A few years ago when a group of us rode Hurricane Ridge, I was not about to putt down that grade slowly. Initially I thought I'd take it easy, but as soon as the cars in front ditched us, I ditched everyone else as I knew I had a 53-11 top end and this would be the one mega huge chance to go top speed over 17 miles. I spun out that gear past 120 rpm (45+ mph calculated). It was essentially the most fun I've had on a bike.

vintage1987

nice thinktubes. i thought i had the only Ciocc Designer 84 in Chicago. Ive coupled that with a Panasonic dx2000 and a 2008 Schwinn Peloton Pro carbon and a 2004 Trek FX 7500. The Ciocc is my daily ride and perfect for flat IL

vintage1987

me too chubby, but i turn 75 in Nov.

Bill in VA

My "old school" vintage Peugeot has 52/42 cranks and uses a 5-speed 14-28 rear freewheel cluster with a Simplex Criterium RD. (At one point I used a 14-24 freewheel.) It is OK for minor and short hills. If larger hills are in the mix, I also have a Suntour VGT RD and a 14-34 french thread rear freewheel that I use if i want a "true vintage experience". The 14-34 setup is a bit too wide in the gearing gaps. However that is not my main bike and if there are bigger hills I use my newer steel bike with a Compact Triple 50/39/30 crank and its 12-30 10 speed cassette. On the triple, I use the middle ring 60% or the time, the big ring 35%, and the small ring 5%.

The 1973 vintage Peugeot still feels and rides great, but to me is like driving a 1965 VW Beetle, both were fun, gave yeoman service, were dead reliable, and ridden and driven for many miles, but progress is progress, and suffering does not build character, especially after 45 years and 50 extra pounds. A car with AC and more cylinders and horsepower is like my new bike with brifters, compact triple crank, and cassette, both are very nice improvements. With regard to the Suntour V and VGT rear derailleurs, those RDs with DT shift levers are the equal to newer indexed shifters as far as ease and accuracy of shifting.

BITD, the only triples I remember were on very expensive French and British touring bikes and most of the cranks were made by TA (UK or French bikes) with some Campy (usually on Paramounts).

vintage1987

i have only 1 compact crank. She is short, fat and very crabby. ive been married to her for 36 years. im a saint