As a brand-new "serious rider" back in 1980-81, I discovered the wisdom of Frank Berto in the pages of Bicycling magazine (back when it was very much worth reading). I had just purchased my first "real bike" - a rather nice for the price Centurion Super Elite with Cyclone derailleurs and Araya alloy rims. But it had the stock off-the-shelf gearing typical of bikes of that time - 52-40 SR crankset (with no aftermarket chainrings smaller than 40), and a 5 speed 14-28 freewheel. I loved the bike, but wasn't happy with the gearing - I never used half the gears, and the steps were so big that I often was grinding or super-spinning.
And then Mr. Berto explained unto us: "it doesn't have to be this way." A true revelation. Using my meager funds carefully and the nomographs in the March 1981 article "Gearing to Suit You",* I traded the SR crank for a used TA with 46-42-26 chainrings and got a 14-26 ProCompe freewheel. And suddenly, I had a large logical range of gears in a half-step pattern, and could climb steep grades without having to stand 'n stomp. A couple months later I did my first Arizona Challenge 24-hour endurance ride, and the rest is personal history.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Mr. Berto is at least in part responsible for the gear selections on first-generation mass-market mountain bikes, which then spread throughout cycling, especially after triple cranks such as the Sugino Aero Tour went from specialty aftermarket items to standard spec.
At Christmas 1999, my wife surprised me with an autographed copy of the first edition of Berto's definitive work on bicycle drivetrains, "
The Dancing Chain". It occupied a place of honor on my bookshelf.
Over the years, I've made the acquaintance of a couple of the other writers for Bicycling in that era, and so it came to pass that I had dinner with Mr. Berto at the Interbike trade show in 2006 along with John Allen, John Schubert, and others. I told Frank my testimonial as recited above and he received it graciously. I purchased a signed copy of the second edition of "The Dancing Chain" from him at the dinner, which is now next to that first edition. Frank published several more updates prior to his passing in 2019.
* Hey,
SpeedofLite , any chance of reposting that article?
