Originally Posted by
redcon1
I just watched a stage of the TdF and saw some riders on 34/32 and a few on 34/34 for the hilly stage I attended in Mende. Modern compacts are in the Pro Peloton for most hilly stages and all mountain stages.
That is quite the change from early 1970s stock Peugeot PA/PR/PX-10 gearing of 52-45/14-15-17-19-21
I have ridden 50-42 / 14-16-18-20-23-26 for the past 30 years, but I really need my mountain bike's lower gearing (46-38-28/12-13-15-17-19-21-24-28) for a couple of steep and long local climbs. Today's lower gears do make physiological sense, and, as pointed out above, we now have enough ratios to provide both reasonable ratiometric development and range, instead of trading one against the other, as we did in the Bad Old Days.
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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