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Old 07-24-21, 09:02 AM
  #11  
Tourist in MSN
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,112

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

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Originally Posted by GhostRider62
Years ago I used to tour and randonneur with half step gearing plus granny. That was sweet. Off the top of my head, the spacing was 4-5%.
....
There are so few people now that know what half step gearing is, I rarely mention it.

The bike I built up four years ago that I consider my light touring bike has a 3X8 half step plus granny drive train. A Sram eight speed 11/32 cassette, crankset is 46/42/24. The unpainted 24T granny chainring almost disappears on an unpainted titanium bike.



I avoid the two most cross chained gears on each chainring, thus of the possible 24 gears, I have 18 effective gears.
https://gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS...N=MPH&DV=teeth

My other derailleur touring bike has the same exact gearing but with 26 inch wheels the gears are a hair lower.

Half step gearing was great when I toured in Florida, it was perfectly flat except for the bridges, a slight change of windage and I would make a small adjustment for my gearing. But when I toured Pacific Coast, the grade changed often enough that I was frequently shifting and rarely was trying to find the ideal gear, half step there was not an advantage.

But, my rando bike has a stock road triple (52/42/30) with the same eight speed 11/32 cassette, not half step gearing. But I can usually find the exact gear I want on that bike pretty quick.
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