Originally Posted by
Ged117
Good information, thanks. Ideally, I'd like to stay with the four-speed. The extra low makes the bike far more useful to me in my riding here in the Ottawa River valley, and I've just serviced the hub with a good clean, bearings, and grease. I'm currently running 48t x 18t and it is a blast to ride with my nice-riding but heavier AO8 frame. I'm keen to try this wheelset on my lighter '50s Armstrong Reynolds 531 frame once it's ready. Then the AO8 will become my first fixed-gear road bike and general experimental frame.
I've never had a four-speed, have always wanted one, because they seemed to make the most sense to me. While I love the first gear on the S5, I rarely use the fifth. My attitude is usually "who really needs the overdrive, it's only good on downhills, and that's coasting time anyway", whereas the under drive on first is always appreciated to get back up the hill that was the only place you could wind fifth out in. In my general commuting area, I have three different shopping malls within a four mile radius of my house, two pretty much on the level, the third is about 500' in elevation below my house. That's when I really appreciate the S5.
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Syke
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H.L. Mencken, (1926)