daka

Except for the DaHon folders which are 1x7, everything in the garage is 120mm OLD and set up 2x5. The Raleigh International has 52-42 up front and 14-16-18-21-24 in the rear. On the Super Courses and, more recently, the Gran Sport I'm a fan of classic "Alpine" gearing 52-40, 14-17-20-24-28 since there are no duplicate (wasted) ratios and with only ten to start with it's nice to be able to use all of them. However, downsides are that double-shifts are almost always required to get the next-nearest ratio and cross-chaining is necessary to use all of the gears. As mentioned recently, cross-chaining a five speed block is tolerable on an bike with long chainstays and a flexible chain but it can be unpleasant and may cause increased wear on a short wheelbase machine.

dweenk

All of my derailleur bikes are 5, 6, or 7 speed in the rear.

nlerner

Well, I rode a bike with 2 x 11 gearing yesterday, but likely only used 10 total gears, and that was because I had a major hill to climb. On most of my rides around here, I never shift into the small ring in front, so the point of even charting out my gearing range is kind of lost on me.

markwesti

IMG_0807 by mark westi, on Flickr

merziac

Many 5 x 2 and 6 x 2 in the fleet, a couple still get ridden a bit but the daily driver is 3 x 9 and the flagship is 2 x 11.

Lenton58 

I don't think it's a "dark place" ... at least not for me.

I've used the gear inch calculator on the Sheldon Brown/ Harrison Cycles site. But this one looks like it is more useful for mapping out the entire transmission. You referred to redundant gears. Like most of us, I've encountered these. And if they occur when one is not "cross-chaining", they cannot be rationalized away except as being inefficient.

I can see how things can get dark if one is obsessing or really concerned for some reason, such has riding in competition or having trouble with persistent headwinds on a familiar route and so on. Such an enthusiast might be shopping for all kinds of options. I'm sort of more relaxed on the subject, and I want to try to optimize things for what I do, and with what I've got. If I had the ¥¥$$, I'd have drawers full of FW's and chainrings. I've got a few as it is, yet not enough.

THANKS!!

Dylansbob 

Willow 46t triplizer. Why these didn't take off at the time is beyond me, but I'm glad I have a couple of them.

Lenton58 

Interesting comments. It looks like my intended application for the Vitus will not be too radically off your 52-42T setup in the chart ... I think ... er ... maybe. By using the above calculator, I see that I'm pretty close to some duplications. But, on the river flats and riding in headwinds, just a one tooth difference can be very satisfying. So for my purpose, if the difference is only that, all the cogs are usable. That doesn't mean it's optimal though, especially if I am doing hill and dale stuff for a change.

molleraj

I don't think I have any bikes with more than 7 speeds in the back - well I think one more recent hybrid. Dahon Speed D7 with 7 in the back, Schwinn Collegiate with 5, BikeE CT with 7, Panasonic Sport Deluxe with 5, and Specialized Globe Hybrid with 8. I use the BikeE and Sport Deluxe the most out of the bunch, by far.

Lenton58 

So, your hub is spaced at 130mm — a free-hub and cassette instead of a threaded hub and a freewheel?

Lenton58 

So if I am getting this right, the neophyte's cadence on the flats and in gentle descents must be over 120? ... uh ... even with 12T as the smallest on the cob. Or, did they come smaller?

bikemig 

You know you could always buy a new bike. Say one built a bit after 1960 or so? Just sayin there's a cure for the 3 and 4 speed blues . . .

steelbikeguy

My '74 Raleigh International came with a 13-24 (or 14-24?) five speed freewheel, and I've kept it that way. I've also kept the old chain with bushings, so it shifts kinda slow and noisy. It's a great reminder of how the older stuff really shifted, and it's quite different from my bikes with "modern" 8 speed bushingless chains.

The bike also has the standard 52-42 chainrings, and I'm a bit surprised at how I spend a lot of time on the 42T ring for routine riding. By comparison, my bikes with the same gearing but with 6 speed 13-24 freewheels usually end up in the 52T ring most of the time. Not really sure how to explain it.



Steve in Peoria
(but I did ride 101 miles today on my fancy 30 year old bike with an 8 speed cassette)

zookster 

My Schwinn Varsity has a 14-17-20-24-28 freewheel, no brand just "Schwinn Approved". Chain rings are 39-52. On the Raleigh I will count them next time I have it out.

branko_76 

.

I'll be riding 5-speed freewheels for a while...............

Vintage Schwinn

Unless you are in a location like Pastor Bob is in, where the general terrain is billiard table flat, you will want at least a five speed freewheel with at least a 28 teeth, first gear cog.

Often, you have idiots that so worship the European marques and detest Japanese machinery for being too common, that will retain the horrible corn cob European freewheels which do not offer much in the way of low gearing for hills, even though they often reside in an area with significant hills. Hey, if you've got the legs that can just grunt & power it out up any hill, well good for you, but I am betting that you don't have that leg power any more if you are over 35 years old.

Nothing is wrong with just a five speed freewheel! With just five, and this ain't no jive, that to make your ride alive & fun, that you sure better have a practically useful LOW END gearing that works efficiently for YOU!! (***UNLESS YOU LIVE ON THE COAST, AT THE BEACH, OR SOMEWHERE ELSE WHERE IT IS BILLIARD TABLE FLAT! ***)
---------You Gotta Do You!!! meaning that what works for Charlie Atlas, might not work for the Weak-ling You, -or vice versa- , you gotta do you unless it is flat where you always ride.


I have mentioned this many times previously, that SUNTOUR and SHIMANO offered several various OUTSTANDING (thirty-two) & (thirty-four) five speed freewheels during the 1971-1974 bike boom era, all through the end of the Seventies.
(32-14) & (34-14) five speed freewheels
Now yall already know that the 1970 and later Schwinn Collegiate five speed & the 1970-1976 Schwinn SUBURBAN FIVE SPEED (not the Suburban ten speed model though!!) has the Shimano built for Schwinn , MODEL J Freewheel with 32---26---21---17---14
LOOK AT THE 1970 and later Collegiate and the FIVE SPEED Suburban BEFORE FFS hit the scene in 1977. (You Don't Want the TEN SPEED Suburban, because that has the same exact French made model F freewheel 28--24--20--16--14 that the mid/late sixties through the entire seventies VARSITY-CONTINENTAL have on them.
The 1964 through 1969 COLLEGIATE has that same French made model F freewheel 28-24-20-16-14 as the mid/late sixties through seventies VARSITY-CONTINENTAL.

So MAKE the MOST of the FIVE and choose the five speed freewheel that makes LIFE on That Bike, Much More Enjoyable to RIDE.
As Sly Stone sang: " ...Different Strokes For Different Folks....."



Simple MATH that you NEED to Be Able To Calculate GEAR NUMBER, so that you can make meaningful comparisons between bikes and/or potential changes in gearing hardware (freewheels or cassettes , & front chainrings, ........you can also get a somewhat minimal change in gearing by changing to significantly smaller or larger wheel diameter)

FRONT Sprocket = NUMERATOR
REAR Sprocket = DENOMINATOR

FRONT Sprocket DIVIDED BY REAR Sprocket = "result"

TAKE that "result" and MULTIPLY by the DIAMETER OF THE WHEEL = GEAR NUMBER

Example: 27" (32-630, 27 x 1 1/4) wheel bike with 45 teeth front sprocket and 15 teeth rear sprocket

45 DIVIDED BY 15 = "result"

45 DIVIDED BY 15 = 3

3 X 27 = 81 GEAR



Extremely Simple!! and meaningful when comparing very similar bikes, even though it is a caveman simple calculation!!!

NOTE: **** USE 27 for the wheel diameter in this calculation whenever the bicycle has 27 inch (630mm) wheels or 700 C (622mm) wheels.
******USE 26 for the wheel diameter in this calculation whenever the bicycle has 26 (597mm) (590mm) (584mm) (571mm),(559mm) or 650, 650a, 650b, 650c wheels.





+++++++++++ DO REMEMBER THOUGH, THAT SHOULD YOU UPGRADE TO A FREEWHEEL WITH A LARGE 1st GEAR COG, such as (32) or (34) teeth, that YOU WILL NEED A JAPANESE (Shimano or SUNTOUR) REAR DERAILLEUR THAT IS CAPABLE OF HANDLING 32 or 34. The best European rear derailleurs cannot reliably handle (32) or (34), although they will do a fine job with (28). So it is Campa-No-Go if you desire to keep that pretty Campy RD, and want to upgrade to a freewheel with (34) or (32). In such a situation, just remove & save the original equipment European rear derailleur in a sealed zip-lock baggie for safekeeping should you sell the bike in the future or wish to turn the bike, back into a museum piece. Be sure to label the zip-lock baggie with a Sharpie, and store it safely.


Now folks interested in one of the more wide ranging TEN SPEEDS offered, was the 1971 SCHWINN SPORTS TOURER with 54/36 up front and 34-28-22-17-14 at rear.
The SPORTS TOURER was NEW in the Schwinn line up for 1971 model year. For the 1972 model, The SPORTS TOURER has less wide range of gearing as the small front chainring was made larger. 1971 was the only year with 54/36 up front.
The SPORTS TOURER is a very desireable Chicago Schwinn and was Schwinn's finest other than the Paramount, until the Japanese import WORLD VOYAGEUR arrived in 1972.

While on the subject of old Schwinns and their freewheel gearing:
THE 1971 SUPER SPORT has the same freewheel gearing as the '70 and later Collegiate/FIVE Speed SUBURBAN with 32-26-21-17-14 and has the same 52/39 one piece crank as the Varsity/Conti...etal, etc although the SUPER SPORT has different frame geometry and is not an electroforged frame.
The VARSITY/CONTINENTAL/10 speed Suburban model, always retained the 28-14 freewheel, while the Super Sport of the seventies adopted the 32-14.
At the time that it was introduced in late '69 for 1970 model production, the Shimano model J, made for Schwinn Collegiate/5 speed Suburban (32-14 freewheel) was the finest, most advanced freewheel of that moment in time as it featured a new patented Shimano seal design. Shimano and Maeda SUNTOUR continued to excell in advances in cycling quality as each month rolled around in the early seventies. They left their European counterparts in the dust , much in the same way that SONY & National-PANASONIC(matsu....) did earlier to American & European electronics makers between 1964 and 1970. Japanese quality was "Just Slightly Ahead Of Our Time" and "The One & Only". Electronics, stereos, televisions, motorcycles, bicycle components, and then automobile engineering and manufacturing.....the Japanese were seemingly doing many things way better than anyone else, certainly by the early to mid seventies. Prior to 1959, most anything with the labeling of made in japan was synonymous with hunk of junk, yet by 1964 SONY made the world's best electronics and would further distance themselves from any US or European firm, as only Matsu....(Panasonic) was a close #2 for the next twenty years or so. Hooray for the Japanese, as they made plenty of innovations and technological quality improvements that have made life more enjoyable for US baby boomers over the last 55 years or so.
Don't be foolish and consider a Japanese component to be a common durable appliance, while considering said European component as being chic and cool, when the Japanese common everyday durable appliance type bicycle component is light-years better in operational quality and flawless reliability than the second rate Euro component. Certainly, there are very fine and beyond adequate European components that are durable and great, but the same cannot be said for European rear derailleurs, as only a few are decent enough, and none would be considered in the same league as the superior Shimano and Suntour rear derailleurs.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, but hell, if ( in the case of Shimano & Suntour) it works a helluva lot better than the original Campagnolo, Simplex, or Huret rear derailleur, you just might want to go with Suntour or Shimano rear derailleur.

Wildwood 

Does an old bear still shat in the vintage forest?

Lenton58 

When I get a moment, I'll plug that into software and see what comes up. My guess is that you will not have any redundancies. I winder if such an FW as that is still available as new?

Lenton58 

• Nearly 50 years ago I was one of the idiots. I bought a campy equipped British bike that had belonged to a professional racer. My common route took. me up some long serious grades. One day when I was standing and grunting so hard I thought my lungs would burst when a dude swished past me like I was standing still. I was too stupid and ignorant and thought the problem was me! Well, in a way it was — I was just a student trying to get to the campus on time, not a pro racer doing the European race tour.

• Anyone who has dealt with French 2nd grade hubs and found the cones and races were actually made from cheese instead of steel will recognize what you are talking about. I'm not talking about stuff like Mavic.

• I have a collection of vintage Maeda Suntour, Shimano 600 and '105' derailleurs — long and short. They are gorgeous things. Some flavours of Suntour friction shifters are simply brilliant.

• And, more germane here: thanks for the "caveman" gear formula. I've stowed it away in my notes cuz my memory is not as good as a cave dweller's.

Lenton58 

i am green with envy!

Deal4Fuji

I have true old school 10 speeds on the '73 Grand Prix and '75 Continental, and I'm using the original 888 perfect freewheel on the just completed '76 Fuji S-10S I'm using as a single speed. There's enough horizonal dropout space where I can alternate between the 14 & 17 cogs without messing with the chain.



... and I am in flatlandia

rustystrings61 

I'm shocked to admit that for the first time in a long while, NONE of my bikes have five-speed freewheels! I know my '76 Puch came stock with a Regina Oro 14-22 that I had switched over to a 14-24, which was in turn replaced by an early SunTour New Winner Ultra 6-speed freewheel. I'm sure my '74 Allegro was also originally a 5-speed, and it also currently wears an old SunTour Ultra freewheel. And everything else in the shed or hanging in my apartment is either fixed-gear or 6 or 7-speed cassette ... there must not be a five-speed freewheel gap! Activate the vintage road bike hounds!

Ol Danl

3 bikes with 2 x 5, 1 with 3 x 5, 3 with 2 x 6.

Mr. 66

I tend to keep most bikes at the stock sizing, with moderate upgrades or updates. If I change from stock offerings it would be usually brake changes. So many time I've taken diacomp G and replaced with Superbe or Gran Comp. I do change rear derailleurs short cage for long, and increased range freewheels. I also like to go from 2x to 3x cranks.

Classtime 

You could use a motor too.