Ribble Bikes

[MSeries]

Mr Charly, I have never let the capacity of a mech worry me. I use Ultegra short cage mechs on two bikes that have 30/39/52 chainrings and 12-27 or 13-23 cassettes. Works fine. I suppose if I wanted to engage small:small or large:large I may run into problems but I don't so in reality everything is fine.

I think the extreme chainlines is the right calculation though, after all that is what it is trying to make work.

[mattc]

A 14 - 27 tooth cassette would be a Very Good Thing. How many riders actually use 11 or even 12 with a 50tooth crank?

Sprinters and fit roadies on hard summer rides.

I do club runs and Audaxes with 48x13 and only run out of gears downhill.

Someone calculate ground speed for 50-14 at 120rpm ...

[Greenbank]

Someone calculate ground speed for 50-14 at 120rpm ...

33.5mph on a 700c x 23mm wheel/tyre.

[mattc]

Someone calculate ground speed for 50-14 at 120rpm ...

33.5mph on a 700c x 23mm wheel/tyre.

Ta - well there you go, that's plenty fast enough for all 'reasonable' amateur riding. It's possible that has never been averaged on a 10mile TT.

[αdαmsκι]

How many riders actually use 11 or even 12 with a 50tooth crank?

I do, although I cannot remember if my smallest sprocket is 11 or 12 toothed.  They come in useful when you want to set of the speed camera on Reigate Hill. 

[Greenbank]

Bradley Wiggins 10 record of 17:58 comes out as 33.4mph.

[David Martin]

Mr Charly, I have never let the capacity of a mech worry me. I use Ultegra short cage mechs on two bikes that have 30/39/52 chainrings and 12-27 or 13-23 cassettes. Works fine. I suppose if I wanted to engage small:small or large:large I may run into problems but I don't so in reality everything is fine.

I think the extreme chainlines is the right calculation though, after all that is what it is trying to make work.

I had capacity problems on a 26 as the mech (Shimano Sante) would only do 24 (rated, 25 actual)

Compacts are great for winter - I ride one and rarely run out of gears even in a hammering chaingang. I do run out of legs though.

..d

[mattc]

I can't remember the limit on Reigate Hill, but I know I've been in a bunch setting off a local 30 sign. (on 48x13).

Bradley Wiggins 10 record of 17:58 comes out as 33.4mph.

[insert smug smilie ]

[αdαmsκι]

Reigate Hill limit is 40 mph    I was doing tail end charlies for a FNRttC and had let the bunch go off in front of me before I set off down the hill.  It would probably be slower in the day due to traffic.

[Greenbank]

I can't remember the limit on Reigate Hill, but I know I've been in a bunch setting off a local 30 sign. (on 48x13).

Bradley Wiggins 10 record of 17:58 comes out as 33.4mph.

[insert smug smilie ]

That's just the British record.

Boardman has an unofficial 17:54 which is 33.5mph.

[mrcharly-YHT]

So a 52/14 would be big enough to set the national '10' record?

Makes the 11-23 cassettes look a bit daft. A 52/11 at 100rpm is 37.9 mph. Anyone decently fit should be able to spin out to 120, that's 45mph.

I think the cassette sizes are chosen to cater to egos, not to actual biomechanical requirements.

[Greenbank]

Err, I don't think the gears are the limiting factors for the record.

I've topped 50mph going downhill. I could have gone faster with a bigger gear.

Sprinters will get to over 60mph in a race for the line. 11T sprockets are necessary for races.

[clarion]

It's interesting.  Now the sprockets are down to 11, but back in the day, 14 was the smallest available, so the TT boys would get stupid big chainrings as a pose.

[mrcharly-YHT]

top-level sprinters might hit 60mph.

I still contend that the current road sprocket ranges are for posers, or very serious racers.

Freewheels used to commonly be 14-28. 14-23 was a 'racing' freewheel for fast club riders.

13-25 is a range suited for racing, but not for general riding.

Now, it would be fine if the mtb world offered a 14-28, but it doesn't. 11-30, 12-32, sure.

The old 14-28 is a range suited to general cycling that just doesn't exist anymore.

[Really Ancien]

14 to 25 is a regular Ultegra cassette as is 16 to 27 if you really want. You can dismantle cassettes and mix and match. 10 Spd Ultegra 6600 Cassette - Ribble Cycles

Damon.

[Greenbank]

One of the "standard" Campag cassettes is 13-29. I use that with a 53x42x30 triple for hilly Audaxes.

The CF bike purchase next year will be 50/34 compact and 12-25 cassette.

[clarion]

My first bike had a 46x14-28.  A range of 44-88"  that got me over Winnats Pass (eventually ).

My regular ride has 48-34-24 x 13-28  which gets me up most things, though I still have to get off & walk.  I don't spin out often on that set up.

However, when I rode my Woodrup the other day, with its classic 42-52 x 14-26 (IIRC), I spun out at the top end a bit too easily.  

[Biggsy]

Sprinters will get to over 60mph in a race for the line. 11T sprockets are necessary for races.

60 Kmph maybe, or 60 mph down a mountain.  You can tell from the cadence that they ain't doing 60 mph in a sprint.  However they do like a very high top gear anyway.

11 and 12T sprockets are also useful with compact chainsets.

Top sprockets were 13 and 14t in the past due to technical limitations, not necessarily because no one would have wanted anything smaller.

14-28 Campag 9-speed cassettes are still available, and I think you'll find similar from Shimano too if you search hard enough.  Sometimes they're marketed for junior racers.  I agree they're good for ordinary cycling if you're prepared to freewheel down steep hills in order to have more low and middle gears.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Are the campag cassettes compatible with Sh! derailleurs?

[tiermat]

Not without a shiftmate, the pitch is different, albeit only slight it's enough for the chain to slip.

[Biggsy]

More importantly, Campag cassettes don't fit Shimano compatible hubs.

[David Martin]

13-25 is a range suited for racing, but not for general riding.

It is ideal when matched with a 48/34 compact chainset. Or even a 50/34 (which I raced on all season and never ran out of gears)[1]


..d

[1] but then again I am slow..

[Greenbank]

Getting closer to the Scuro HCX. Benefit elections done, and I've gone for 1500 UKP of Cyclescheme vouchers.

Paperwork should come through early April...

[MSeries]

13-25 is a range suited for racing, but not for general riding.

one is my cassettes is something like that in 9 speed. It's perfect for me when teamed up with my 48/38/28 chainset for my weekend rides which  are general rides. Even my summer commuter has 13-23 in 7 and with 53/39/30 is fine. The odd number two tooth gap is what I like.

[Zoidburg]

Now, it would be fine if the mtb world offered a 14-28, but it doesn't. 11-30, 12-32, sure.

Reason to that - most XC frames will not fit anything bigger than a 11t in as the smallest sprocket or it rubs against the chainstay.