Signore Bellora said
*snip* I go as low as a 39x16 to get my legs used to it and to develop a great spin (track racing requires it). Into January-Feb it's time for 42x16. When it's getting time to race, It's 48x16 and then 48x14 (race gearing) or 50x15. Match Sprinter Marty Nothstein uses 48x14. Of course it's personal--whether you are a masher or spinner and what the terrain is like where you live. At 43, I respect my knees and prefer spinning rather than mashing.
Giacomo Bellora, Falls Church, VA
I sez:
48? ha that's a warmup gear according to this interview he gave cyclingnews
MN: I thought I could use a little more quickness. Looking back at pictures from '96, I weighed 218 pounds for the Olympic Games - like a Hulk on a bike. If we could just lose about ten, fifteen of those pounds, plus increase your strength, you're going to be incredibly quick. That's what we worked on for the last two years going into the Games - strength and quickness. That's what I started training towards, more like the Olympic weightlifters. These guys have incredible explosive power. I trained very similar, and it worked. Nobody could 'snap' the big gear like I could. I even went to the extent of training with the local college football team, doing speed running drills, and power drills. Stuff like that helped, incredibly. It's just training the brain to be quick - to Fire when you had to Fire. It was perfect. I beat Rousseau with a 50 [50/14 gearing]. I've been recorded at over 2200 watts.
CN: You're kidding me!?
MN: No. There's some power in these legs.
CN: What does that wind-out to?
MN: About 160rpm. I've hit 50[mph].
CN: Do you normally sprint in a 50T?
MN: 49, or 50.
CN: You don't even use a 48 anymore, do you?
MN: No, 48 - that's like. a warm-up gear. The athletes, in general, are getting faster, and stronger.
CN: 50 is the gear of choice in a match sprint, now?
MN: I'd probably sprint on a 50. The problem is, you've got to be able to 'snap' that 50 - you've got to move it. If you get stuck flat-footed, you're a dead duck.
Nothstein qualified first in the match sprint for the Sydney Games - something he'd never done, before. He didn't lose a single heat. If you didn't see coverage of the ride for the gold medal, Nothstein worked three time world match sprint champion Florian Rousseau over badly. The French sprinter 'sat up' both rides, dejected.
2200 WATTS!!!
rodd who just rid, and is lucky to put out enough watts to light a lighbulb. SUNNY WARM!! ottawa