Bianca Pratorius wrote:
>
> (cut) I have absolutely no
> idea what anyone does with a 53/12 considering the world's hour record
> was set with 52/14! I think the 11 and 12 cogs are used mostly for
> massaging one's ego or 45 plus mph going downhill.
Keep in mind that we are talking about _racing_ bikes here Garth!!!
The two clubs I had been a member of in the mid 1970s (PAA and Montrose) were racing clubs and we rode to Mt. Wilson (start at 750ft climb to 5200ft) and Dawson's Saddle (start at 750ft climb to 7900ft) with 53/42 chainrings and 12 or 13/21 freewheels... 42x21 for the climbs and if you couldn't handle that you weren't going fast enough and you were dropped!
Downhill same story... 53x12 and spinning like a monkey or you got dropped. Massaging one's ego? Hardly! No poseurs in our group... we rode those guys off our wheels.
The Rose Bowl twice weekly 32mi training races averaged 29mph.
If you couldn't stay on top of these gears then you couldn't hang with the group 'cuz you were off the back.
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
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