I don't understand the attacks on the half step plus granny. Yes, modern equipment has rendered it obsolete. But for classic bikes, what is the proposal?
Yes, you need to shift a lot. And the gear charts on the stem are nerdy. But you can dial in a really great set of ratios using classic era components and building custom freewheels. With no overlapping gears. Plus you can set up a super low granny at no detriment to all the closely spaced ratios in your power range. In my touring experience, you can't have enough ratios spaced closely (say every 3 gear inches) and evenly around 65-70 gear inches and it is a good idea to have a gear as low as 20 gear inches. What people forget to consider is that tendonitus and other physical problems can flair up on a long tour and you can either stop and rest, abandon or take it extremely easy.
My favorite for a cheap and acceptable front derailleur for touring setups is the Campagnolo 980.
Joe Bender-Zanoni Great Notch, NJ
Sheldon Brown wrote:
> Cheung, Doland wrote:
>> Well, since we are on the subject, other than the Huret Success FD, are
>> there any other candidates that would work on a triple and half-step
>> set-up that would combo nicely with a Huret Jubilee RD? I have a
>> Jubilee long cage RD and some Sugino AT triple cranks and need an FD for
>> them. Any candidates?
>
> If you're bound and determined to use (yuck!) half-step-plus-granny,
> basically any "double" type front derailer will work fine.
>
> Modern "triple" front derailers don't like the small difference
> between middle/large rings, but doubles don't mind.
>
> Sheldon "http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ha-i.html#halfstep" Brown
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