R
Rosco
Guest
I'm planning to redo (new paint job + components) an older touring bike that is currently setup with
Suntour 7spd (28-38-48 front 13-30 rear). The bike is used for a variety of things, including having
a Burley Picollo trailer cycle + a 40 lb human ballast attached (they only seem to help pedal when
going downhill). Sometimes a BOB trailer with ~40 lbs of gear are pulled as well. The bike isn't
used for multi-day loaded touring.
After spending too much time looking at gear charts, I'm beginning to believe that a front triple
such as a 24-34-46 in combination with a 9 spd rear 12-23 or 13-25 would allow for a wide range of
usable gears and still give nice close gear ratios. Having a cassette that includes a 16 tooth
sproket seems to make this combination particularly useful. Of course, the rear could be changed to
an 11-32 if I ever needed real low gears as well.
My concern is with the front triple deraileur with STI. Peter White's website suggests that an
Ultegra triple is optimized for a 10 tooth difference between the outer and middle chainrings. In a
similar fashion, he says that Dura-Ace triple is optimized for a 14 tooth difference. His words
suggest there isn't much leaway if STI is desired.
Does anyone have experience breaking these "rules" with success?
Suntour 7spd (28-38-48 front 13-30 rear). The bike is used for a variety of things, including having
a Burley Picollo trailer cycle + a 40 lb human ballast attached (they only seem to help pedal when
going downhill). Sometimes a BOB trailer with ~40 lbs of gear are pulled as well. The bike isn't
used for multi-day loaded touring.
After spending too much time looking at gear charts, I'm beginning to believe that a front triple
such as a 24-34-46 in combination with a 9 spd rear 12-23 or 13-25 would allow for a wide range of
usable gears and still give nice close gear ratios. Having a cassette that includes a 16 tooth
sproket seems to make this combination particularly useful. Of course, the rear could be changed to
an 11-32 if I ever needed real low gears as well.
My concern is with the front triple deraileur with STI. Peter White's website suggests that an
Ultegra triple is optimized for a 10 tooth difference between the outer and middle chainrings. In a
similar fashion, he says that Dura-Ace triple is optimized for a 14 tooth difference. His words
suggest there isn't much leaway if STI is desired.
Does anyone have experience breaking these "rules" with success?