Today's Bike Ride

[Gambatte]

I'm still not quite sure what that last 't' means....

teeth

[Graham Breeze]

Like pretty much every post on this thread, I didn't understand any of the jargon so I had to google an understanding first. Rings I now understand is what you call the front cogs while the back rings are actually called cogs

I also googled what rings and cogs my bike has - my front 'rings' are 46 and 30 while my rear cogs are 11-34t. I'm still not quite sure what that last 't' means....

I also understand how the gear ratios work (dividing the ring by the cog) but, going back to your bloke with the big 'ring' Graham, what about his cog sizes??

Ah well the smallest then would be an 11 teeth and he probably had 10 cogs, which only came in around 20 years ago. When I was a boy the maximum was 5 cogs.

But I can see I will need to lend you Frank J Berto's The Dancing Chain - History & Development of the Derailleur Bicycle.

The 5th edition of excruciating detail is 400 pages.

[Fellbeast]

teeth

Haha. So why not 46t/30t and 11t-34t?

Tell me that one....

[Graham Breeze]

Haha. So why not 46t/30t and 11t-34t?

Tell me that one....

That would be pedantry and no cyclist should be accused of that!

[Graham Breeze]

On this occasion Graham, I think you're either older than I thought or incorrect. Looking through my Campagnolo history notes I have found that in July 1961 a revised Gran Sport rear derailleur was introduced to improve shifting on six-speed freewheels. I don't know when the first six-speed freewheels was fitted to a bike, but it could have been as early as the late 1950s

When I started cycling seriously, in 1980, all bikes seemed to have 5 cogs at the rear and 6, or even 7 which was introduced around then, was exotic and not seen on standard bikes that you bought from a shop

It's very rude to ask how old I am but - just between ourselves - in 2016 I was First V70 in 50 fell races (out of 61).

By the way, I have Facchinetti & Rubino's Campagnolo 75 Years of Cycling Passion.

It is a bit coffee-table but fortunately I do own a coffee table!

[Llani Boy]

[QUOTE=Graham Breeze;674468]It's very rude to ask how old I am but - just between ourselves - in 2016 I was First V70 in 50 fell races (out of 61).

And you're looking good to be 1st V75 at Blencathra in 2021

[noel]

Wow, 50 category wins a year. Chapeau!

[Graham Breeze]

Wow, 50 category wins a year. Chapeau!

Yes that was a good year but these things are shared.

Last year (2019) I was very grateful to get 3 wins!

[noel]

Damn these youngsters coming through!

[Graham Breeze]

Damn these youngsters coming through!

Yep! I'm keeping my eye out for you on the entry sheets.