What??? Only 2 wheels?
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
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Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10
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If you asked me (and you asked all of us, didn't you?) I'd say leave it. There are several reasons.
In my experience 36/52 or even worse 34/52 FD shifts can be problematic, though with newer rings and chains not as bad as in the old days. If you must change something, change the rear.
From a simple physics standpoint the incremental gain in speed from exerting force on the pedals is less at higher speeds, since drag increases as the square of the speed and power increases as the cube of speed. The incremental decrease in elapsed time from point A to point B diminishes even more. Which is all a fancy way of sain' it ain't worth the effort to pedal when you're already goin' lickety-split. Or to put it another way, it's like gunslingers. There can always be a downhill steeper than you can pedal. So where do you draw the line and stop chasing?
YMMV, of course. Everybody's does.
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