rhm

I'm not sure, but I think Tom is or more right than wrong.

As I said, I've ridden several centuries on three speed bikes this year, and about as many on bikes with derailleurs. And on most of these I've been riding with at least one other cyclist. It seems a cyclist with all the gears a 12-speed derailleur bike offers, and one with a 3-speed, are able to ride together without much inconvenience to one another.

The only challenge is that I had to vary my cadence. That is all there is to it. In other words, sometimes you have to pedal faster, in order to keep up with the other rider. Other times, you have to pedal harder at a lower cadence than you'd like, in order to get up a hill. But the level of energy expended, whether to maintain 22 mph on a flat road with a gentle tail wind for ten miles, or to hammer up a hill at 8 mph, is going to be more or less the same regardless of what gearing your bike has.

I have no doubt an advanced derailleur system that offers a wide range of closely spaced gears will give a competitive cyclist a slight advantage over a primitive three speed system. You won't see someone winning the tour de france on a three speed. But to a cyclist at my level, well, it really doesn't matter much.

Except that the simper system-- and a three speed hub is delightfully simple-- allows me to appreciate a bit more of the beautiful world around me and forget about the bike under me. I like that.