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Old 03-12-09, 09:47 PM
  #25  
John E
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: www.ci.encinitas.ca.us
Posts: 21,764

Bikes: 1959 Capo Modell Campagnolo; 1960 Capo Sieger (2); 1962 Carlton Franco Suisse; 1970 Peugeot UO-8; 1982 Bianchi Campione d'Italia; 1988 Schwinn Project KOM-10;

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Originally Posted by europa
You find this a lot in the single speed forum where people say that riding fixed ruins your pedal stroke ... then you find out they're running 80 gear inches or the like - they have no choice but to mash so it's no wonder their action is ruined.

I like 70 gear inches ...

Richard
True -- mashing the big gears is hard on the knees and hard on one's pedal form. The traditional 2nd gear on a 3-speed or single gear on a coaster brake one-speed is about 66 gear-inches, so your 70-inch figure makes sense on a lightweight bike. For the various local hills I regularly ride, I also need something around 50 inches, which is the traditional first gear on a wide-range 3-speed.
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Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
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