Classic & Vintage - Monster Gear Riders

On the bay a couple weeks ago was a Paramount with a 60 tooth chainring. A racer I knew in the 70's raced on a bike with 180mm cranks and a 56 tooth chainring. And know days the 10 and 11 tooth sprokets can boost your high gear. I'm a small gear spinner with a top gear of 48/13, but have always been fascinated by bikes setup with monster gears. Anyone running the mongo gear on any of your bikes?

Quite the opposite here -- nothing over 100 gear-inches.
98 gear-inches on Capo #1 (47/13)
96 on the Bianchi (50/14) and the mountain bike (48/13 w/ 26" wheels)
94 on Capo #2 (49/14)
93 on the Peugeot (45/13)

Through most of the 1960s and 1970s the default top gear was your 100 gear-inches, usually obtained with a 52/14 combination. Some folks ventured up to 108 (52/13), and I bought Capo #2 with a 112-inch (58/14) top end. (If anyone has a 3-bolt cottered crank with the standard Simplex 3-to-6-bolt adapter and wants a big Simplex aluminum 58-tooth ring in very nice condition at a very low price, please advise.)

Yep - been there. Had an all-Campy NR Cinelli - 180mm arms, 56/52 front, 13/15/17/20/23 rear. With tubulars it was great for drafting semis on flat ground up to about 55 mph.....

Had a Schwinn S/S Tourer - in its final configuration it was equipped with 180mm TA Criterium cranks, 60/56/52 front, 13/16/20/25/31 rear. The stock Campy NR rear derailleur was stretched to its 26t takeup limit but it worked throughout all 15 speeds. 124.6" top gear.....

In the early 1970's there was Elmer, a guy who rode Pacific Coast Highway almost every day, one ring in front, 63 teeth, 13-17 straight block, he did motor. But I don't know about the knees later.

Hard to drop him until Pepperdine hill, then, so long.

The top end on my '91 Specialized CroMo race bike is 54t X 11t. Not crazy but pretty big, and that's as monster as I get.

My biggest gear set is a 60 to 11 but its on a Bike Friday with 20 inch wheels so its only 110 gear inches. Roger