rpenmanparker 

I hope your post was a joke, just without the emoticon. Because it sure comes off that way.

McBTC

Cyclists somehow managed to survive having no more than 5-cog freewheels...

rpenmanparker 

...that topped out at 52/12 or 52/13, and they didn't ride any slower than folks do today. I wonder how they did that.

UnfilteredDregs

There is definitely an art to carrying momentum through rollers... Flywheeling.

UnfilteredDregs

11 tooth cog does make sense with a smaller chaining. Not so much with a 53..

kbarch

They also managed to survive without bike computers constantly monitoring their speed and cadence... and heart rate and elevation change and whatever else.

Thanks, I'm glad to hear I didn't need an emoticon. But it wasn't entirely a joke so much as good-humored ribbing - of folks who coast too much and may not be as fast as they claim to be, cadence or speed-wise especially. People are not faster or stronger - or smarter or more honest with themselves - just because they have bike computers.

I freely admit that I don't really need an 11t cog. But I like it - a lot. It's my kind of luxury.

It works the other way, too. I don't believe we've gotten slower or weaker than the guys who rode around with corncob 5-cog cassettes just because we like riding 27, 28, or even 32t for climbing. Lazier, maybe.

rpenmanparker 

Yeah, I know. And why not avail oneself of what's latest and greatest? Absolutely. It just makes sense. But some of us are simply saying that 50/11 is a higher gear than the 53/12 (actually higher even than 54/12) that allowed folks to ride just as fast back when even on rollers. And I remember when 13 was the smallest you could get on the freewheel. In fact 52/13 was what most folks rode as I recall unless they were time trialists and maybe had a 54 up front. And 52/13 is lower than 50/12.

All in all some folks will value the taller gear more highly, other the mid-range one-tooth jumps. DSFDF

McBTC

1963 15 Speeds! SCHWINN SIERRA advert (my first road bike):

UnfilteredDregs

For all intents and purposes 99% don't need anything beyond a compact. That and 11-32 can tackle everything.

rpenmanparker 

That will get you up and down for sure.

loimpact

Doge! Thanks for the info! I think that's good advice and after yesterday, can speak to experience on it. I rode the UCLA RR yesterday and employed that very technique on the VERY long descent. On the steepest parts, of course it's strictly a "tuck and hold on" scenario, but as the grade lessens, I found that pedaling, then tucking, rinse & repeat worked best.

In case anybody hadn't noticed earlier in this thread, I went with the 12-25 to get that 18t cog as I think that cog will prove of more value than the 11t. I'll try out the 50/12 combo and see if I even notice. (I also think it might be one of those things where if the 11's not even there, how can you miss it, right?) ((shrug))

Anyway......all good & all a learning experience. At least before I get too old & need a triple with a 34 goat gear.

79pmooney

If it were my cassette, I would pull the 11 or 12 off and put the 18 on. I run 9-speed and often run a 12,14 etc or even a 13,15 etc to get better choices where I spend far more time. Now, I don't race anymore nor run with fast groups, so a tight choice of gears when I am riding 22+ mph isn't important. But even in my racing days, I didn't see the need for a huge top gear. I never ran more than 54-13 or wanted to. Instead I found at the Stowe Race in Vermont that not having a 13 was, for me, an advantage. Meant that I could not nor was asked to work on the long fast descent off Smuggler's Notch.

50-11 is 122 gear inches. 50-12 is 113" 54-13, my racing highest is 112". 54-14, my Stowe gearing was 104". Also doing well in that race was a Junior with his 52-15, 94".

Ben

Maelochs

"Any reason to go from 50/34 on 11-25 to anything else???" Ummm .... hills? Mountains? I live in a land where I highway overpass can command a view to the horizon, so I can ride 11-25 .... I hear it is different is some remote locales.

79pmooney

At 60+ yo, my sweet gear combo for less that big climbing days is a triple, 53-42-28 X 13-23 9-speed. That gives me 1 tooth steps from 110" to 33" except the 19-21-23 at the bottom of the cassette. Pretty sweet!

Ben

noodle soup

Ummm, some people could be a little more fit than you.

34x25 is a pretty easy gear. I rode throughout the Alps with 42x23 back in 1989, so 39x25 is no problem for me 98% of the time.

Maelochs

Duse, there are dead people who are more fit than I.

Right so two percent of the time ... after all the thread title is "ANY reason .... "

So I guess even for a climbing machine, there is a reason ... those two percent of the miles that are too hard ... plus death or age or extreme unfitness ... plus plain old laziness ... I sincerely hope you aren't taking any of this seriously.

noodle soup

I very rarely take things like this seriously. I hope you weren't offended by my comment.

The OP sounded like he was thinking about giving up an 11t cog to gain an 18t cog. I think it's a great swap because he'll probably use the 18t far more often.

Maelochs

Too rational ... I can't relate. I spin out 52-11 on hill climbs daily ... well, every day I only daydream about riding and don't actually ride.

I am uninsultable ... most of the bad stuff people say about me is true and the rest is so extreme it is comical .... or I wish it was true.

Doge

I know that decent very well. My kid started doing it at age 10 and the later in categories. That is one of the places he had to use it. I think he hit 50 something on that hill (52X14).