Originally Posted by
rm -rf
Well, they had triples available...
But this video of the Muro di Sormano climb in Italy has quotes from when the climb was included in the Giro di Lombardia in 1960. "In front, you have a 50 and a 42, behind, 17 19 23 24 26, because the climb demands a 42x26" That's the
equivalent of a 34-21 low gear!
The graphics on the road are cool. There's each meter of elevation gain, and quotes from the old racers.
#
From
wikipedia:
The Muro di Sormano (English: Wall of Sormano) is a hill located in Sormano, Italy. This climb is famous as one of the most severe of any road cycling race, with an average gradient of 17% and a maximum of 25%.
I don't remember very many road racing bikes in the late 80's early 90's spec'ed with triples. In fact, I don't remember
any road racing bikes spec'ed with triples. Only touring bikes were spec'ed with triples at that time. Also, I don't remember cassettes having lower than a 23 either, even for entry level bikes like spec. sirrus and allez, or the trek 1200 and 1400.
Bridgestone RB bikes were spec'ed with 52/40 and 13-23 in 1991. In 1994, RB's were still spec'ed with 12-23 and 13-23 cassettes.
Here are bridgestone specs from that time:
Bridgestone Bicycle Catalogue 1991-35
Bridgestone Bicycles 1994 Catalogue page 73
What must have happened in the past 20-25 years is that the cycling demographic must have shifted dramatically: the average rider is older, heavier, less fit, and more affluent.
As I said before, riders were far more fit 25 years ago, probably at least 15 and maybe 20 lbs lighter on average, and probably a lot more active on average as well.
Also, cyclists didn't have to be as wealthy, since the most expensive bikes tended to top out around $2500, the equivalent of under $5K today. Now, the most expensive bikes are $12K, even $13K. $6K to $8K bikes are no longer considered to be the highest end bikes.
The cycling market must have shifted dramatically. I don't have firm evidence of this yet, although it would probably not be very difficult to prove.