Originally Posted by
bud16415
I took a few years off to build a house and haven’t been riding much. I got on the Windsor the other day and went for a spin and the smooth shifting half step still gave me a smile and reminded me of this thread.
I thought I would give it a bump after 4 years in the archives for any new guys that might be looking to go old school.
Well I will have to look around and see what is modern now after a few years of not reading.
I mentioned above (in 2012) that I used a one and a half step system with a road triple and after market 24T granny. But when I did the Pacific Coast two years ago I swapped the 52 for a 46 to give me a 46/42/24 front with eight speed 11/12/14/16/18/21/16/32 for half step with granny. I was happy with the gearing but I did not find the half step with granny to be as big an advantage as I had hoped. The Pacific Coast route has too many ups and downs with changes of grade that are big enough that the change of slope requires shifting several gears at once. That said, I plan to use that gearing of future trips with my derailleur touring bike.
For around home use, I am using the one and a half step plus granny with a 52/42/24 road triple with an after market 24T granny. But touring, the 46T will go back on. The reason I prefer the 52 for around home use is that there are several long shallow downhills that I pedal down at high speed, I need the higher gearing for that.
The attached photo is the crankset with 46/42/24.