Originally Posted by
GAJett
Hey Bud,
I feel like a kindred spirit finding another with a passion for the half-step+granny! We've independently arrived at the same rear cluster and the same front middle and outer chain wheel difference, mine a 44 / 41. My first half-stepper was n the mid-70's, so some might think I drank the kool-aid early🤣. I describe the setup to others as a wide range compact with an option to "fine-tune" the upper range.
As to cross-chaining, if so many now run 1x10 / 1x11 / 1x12 it seems that the industry is now saying it's really not much of a problem. Only remaining problem would be the chain rubbing the next outer rings when on an inner or middle. Not the classic definition of cross-chaining!
One problem with half-stepping now-a-days is sourcing odd-toothed chain wheels. Other than TA Carmina/Zephyr do you know any others?
Another issue is the availability of front mechs. Mountain triples don't work. Any modern racing doubles work? The old ones often did (SunTour Cyclone & Superb, Campy Record & NR, even the delicate Heuret Jubalee!, among many)
I knew there had to be a couple other smart people in the whole world. Haha
Your set up might even be a smidgen better than mine as every tooth makes a difference shifting up from the granny gear. The 24 to 42 shift requires a little anticipation and a soft shift. With no load on the chain it climbs right up there. Like I said I don’t use my granny like asmac does as a continuation of the total range. When I shift to the granny it is a whole new mountain bike to me. there is even a 2 or 3 gear overlap between the granny and the middle and those gears are what you need so you have opportunity to pick when you want to do the shift back to the middle. The middle and large rings comprise another bike that is close to a double only totally overlapped in half steps. What I never liked about setup like a double or a road triple was that my sweet spot was centered on the cross over of two rings and like my old gearing 42,52 that shift wasn’t that hard to do but it was hard enough I didn’t like making anymore than I had to. The worst was when I had a mountain crank on it. The total range was about the same but then you are really shifting between middle and large all the time.
My front I set as low as I could to just clear the middle and it does look a little odd. I had planned on doing a little machining on it and making it down closer to the large ring. But it shifted great nothing drags or rubs so why mess with it. I did shorten the chain and that helped a lot with the rear not going slack with the smaller granny
The only odd tooth gear on my bike is the 45t big ring. I found some nice ones that were really expensive and I didn’t know how it would work so I bought a cheap chop-saw ring with no ramps. The jump 42-45 is so slight there is no need for pins and ramps and such. I was going to file some in if needed but never did. I also was going to drill some holes or do some fancy cutouts in the big blank chop-saw but I get enough comments on it and opportunities to explain half-step I never got around to making it look like a road ring. I still might chop off the 5 inner tabs for the smaller BC.
As you know a half step with a 9 speed is so slight at first I found myself looking down to see if it shifted. It is really like having a 15 speed cassette.
Here are some pics of the ring I used if you are interested.
http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/85...8-32-36-o.html