i am not questioning your need for, let's set a number for the sake of discussion, 18GI. i question instead that one cannot get enough touring range with SDD and a single up front, avoding a long RD on a 406 wheel. What range does a 45T up front with a 11-36T cogset mounted on SDD afford? 18-109GI. You want 16GI at the bottom to match your Rohloff, with a 40T single up front, you get 16-96GI. Gorgeous touring range.
Now, if you are willing to chance a long RD to fit a double up front, why would you not.just use a 11-42T, 11-46T cogset instead?
Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
My derailleur touring bikes have a low gear of 20.7 and 19.2 gear inches, my expedition bike with a Rohloff has a low gear of 16.5 gear inches. I have walked bikes up a lot of hills that were loaded down with camping gear, including the (non-folding) bike with 16.5 gear inches that is shown in the photo after I pushed it up a really tall and steep hill.
My 64 year old knees can't handle the hills that they could three or four decades ago.
