Originally Posted by John E

Also blame the move from 6 speeds to ultra-6/7/8 and then to 9 and then to 10 or 11, with the chain and the cogs having to get narrower each time. I currently run an ultra-6 on the Peugeot, standard 6-speeds on the Bianchi and the 1959 Capo (which I cold-set to 126mm before I had it painted), and an 8-speed cassette on the mountain bike (up from the original 7-speed freewheel). I hesitate to go beyond 7 speeds on the road bikes and 8 on the mountain bike, and really see no need to, since I can get both the low/mid 40s to mid-90s gear-inch ranges and 6-7 percent ratio progressions I want with a 2x6 (barely adequate), a 2x7, or a 3x6 rig.