Originally Posted by familyman
I hate to even admit this but I'm contemplating putting gears on my pinarello. I LOVE riding the bike, it's so low and so fast and so sexy. I get on and I just want to make it go as fast as it can, it's like an addiction. I'm even thinking that at some point I'd like to enter a few duatholons or a TT or two on it. I want to go fast the bike wants to go fast..... but those stupid dropouts. I can fit 52/16 or any 4 tooth up or down combination on there and it works great, the problem is that this doesn't leave me as many options for gearing as I'd like, espically if I'm going to race it. So that would mean that I would have to put track ends on the bike, I'm not opposed to this idea, but the cost of track ends, repaint, a new wheel/hub (one that's actually 130) and an assortment of cogs starts to look expensive. Especially agianst the cost of a mid/low level rear wheel/casette/rear derailer. I'd certainly run it 1/9, who needs more gears than that, really now. But I'm torn, I gave up this whole geared thing because they drove me crazy and I didn't like to screw with them. I found peace and harmony and happiness in my fixes/SS world. If I find out that gears really do suck I'm not out that much money and I guess I can still run the bike as a fixie as it sits when I want to. Ah crap.
Like archtop jazz guitars, I've admired fix's and single speeds for a long time. Problem is I know full well that I'd rather look at one rather than play/ride one much in the real world. So when I was jonesin' for a simple, light weight bike to compliment my bullit proof but HEAVY commuter, I decided to go in the opposite direction of your 1/9 idea. I had a single speed rear built up arount a Novatec SS casset hub and hooked it up to a 48/38/28 MTB triple up front with a White Industries Melvin chain tensioner in between - and oh yea, a little itty bitty front derailleur. With a 16 tooth cog in the rear the 28 will climb a fairly knarly hill; the 38 will spin up slighter inclines and false flats; and the 48 will motor along level road pretty well. That 48/16 isn't tall enough to really juice a descent, but what track set up short of an hour record bikes is? Sometimes you have to sit back and watch the world coast by.
Did I mention the same bike was set up as a 1/9 when I bought it from REI? In that guise it had nearly the same top speed limitation and a much more severe chain line deviation in the lowest and highest gears. I think you could put together some taller gear ratios using a road double or triple. You can't do a bigger spread using the Melvin though; it will only handle a total spread of 20 teeth, but does so reliably. Any bigger difference in your chainrings and you'd have to use a rear derailleur to take up the slack and that's where I'd draw the line... just ain't right. Anyway, just food for thought. Have fun.
DanO