Originally Posted by
Jaeger
I'm still riding my original gearing so far - 52/42 chainrings and a 13-15-17-19-21-23 freewheel. It's okay for >95% of my riding but when I do the biggest hills around here I really could use a lower gear. I'm thinking of getting a spare wheel with a 12-27 freewheel for the hillier rides.
That was the OEM gearing on my Bianchi. I replaced the 52 with a 50 to improve the 1.5-step ratiometric progression, and I have used two different freewheels with the bike: a 13-15-17-19-21-23-26 SRAM 7-speed and a 14-16-18-20-23-26 SunTour 6-speed. I normally treat 42/23 as if were still my lowest gear, but it certainly is comforting to know that I can always reduce the pedal effort by an additional 12 percent, if need be.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069