I bought this fine old Crescent racer with Campa , 3ttt etc. Usual old-school lowlander gearing: small, compact freewheel and 54/45 chainrings. Proved a bit tough on some of our hills which, though not long can be pretty steep. So, I've changed the freewheel to a 14-24, and the small chainring to 42. Should I change the large one to 52 to get a reasonable (and traditional) gearing (so as not having to manipulate the levers too much back and forth)?

54/14 is only 104 gear inches. That's kind of a traditional high gear. I wouldn't change it.

If you don't need the tall top gear, you can go even smaller , 48, a 6t difference.

suppose with a strong tailwind, the 48-14 may not be big enough..

Thats just an opinion..

Toured with a load for months with no higher than a 50/14 and it was fine.

freewheels as 7 speeds or 6 are 13t at the smallest,
Freewheel hub, Phil, is what I used..

A 50X12 is higher than what you have, in thoe days most used 52X13 or 14 for a top gear. Best bet- use what feels good to you , just so long as you can "fan" it
ride long
pat

This completely false statement is made repeatedly on this forum. https://www.ebay.com/itm/7-Speed-Free...item45fda25414 I just gave my riding buddy an 11-34 7-speed freewheel. And I have one on one of my MTBs.

There are others out there for sale -- but hopefully this link is enough to set the record straight.

Don in Austin

my history Regina ORO, Suntour New winner Pro, Sachs Malliard ARIS,
and what shimano freewheel I could get in a big enough low ratio, on.

none of them failed.. Ive never seen one of those ^^^
in any bikeshop I've been in, working, in the last 40 years.
And I've never heard of "LONG YIH DNP".. no history..
you got a real wholesale distributor resource
that you don't have to bid to get some.?

FWIW a cog driving on only 4~5 teeth won't last long. vs 6 or 7
(half of total teeth)

https://us.itselectric.ca/DNP_Freewhe...eed_11-28t.htm

Here's a couple more: https://www.nycewheels.com/freewheels.html

So, indeed they do exist, despite the common categorical statement that they don't. At one time I had three. But I am switching everything to cassette. I couldn't tell you about a wholesale source because owning 7 bikes doesn't quite qualify me as a bike shop. I didn't have much trouble with the 11t ring, but there are those out there who will torque on them with stronger legs than mine, I'm sure.

Don in Austin