Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Classic & Vintage
Reload this Page >

When vintage road gears just too much for my obese built

Notices
Classic & Vintage This forum is to discuss the many aspects of classic and vintage bicycles, including musclebikes, lightweights, middleweights, hi-wheelers, bone-shakers, safety bikes and much more.

When vintage road gears just too much for my obese built

Old 01-17-18, 04:14 PM
  #26  
ambulatory senior
 
52telecaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Peoria Il
Posts: 6,347

Bikes: Austro Daimler modified by Gugie! Raleigh Professional and lots of other bikes.

Mentioned: 76 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1953 Post(s)
Liked 3,633 Times in 1,670 Posts
Originally Posted by noglider
Here is another approach. If you can't ride some hills with your current setup, how much time would you be spending pushing your bike? If it's just a small fraction, how about doing just that? That's what people used to do. We didn't insist on riding up every incline. And if you're interested in becoming more fit, you can watch your progress by seeing that fraction of your time decrease from month to month. I'm not saying you should lose weight, though of course you are free to. Some obese people are excellent cyclists.
That is. Certainly the cheapest solution. I know I have lowered gears for specific hills only to find I didn't need them by the end of the year.
52telecaster is offline  
Old 01-17-18, 04:52 PM
  #27  
Phyllo-buster
 
clubman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 8,829

Bikes: roadsters, club bikes, fixed and classic

Mentioned: 133 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2287 Post(s)
Liked 2,028 Times in 1,244 Posts
I think Toms advice is refreshingly sound but I also think there's vast numbers of triple cranks available that will keep the bike vintage-looking FWIW. It will allow you the opportunity to tackle harder and greater inclines as your fitness increases. Worth the tweaking, especially at this time of year.
clubman is offline  
Old 01-20-18, 01:12 AM
  #28  
Senior Member
 
capnjonny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Saratoga calif.
Posts: 1,046

Bikes: Miyata 610(66cm), GT Vantara Hybrid (64cm), Nishiki International (64cm), Peugeot rat rod (62 cm), Trek 800 Burning Man helicopter bike, Bob Jackson frame (to be restored?) plus a never ending stream of neglected waifs from the Bike exchange.

Mentioned: 28 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 339 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 623 Times in 225 Posts
Fwiw I have a Nishiki international. I swapped in a 24-36-48 with a triple front derailleur and a 14-16-18-20-22-24 Suntour freewheel and Shimano friction thumb shifters on upright bars and it is a great combo. Just a nudge on the shifter brings on the next gear, it will climb a wall, and there are 3 distinct gear groupings with very little overlap. with this set up I don't really need anything bigger than the 24 tooth at the rear.
capnjonny is offline  
Old 01-20-18, 03:09 PM
  #29  
Senior Member
 
Dfrost's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 1,988

Bikes: ‘87 Marinoni SLX Sports Tourer, ‘79 Miyata 912 by Gugificazione

Mentioned: 166 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 500 Post(s)
Liked 464 Times in 255 Posts
@Obeast,

Where are you located? (Most of us include that info under our avatars.) if it’s near a metropolitan US area, chances are that there’s a bike co-op there. Such co-ops typically have a pile of triple cranksets, as well as long-cage RD and triple FD, all for cheap. As stated previously, cartridge BB are readily available (less than $25) in all the lengths you might require. Plus, there’s usually expertise there as well as the necessary tools, and even more help here on this forum of very friendly folks to assist you in getting it together to run magnificently for many years and hills.

If you don’t have access to a co-op or similar, post in the ISO (“In Search Of”) sticky at the top of this forum, and I’ll bet you will have a wealth of options open up.

A warning: if you take your lovely Nishiki into most LBS, they will try to convince you that your bike is hopelessly obsolete and you should just buy something new from them. We are here to help you overcome such thoughts.

Last edited by Dfrost; 01-20-18 at 03:19 PM.
Dfrost is offline  
Old 01-21-18, 01:25 AM
  #30  
Me duelen las nalgas
 
canklecat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Texas
Posts: 13,522

Bikes: Centurion Ironman, Trek 5900, Univega Via Carisma, Globe Carmel

Mentioned: 199 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4558 Post(s)
Liked 2,798 Times in 1,798 Posts
Go for it. I've seen much younger folks than I who appear to be in good shape riding cross type bikes with enormous rear cogs and tiny chainrings. I don't know how much they use those gears but they're available.

Even though I'm fairly thin (5'11", 160 lbs, pretty close to my peak condition weight 40 years ago), I've never been a strong climber. No matter how much I work at it I'm solidly middle of the pack in climbing, and usually get dropped on hills by the local roadie B-group, even by folks who aren't much younger than I and some of whom are overweight.

So I swapped out my road bike's 42T small chainring for a 39. Helps a bit. I also got a 13-25 freewheel but the gear jumps were awkward so I swapped back to the original 13-24. I may try a 38T small chainring and a 13-28 freewheel. Won't make me faster on climbs, but I'll be less exhausted. In contrast my hybrid with 30/40/50 chainrings and 13-28 cassette climbs easily, even though the bike is heavier. So it's not just weight but having agreeable gearing.
canklecat is offline  
Old 01-21-18, 01:46 AM
  #31  
Senior Member
 
CliffordK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Eugene, Oregon, USA
Posts: 27,600
Mentioned: 217 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18318 Post(s)
Liked 4,486 Times in 3,336 Posts
One of the nice things about the vintage bikes is that they often have clamp-on front derailleurs. This allows a fair amount of vertical adjustment, either up or down as needed.

The vintage front and rear derailleurs may or may not play nice with a triple, but they may do fine with a double MTB crankset with appropriate not so wide bottom bracket.

What do you need for top-end gearing?

Here is a Suntour Octalink 22/36 for not too much.
https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...s.php?id=72176

You could polish it to silver if you wished.

Of course, there are triple Front derailleurs and vintage long cage rear derailleurs if you wish to go with the triple.
CliffordK is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Reefhubball1997
Classic & Vintage
4
03-26-17 08:30 PM
orcas island
Classic & Vintage
0
09-11-15 07:38 PM
OldsCOOL
Classic & Vintage
9
08-24-15 12:53 PM
Tracy94
Classic & Vintage
0
04-03-14 09:18 AM
welldoggie42
Eastern Canada
0
06-09-10 05:24 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.