soonerbills

Well maybe not but please post your setup here tell us why!
6,8 or 10 speed? What gears you got up front? What chain you runnin' and how do you swing from ring to ring?
I'm all ears......

balindamood

6-7 speed half-step (with granny preferred). More rear gears make half step difficult and don't fit in older frames well. I have a fetish for the first generation Deore road grop. Shimano had a number of things they tries with this group which were ultimately incorporated in the first SIS design. The touring pedals are my favorite (sans the Dynadrive), and the cranks are cool.

soonerbills

Close up pics are always appreciated!

sillygolem

Considered a wide-range freewheel (32t+ for 1st) and single chainring for my 10-speed because roads are very hilly with climbs and descents in quick succession, so I wanted to get up and down gears fast without dealing with cross-chaining. Getting a reasonably-priced freewheel didn't happen, so I went single speed. It actually works better now because I can put power down 100% of the time instead of waiting on the -slow- derailleurs to engage the next gear.

Next project bike, an old hybrid, is going to get my intended 10-speed setup. However, it's going to be cold-set so I can go to a much cheaper 6-speed freewheel with a 34t 1st gear. It's also getting wider wheels and 26 x 2.4" tires.

3-speed was geared down to run 46/20t, but that crank went onto the 10 speed. I'm going to drop the gearing some more, maybe to 40-42t. so I can get it up some of the steeper hills.

canopus 

10 Speed Compact, 13-26 usually, sometimes a 14-29 in the rear and a 34/50 in the front. Would prefer a half-step with a granny but since this was a rider I was concerned about getting a good setup and easily replaceable parts. Also the chain line didn't work very well with the triple in the front I decided to try the compact setup. It works great for my normal riding so I don't see a need to change it.

Pics are in the links in my sig.

Sixty Fiver

Touring rig...

28/40/48 (Sugino chain rings) on a Deore crank mated to a 14-34 7 speed freewheel with Suntour Vx derailleurs and Barcons handling the shifting... which is like warm butter.

Sixty Fiver

Road bike...

Sugino Mighty with a 42/52 mated to an 11-28 7 speed cassette with some Zeus levers controlling the Cyclone derailleurs.

Sixty Fiver

Raleigh 48 tooth chainwheel mated to a Sturmey Archer AW with a 20 tooth driver.



Raleigh track chain wheel (46) mated to a 16/18 on the Raleigh double stepped fixed hub.

scozim 

Sorry, no photos - taking a break from flood duty.

Road bikes: 13-21 6 spd, 42-52 170 mm arms - SRAM PC830 chain
13-26 6 spd, 42-52, 170 mm arms - SRAM PC850
13-28 7 spd, 39-53, 170 mm arms - SRAM PC830
13-21, 6 spd 28-42-50, 170 mm arms - unknown chain
13-24, 7 aps, 42-52, 170mm arms, SRAM PC 830

Commuter/touring: 14-28 5 spd, 42-36-26 170 mm arms, unknown chain

Wildwood 

All my vintage are 6 speed cogs.
All my modern are 10 speed Campy.

Interchangable - the ultimate set-up for me.

20grit

Gazelle has 53-39/12-26 - 10 speed Campy Record shifters to 9 Speed Ultegra Derailleur
Peugeot has 52-39/13-24? - 6 speed shimano

Edit: My reason for this gearing.... I don't really want a triple but have plenty of hills around here. The 39t is a must.

southpawboston

Compact double (46/26) mated to an 8-speed wide range (12-32) cassette. Allows me to stay in the large ring for all but the steepest climbs, when I can shift to the granny gear. Gives me an overall 500% gearing range (20-100 gear inches):



Half-step + granny (50/45/30) mated to a 6-speed wide range (14-32) freewheel. Gives me about 400% gearing range (25-100 gear inches), but requires a lot of front derailleur use to maintain cadence between freewheel cog shifts:



1x5 city commuter setup, with 45T chainring and a 5-speed wide-range (13-30) freewheel. Perfect for my urban commute, which involves some hills, but never over long distances. Gives me about 250% gearing range (37-90 gear inches):

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Road Double (52-42) combined with 3 gears (16-20-24) on a 5 speed freewheel body.
Rear Derailleur is a twin Cable '41 Cyclo Standard, Front Der. is a 1940's Simplex Competition. 1/8" BMX Chain.



My Road bike is set up almost exactly the same as SixtyFiver's. 52-42 Chainrings, 11-28 7 speed freewheel, Suntour Barcons shifting 1st gen. Suntour Cyclone Derailleurs. Perfect.



Commuter: Single 42T Chainwheel, Shimano Nexus 7 w/22T Cog & a Coaster Brake.

This bike will be upgraded to a SRAM iMotion 9 speed hub very soon. Still with a Coaster Brake.


Similar to southpaw's is a 52-28 Chainset with a 14-34 7 speed freewheel. Suntour Cyclone derailleurs (of course) and Suntour Barcons. Just as Anton said its the 52T for most riding and the 28 to bail out on hills.

Sixty Fiver

My summer and winter commuter ('87 Kuwahara Shasta)... has a 40 tooth Sugino (there is a trend here) mated to a Sturmey Archer AG 3 speed with a dual drive that is switched with a Shimano 600 tri colour that was looking for a job.

Sixty Fiver

Indeed.

It is a nice gearing set up for all but the steepest grades and great for descending... think it works out to 40-124 gear inches and although I have some Zeus gear would not trade the Cyclone derailleurs for anything as they work so wonderfully. Use a Mk1 Gt Cyclone in the rear which handles that range and has great take up.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I agree, its only very occasionally that I really wish I had more low end. Works for 95% of what I encounter. If I was doing nothing but massive hills I might go a bit lower but its fine for here.

southpawboston

Whoa, that Raleigh is delicious looking! Nice Berthets on those crank arms! Do you find the toe straps constantly rub on the crank arms? The Berthets don't seem to give any clearance for the strap to exit the pedal at the crank arm. I have a minty pair just waiting to install on my TA crank but was concerned about the rubbing.

Here are some more of my gearing setups:

Typical road setup, not great for climbing, but allows for easy cadence matching. 52/42 chainrings mated to a 13-24 6-speed freewheel (gives a gear inch range of 46-105):



And another, almost identical setup, 52/42 front, 13-24 5-speed rear:

sykerocker 

I've got a rough set of standards for all my freewheel bikes (5-7): 14-28 rear, no set standards of what's between the high and low gears; 48t big chainwheel, usually end up running 42-48 or 46-48 combinations (and occasionally a 49t, depending on what I'm able to find at a given time). I normally base my bikes around being able to actually ride up the cat3 hill that I call a driveway, and, when the bike's in the big ring on the front and middle cog on the back I'm holding a steady 15-16mph at my usual cadence.

Cassette bikes, I'm starting to set myself up on a standard set of gears for the cassette, and it's the same in all those bikes. Freewheels are just too much trouble to swap cogs on, so I just go with whatever I've bought.

I do triples only for loaded tourers:



Here, I'm still sticking with the 14-28 rear, but running a (I believe) 28-38-48 front.

due ruote 

53/42, 5 speed Dura Ace 14-22 fw, Suntour barcons, Cyclone mechs.

53/42, 6 speed Suntour 14-19 fw, Camp. dt shifters and mechs.

soonerbills

Very nice, very nice please keep them coming! I'm a shorter guy and believe in it hurts me in the way of available hill torque physically so I must make it up with gearing. How is the drop on those 46-26 chainwheels like on Southpawboston? How are you capable of maintaining cadance and do you find any mechanical derailleur issues on moving from the small to large cogs and vice versa ?
I have quite a few hills here in my part of eastern Ok so a triple is nice at least for me.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

on my 52-28 its pushing the limits of a 1st gen. Cyclone FD. It works well enough, you just need to be a bit careful on the upshift to the big ring that you don't throw the chain off. For me the downshift is reliable and simple but since its a bailout gear I only ever flip down to it when my cadence is already ridiculously low.

soonerbills

For me the downshift is reliable and simple but since its a bailout gear I only ever flip down to it when my cadence is already ridiculously low.

Yeah I get that. From what I'm reading a lot of you will take staying on the big ring longer than having the spread of a triple.

ColonelJLloyd 

48/38/28 Biopace chainrings and SRAM 850 11-28t 8sp cassette on the touring (soon to be multi-purpose) rig. Early Deore (second generation?) derailleurs. Dia Compe Silver bar ends. SRAM PC-870 chain. I like VO or Jagwire housing and cables. 700C x 35mm tires. I could easily replace the cassette with an 11-30 or 32t cassette if I decide I need it.







I'm currently building up my faster ride bike with a 48/33 double and 13-28t 7sp freewheel. Huret Jubilee front and long-cage rear derailleurs. Simplex Retrofriction shifters (front on a DT clamp, the rear converted to a bar end). SRAM PC-870 chain. 700C x 29mm tires.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

hey dude I think your 5 chainring bolts on the Stronglight are on backwards.

Cool setup with the 48-33 and the Single Barcon.

ColonelJLloyd 

For real? I'll admit to being somewhat inebriated whilst putting it together, but I recall that was the only way those bolts wanted to fit. Does it matter? This is a serious question.

Thanks, dude!