seedsbelize 

I too prefer a 6 speed, and have 2 bikes with them. the other 2 are 7 speeds, and I can't see myself needing any more than that. I have a 5 speed folding bike, with a single up front.

But Auchen, modern bikes are called 10 speeds, and they have 30.

zukahn1

I built a strait 5 speed recently as a flipper just old school double with one ring front and Suntour 5 rear and single thumby on the bars not a great bike. But it sold in less than a day for a good price.

AZORCH

I've got my "Tweed Ride" special tricked out as a five speed (wide range in back and single 42t in front.) Stem shifter is original but I'm eventually going to swap it out for a single bar end shifter.

Italuminium

Other than that dork disc, that bike looks amazing.pretty much the way I want to go with my mystery frame - north roads, one ring in the front, five in the back, leather saddle, fenders.

non-fixie 

70's Batavus Sprint:

wahoonc

Now THAT is a bicycle!

And looks to be close enough to my size that I could make do with it, and it is in my favorite colour.

Aaron

John E

I need at least a 2x6 (11 usable ratios, no large-large crosschaining) setup to get the range I need and the tight progression I prefer. Examples:
50-42/14-16-18-20-23-26 1.5 step
45-42/13-15-17-20-23-26 half step
49-46/14-16-18-21-24-26 half step

zukahn1

Don't do it the single stemy is just right for this bike.

Velognome 

I ran a uo9 as a 5 speed for years as a beater on amostly flats and rollers, Never seemed to be in want of any more gears.

non-fixie 

Thanks. I spotted it at an LBS when dropping in for parts. The first owner had justed part exchaged it for a new bike. He had bought this one in the same shop in 1973. For the price of a carton of cigarettes it was mine.

02Pilot

Just posted a thread about the 5-speed I completed here: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...g-and-rambling

Grand Bois

The thread is about 5/6 speeds, not 12.

AZORCH

I'm seriously considering building a higher end five speed — no idea precisely what at the moment — but I find that I spin at 61-ish gear inches about 95% of the time, regardless of the terrain. If a hill gets really steep and long, I'll drop down to the low gear, but I simply don't have a need for most of my gear range. The point is that — for me, anyway — cross chaining isn't an issue if I'm only really using maybe four gear combinations to begin with. I also like the idea of clean lines and simpler drive train.

Great thread, folks!

wahoonc

Depends on where you are on the pricing of cigarettes... Around here they are cheap (so I hear), I live in NC

Aaron

ColonelJLloyd 

I built this up for my friend Rachel in Chicago. Five gears are enough for her.





I later installed a B67 and rear rack.

jonwvara

I've got a Raleigh Sprite set up as a 7 speed--52/36 in front, and 24 and 28 cogs in back on a Sturmey-Archer AW hub, with a Huret Svelto RD. There's no front derailleur--I get off and shift by hand when I have to use the super-low 36-28 gear, which I only use when I'm already in the SA low. Bike gearing is low overall--highest gear is in the mid-70s, normal low in the low 30s, super-low bailout around 26, I think. Whole setup works remarkably well. I live among big hills with lots of dirt roads.

cobrabyte

I've posted this bike enough recently, but it's appropriate for this thread

I picked up this nice 1983 Peugeot PX 8 M and the fr. derailleur was missing. I went about swapping on an Silstar crank that was delivered to me with a bent large chainring, the original crankes were cheap swagged ones and I wasn't going to use a 52T front single ring.




Hey check it out, that's convenient


So it ended up with a 40T front & 14-26T rear 5 speed

Still need to re-apply the 'Peugeot' badge on the rear derailleur



Now I use it to commute and the low gearing is great for carrying lots of stuff when I need to work long shifts or grocery shopping

non-fixie 

About the same as a bottle of scotch of reasonable quality ...

vjp

Really pretty bike!

I have been thinking about one of these rear racks also, do you think that the alloy fender will hold up OK, or would a stainless fender be better? Can you hang moderately loaded panniers from it?

rhm

Okay, here's the bike I mentioned before, 1954 Drysdale Sports Tourist with Simplex tour-de-france 5 speed derailleur.



Originally it had a three speed derailleur... oof!

ThermionicScott 

Lots of clean, elegant bikes in this thread!

More than once, I've looked at my girlfriend's Schwinn 5-speed and thought, "You know, this is an intelligently-picked gear range (39-90 GI). I could be happy with this range and spacing for just about all of my riding."

frantik

how often do you guys with no chain keeper get chain drop? i guess if you're riding a road bike you're not going to be riding rough terrain but even changing gears from a larger to smaller gear can cause chain to bounce sometimes which can cause chain to come off. i always make sure to pedal over rough obstacles to keep tension on the chain, which seems to help tons

Paul Gittins

I have 5-speed rears on my 3 1960's/70's bikes as they have 120mm wide rear dropouts. Using Campag Nuovo Record on 2 and a Benelux Mk 7 on the other. I generally use 13-23 for average riding with 52-42 (but if necessary can just get away with a 28t) on the NR mechs. However, the Benelux max is 24 which, with TA 52-44 front can be a bit limiting at times.

I do find that the range of gears available can occasionally be a bit restrictive when compared to 10 speed rears on my 'modern' machine which more readily allow frequent changes - especially with 'brifters' rather than down tube levers. It's just a case of staying in a gear and pushing a bit harder when the road starts to rise a bit.

BTW, do I spy a Porticataneo system on Gary Fountain's bike?

ijsbrand

My Batavus Champion commuter has been a six speed bike since 1988. And while many parts have been changed over the years, the number of gears has remained the same.

02Pilot

It's a terribly small sample size, as I've only got ~30 miles on it thus far, but I haven't had this problem at all on my Gitane. Those miles have been solely on pavement, but it did include some very rough sections where tree roots had heaved it upwards quite severely.