12 Speed cassette?!

I'd much prefer to see Schumacher in a Bentley Speed Six "Le Mans"

Also, I rarely sleep longer than 3 hours. So my bedtime lately is around 5am

Aah The Manx Norton, now you're talking... Something was definitely lost when Geoff Duke switched to Gilera.

1:40 Gkam? Don't you ever go to bed?
I don't think that 462 gears would be quite enough for me to maintain my optimum cadence at all times. And if you're going to install that much hardware, I remember DAF cars (I think) had a transmission system based on pulleys with a variable effective diameter. Something of this ilk would give a bicycle a truly infinite number of gears, and of course be immediately banned by the UCI.

He also described gears as fit only for invalids and women

I'll begin the discussion with the whole quote

Quote:

I applaud this test, but I still feel that variable gears are only for people over 45. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailleur? We are getting soft. Come on fellows. Let's say that the test was a fine demonstration - for our grandparents! As for me, give me a fixed gear!

Although a little outdated now that we don't like in the late 1800's to 1915ish.....We don't have to be stuck to only a couple of gears.

We can choose anywhere from fixie right up to 33 in normal set ups.

If you have the knowledge and set up, you could go up to 462 gears on a single bike. Would need some adjusting though, but a triple, with 11 speed and a 14 speed Rohloff

But in theory you only need maybe 15% more than the pro's use?? So 33 would be MORE than enough.

But there always people who live in extreme's, so i'd like to see a 462 geared bike if anyone is up for it

"Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailleur?"
Henri Desgrange.

Discuss.

10 speed set-ups are a piece of cake to set up given your derailleur hanger is aligned properly.

apparently shimano xtr (mountainbike) is meant to be going 12 speed in its next version.

I believe Shimano have already patented a 14-speed system with tolerances so tight that the chain has only one side-plate. Yep, you read that right, the rollers are supported only at one end.

Up with this I will not put!

Realistically, why do most of us need closer ratios than what a 10 speed block can provide? I know someone will respond, talking about consistent cadence etc, but unless your a TTer or World Tour class rouleur, does it really matter if you have to change from a 17 to a 19 instead of an 18?

With the introduction of discs in road racing, you need more space anyway. So 135mm hubs may be the future.

I doubt they will go to much further, the next step should be make internal hubs smaller.

I used to own a recumbent trike with 81 gears. Triple, 9 speed cassette and a 3 speed internal. Alot of similar gears. But thats some amount of range. Not workable on a race style bike at the moment because the size of internals. But perfect of touring.

Presumably they would need to engineer a chain that would be as strong but narrower.

Please can we have a cease-fire in the drive train arms race - but then again, I am not a commercial or marketing director.

I know what you mean, but each time another sprocket is added, the task of tuning the derailleur movements and cable tension becomes a little more finicky. With 10-speed it's already difficult enough to make every gear run smoothly.

KCNC have already shown CADs of a 12s electronic shift system ... not sure if they have prototyped yet.

Any money on SRAM buying KCNC, anyone?