Poking around on the Rapha site the other day I happened upon an interesting article called “It takes 42″. I don’t think TOO much about chainring counts but I was intrigued at this 3 tooth increase from standard making much of a difference. I must admit that I do kinda like crushing a big gear often to my own detriment. What really caught my eye was the statement talking about the smooth transition from big to small. I have certainly made that change and felt like it just clunked into the small ring and started spinning. The writer indicated they were hard to find although eBay indicated maybe not.
A few weeks later on thewashingmachinepost there appeared an article (scroll to the bottom of this archive page) questioning whether we’ve gone soft as the default setup is 53/39 and there is an increasing tendency for people to spec 50/34.
Both gentlemen make the switch to 42 teeth, both are British, and both decide they really like it. Where does this all lead for me? One lazy Saturday morning a few weeks ago an email popped in on the local cycling listserv with a bike for sale. 1986 Bianchi Brava – 58cm (my size) – all 105 – 60 bucks. It was mine within the hour. After I returned home and started looking it over what did I find? A 52/42 chainring setup…
I’m still feeling the setup out overall, but I definitely like it. The shifters and derailleurs are not exactly dialed in. In fact a few days ago on a lunch time ride up the Moser Knob time trial it put me to the test. The climb is roughly 1 mile and averages 8-9%. I started up in the 42t ring, there is a strong opening pitch that sent me straight to the easiest ratio available to me – 42/25. A few rotations in the shifter moved and clunked me right back into the 21t cog. The down tube shifters on the bike do not currently have enough tension to hold the gearing in place under load. So there I was with no where to go but up and a decidedly aggressive ratio. I made it up and over but it certainly was a trial by fire. It left me laughing to myself at my thoughts going into it about my “tough” gearing “choices”. Ha…
