Whitey Gets His Gears Back

6:52 am, November 22nd, 2009 | No Comments »
Posted in bikes, boythings, photography by Jarod

Sick of sore knees and having to set up the gearing for each trail I visited, I splurged and bought Whitey some new running gear. The vertical drop outs meant the single speed thing never did work quite right. Oh well, I might try single speeding again at some point in the future**.

Took him for a quick spin out at Appin yesterday and despite the different style of riding needed with gears, I’m quite a happy chappy. Single speeding for the last year made me want to grab a big gear and grind up Appin’s countless pinch climbs, but eventually I’ll relearn that cadence is king (and with that remember that cardio is queen).

SRAM x.9 Front Derailleur

SRAM x.9 Rear Derailleur

PG980 Cassette & PC991 Chain

SRAM x.0 Trigger Shifters

And the obligatory drive train side photo.

** And by, some point in the future, I actually mean, in a few weeks.

Why 10 speed mountain bike cassettes are a bad thing

2:29 pm, November 20th, 2008 | No Comments »
Posted in bikes, boythings, whinging by Jarod

Perhaps I’m a jaded old rider, but I prefer components on my bike a little heavier and a lot more hard wearing. The rumours surrounding 10 speed mtb cassettes don’t appeal to me at all. In fact, I dislike the very thought of it.

On my Gary Fisher I’m often, if not always, shifting two gears at a time. That’s up and down kids. The extra cog which supposedly has the benefit of making the ratios closer together would be wasted on me in a shifting frenzy. I know I should shift more often to regulate my cadence, but that’s just not the way I enjoy riding. It’s the same reason why my single speed is (was) so enjoyable to ride. Just jump on… pedal… and switch your brain off.

The negative point that I can’t get my head around is that adding another cog means that all ten would be thinner, thus they all wouldn’t last nearly as long. Drive trains will wear out quicker and need replacing sooner. And what will your barely ridden, worn out 10 speed drive train with? A new lighter, faster, more expensive 10 speed cassette of course!

Except for the elite I can’t see 10 speed cassettes being needed, but folks will surely upgrade to latest and greatest 10 speed cassettes.. The main reason is that it’ll pack some punch when there’s a pissing contest between mates on the trail. Those with 30 gears will win.

For me, big companies forcing people into an endless upgrade cycle (no pun intended) only solidifies my love of simple, basic technologies. A bicycle’s drive train should fit into the category of ‘chunky and lasts for ages’. The one wide gear and chain on my single speed certainly does that.