Using a double with a greater than 16T difference.

[KneesUp]

Hi again KneesUp. My frame is 28.6mm.

Ah. The mech I have is 34.9mm. There are plenty of second hand 28.6mm triples on ebay though?

 

[TheCyclingRooster]

I still think in terms of 27" wheels when i calculate gear inches. So 27*50/15 =90"

Only important to compare releative set ups, so a slight discrepancy doesnt really matter.

Hi Sharky. Yes and with all of those pencil and paper calculations and the came the various websites that took all of the Albert Einstein effort out of it.
I discovered http://www.jbarrm.com/cgi-bin/c42strt.cgi many many years back and what a discovery.

When I think back to the mid/late 60's and my days of riding my 19.5" 1937 Hetchins Vibrant 2 day Brilliant Track Bike and the calculations that went-on.

I used to often ride a 108" fixed for most of the year but would then changed to a much lower ratio for the Winter and training runs,as I recall it was somewhere in the order of a 78" or an 82".

 

[TheCyclingRooster]

Ah. The mech I have is 34.9mm. There are plenty of second hand 28.6mm triples on ebay though?

Hi again KneesUp. 34.9 is huge - was it of a Mountain Bike ?

I spent several days last week and over the weekend searching E'bay and came up with mainly Doubles and very few were 28.6mm Triples and the 28.6 Triples were mostly Shimano - I am looking for Campagnolo.

 

[Sharky]

Hi Sharky. Yes and with all of those pencil and paper calculations and the came the various websites that took all of the Albert Einstein effort out of it.
I discovered http://www.jbarrm.com/cgi-bin/c42strt.cgi many many years back and what a discovery.

When I think back to the mid/late 60's and my days of riding my 19.5" 1937 Hetchins Vibrant 2 day Brilliant Track Bike and the calculations that went-on.

I used to often ride a 108" fixed for most of the year but would then changed to a much lower ratio for the Winter and training runs,as I recall it was somewhere in the order of a 78" or an 82".

108 - that's an impressive gear. Bet you didnt climb Billinge Bump on it though.

Cheers Keith

 

[User16625]

I know its not the answer to your question, but have you considered just a single chainring? A wide cassette (11-34) with a 34 ring will give you the bottom gear you are looking for with something around an 81 at the top end. I made the switch to a single ring a few years ago. Makes gear shifts a lot less complicated.

I too ride short cranks 145 & 150mm and also pleased with this change.

I know what you mean. Some things are a bit complicated, but its nice to be able to simplify the really complex stuff.

 

[Ajax Bay]

For a 700c wheel, like @Sharky I use 27" as well for calculating gear inches, and as he says, it's realative (sic). I'm not using a calculation site, I'm using maths.
39/11 high
26/25 low
44/12 high
28/28 low
Using 27"

I am currently contemplating a 42/26 with a rear cassette of 12:13:14:15:16:17:19:21:23:25.

Options (using arbitrary 27"):
a. 11-25 with a 39-26 give you 96" and 28" (NB not 27" as my earlier post)
b. 12-28 with a 44-28 gives you 99" and 27" (How can 28/28 give you (your words) "29.68 for the low on the 44/28"?
As an aside I find that jbarrm link really clunky - "celebrating 20 years on the internet" !!! - and you obviously find it difficult too. Try this one.
http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=...16,17,19,21,23,25&UF=2125&TF=90&SL=2.2&UN=MPH
EDIT (added): In summary, and back on topic, rather than trying to get a FD to cope with an 18 tooth delta, the OP might be better advised to use an 11t sprocket (accept the loss of a mid-range sprocket) and reduce the large chainwheel tooth count (by 3).

 

[TheCyclingRooster]

108 - that's an impressive gear. Bet you didnt climb Billinge Bump on it though.

Cheers Keith

Hi Keith. Yes,in those days I was super fit and weighed just under 7st 10lbs and stood at 4'10" - a 108" fixed gear was some thing of an equivalent to pumping-up on steroids. I often went out from West Vale,Kirkby onto the coastal route through Deeside and back.
I had a 72" flip-flop as Belt and Braces.

How do you know the Billinge area ? Did you call 'The Billinge Bump' the one between Higher and Lower end ? It was only 4years ago that I was still able to climb the whole of Alma Hill on a 28/26 and also from the bottom of both Stoney Brow and Gathurst Lane without stopping - at pushing 67yrs young I don't think that was bad and after having had total left knee replacement in 2007 and resorting to 140mm cranks to get the bend at the knee. I am now 71yrs but not getting younger - not even in my head.

Come the Spring I will again tackle Beacon Lane Dalton from where I am now - at Bescar,Nr Burscough and up past the Beacon Inn,The Prince William and up Mill Lane to Alma Hill for the descent and then try the ascent again.

Where ever I go from Bescar I have often got some wicked cross-winds to contend with first,Pelotons can break them down but not a lone rider.

 

[Sharky]

Hi Keith. Yes,in those days I was super fit and weighed just under 7st 10lbs and stood at 4'10" - a 108" fixed gear was some thing of an equivalent to pumping-up on steroids. I often went out from West Vale,Kirkby onto the coastal route through Deeside and back.
I had a 72" flip-flop as Belt and Braces.

How do you know the Billinge area ? Did you call 'The Billinge Bump' the one between Higher and Lower end ? It was only 4years ago that I was still able to climb the whole of Alma Hill on a 28/26 and also from the bottom of both Stoney Brow and Gathurst Lane without stopping - at pushing 67yrs young I don't think that was bad and after having had total left knee replacement in 2007 and resorting to 140mm cranks to get the bend at the knee. I am now 71yrs but not getting younger - not even in my head.

Come the Spring I will again tackle Beacon Lane Dalton from where I am now - at Bescar,Nr Burscough and up past the Beacon Inn,The Prince William and up Mill Lane to Alma Hill for the descent and then try the ascent again.

Where ever I go from Bescar I have often got some wicked cross-winds to contend with first,Pelotons can break them down but not a lone rider.

I know the area quite well. Lived near Prescot up to1969 and rode with the Prescot RC for 4 years. The Rainford bypass was my local 10 course. Have ridden it a few times on 96" fixed. Also rode via windle and crank to top of billinge last year, but on a much lower gear. Its much steeper than it used to be! I'll be 67 next year, so will have to have another go.

 

[TheCyclingRooster]

I know the area quite well. Lived near Prescot up to1969 and rode with the Prescot RC for 4 years. The Rainford bypass was my local 10 course. Have ridden it a few times on 96" fixed. Also rode via windle and crank to top of billinge last year, but on a much lower gear. Its much steeper than it used to be! I'll be 67 next year, so will have to have another go.

Hi again Sharky. Small World ! How long have you been living in Kent ? My youngest brother Eddie Shepherd used to Time Trial on the Rainford By-Pass.
The bump at Crank is no pimple either. The last time I tackled that I was in my Mid/Late 50's by which time I had certainly discovered the benefit of a well chosen selection of Campagnolo ratios.
At that time I was living in Tawd Bridge,UpHolland and used to go via the Rainford Moss and Rainford Village and sometimes come back home via Billinge Lower to Higher and up Alma Hill to UpHolland Top o' Hill.
.

 

[boydj]

Hi again KneesUp. 34.9 is huge - was it of a Mountain Bike ?

I spent several days last week and over the weekend searching E'bay and came up with mainly Doubles and very few were 28.6mm Triples and the 28.6 Triples were mostly Shimano - I am looking for Campagnolo.

I know it won't please the purists, but on one of my bikes I have a Shimano triple chainset with Campagnolo shifters and mechs - mainly for the 165mm cranks which I could not find in Campag, but also because there was so much more choice in the Shimano chainsets.

You can buy a bolt-on mech and a seperate band to bolt it to, which is what I did.

 

[Sharky]

Hi again Sharky. Small World ! How long have you been living in Kent ? My youngest brother Eddie Shepherd used to Time Trial on the Rainford By-Pass.
The bump at Crank is no pimple either. The last time I tackled that I was in my Mid/Late 50's by which time I had certainly discovered the benefit of a well chosen selection of Campagnolo ratios.
At that time I was living in Tawd Bridge,UpHolland and used to go via the Rainford Moss and Rainford Village and sometimes come back home via Billinge Lower to Higher and up Alma Hill to UpHolland Top o' Hill.
.

Moved to kent in 1969 when i was 19. My dad worked for the BI and they transferred him to their Erith plant in kent. Miss the north west, great rides in all directions. Still visit a couple of times each year to see my 95yr old uncle and a few cousins but now have too many links down here to consider moving back.
Cheers keith