Why oh why did I bother with 11 speed?

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I have in the past had the pleasure of riding with the late Ray Holliday. Probably little know these days, but a very distinguished rider in these parts in the early fifties. (11th in the 1953 Tour of Britain). He rode with a very rapid cadence indeed - right into his eighties. And he could out-climb people half his age.
 

bpsmith

Veteran
It’s becoming a more interesting thread, cheers @ColinJ @Smokin Joe. Mildly off topic but very relevant still.
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
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This bike held the Edinburgh-London record for nearly 20yrs, alright Cliff held the record but you get what I mean.

It has an 'Ultra-Close' 3spd Sturmey Archer hub gear,
 

bpsmith

Veteran
View attachment 405372


This bike held the Edinburgh-London record for nearly 20yrs, alright Cliff held the record but you get what I mean.

It has an 'Ultra-Close' 3spd Sturmey Archer hub gear,
Now that is something rather special. Nothing which obviously stands out in its current form, just hidden away up there, but the story makes it priceless. I could happily listen all day to the stories attached to items like that.
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
Now that is something rather special. Nothing which obviously stands out in its current form, just hidden away up there, but the story makes it priceless. I could happily listen all day to the stories attached to items like that.
Here is the story about that bike (at 2:02 in the vid) Cliff helped with the development of the SA 'ultraclose' ratio hub which had the equivalent of 1 tooth up/down from the cog fitted.

Best bike shop ever. :becool:


View: https://youtu.be/I56m7KF7Erc
 

bigjim

Legendary Member
Location
Manchester. UK
I read somewhere it was Lance Armstrong who popularised high cadence riding, inasmuch as other riders saw him winning doing it - and other things, but that's not important right now.

The pic of Beryl Burton shows her riding what appears to be a very highly geared bike, particularly for a lady.

Spinning that top gear would be some effort for a fit male rider.
The article I read stated that, Armstrong was a grinder. To beat Ulrich who was also a grinder he had to be coached to spin effectively. Evidently it worked. Cue the comments about better drugs.
 

boydj

Legendary Member
Location
Paisley
I read somewhere it was Lance Armstrong who popularised high cadence riding, inasmuch as other riders saw him winning doing it - and other things, but that's not important right now.

The pic of Beryl Burton shows her riding what appears to be a very highly geared bike, particularly for a lady.

Spinning that top gear would be some effort for a fit male rider.

Well it did take the men quite a few years to beat the 12 Hour record set by Beryl Burton.
 

dan_bo

How much does it cost to Oldham?
I read somewhere it was Lance Armstrong who popularised high cadence riding, inasmuch as other riders saw him winning doing it - and other things, but that's not important right now.

The pic of Beryl Burton shows her riding what appears to be a very highly geared bike, particularly for a lady.

Spinning that top gear would be some effort for a fit male rider.

As time goes by I'm more inclined to think that Lance was using distraction tactics to cover his drug use- high cadence- training at race pace- vertical ft/minute stats and so on...he just rode a bloody bike. On gear.
 
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