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I know we have a lot of closet roadies here so this one is for them...
I should start by saying that it's still winter here in Edmonton and most folks have packed up the bikes until the spring thaw. A few of us are still riding regularly, some are commuting and some are even hitting the trails and singletrack.
The current temperature is -15C with no wind and I had to fire up the heater in the shop so that I could go and play with the girls and my eyes happened to fall upon my beloved '73 Raleigh - Carlton road bike. Built on some beautiful Reynolds 531 tubing she's a lightweight and as an SS running a 42:16 she was plenty fast but she's been hanging from her perch ever since the snow started falling.
I thought to myself...what if I took that 42 and swapped it for that 52 tooth ring I removed when I did the original conversion ?
That's what 88 gear inches looks like although I'll be swapping the 16 tooth cog for an 18 to make the drive even smoother and drop the gearing to 78 gear inches as despite living on the prairies, things around here aren't flat by any means.
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And this is the old girl... only the alloy wheels and tires aren't original or period correct equipment and despite the lack of carbon or titanium parts she still curbs out in the very low twenties.
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And having put all this together I just had to go for a little test spin and I have to say that passing cars in a 50kmh zone in the dead of winter is an adrenaline inducing thrill and something that makes me long for spring to arrive.
I should start by saying that it's still winter here in Edmonton and most folks have packed up the bikes until the spring thaw. A few of us are still riding regularly, some are commuting and some are even hitting the trails and singletrack.
The current temperature is -15C with no wind and I had to fire up the heater in the shop so that I could go and play with the girls and my eyes happened to fall upon my beloved '73 Raleigh - Carlton road bike. Built on some beautiful Reynolds 531 tubing she's a lightweight and as an SS running a 42:16 she was plenty fast but she's been hanging from her perch ever since the snow started falling.
I thought to myself...what if I took that 42 and swapped it for that 52 tooth ring I removed when I did the original conversion ?
That's what 88 gear inches looks like although I'll be swapping the 16 tooth cog for an 18 to make the drive even smoother and drop the gearing to 78 gear inches as despite living on the prairies, things around here aren't flat by any means.
And this is the old girl... only the alloy wheels and tires aren't original or period correct equipment and despite the lack of carbon or titanium parts she still curbs out in the very low twenties.
And having put all this together I just had to go for a little test spin and I have to say that passing cars in a 50kmh zone in the dead of winter is an adrenaline inducing thrill and something that makes me long for spring to arrive.
