Climbing

Jay Beattie wrote:
[...]
Also remember that the corn cobb was a show of manliness back in the
day. I see serious racers riding 25/26 tooth casettes during winter
around here -- which would be tantamount to confessing homosexuality
in 1975.

I was told by an authority on the matter (The Great Fabrizio Mazzoleni)
that only Freds would use a cassette that has an even number of teeth on
the largest gear.

Hmmm, all my bikes have 11-28, 11-32 or 11-34 cassettes.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
“the bacteria people tuned in-as to bioengineering at the correct wave
Point” - gene daniels

Jay Beattie wrote:

I don't recall what year it was, but it was the first year I was
"allowed" to race Mt. Hamilton as a senior. I was in the first
group of 4 or 5 over the summit and, as was often the case, I had on
my 13-24 or 13-25 freewheel (it was probably 13-24). I was often in
my lowest gear (42x24), but just as often I would be in a
considerably- higher gear. I would switch between standing in a
higher gear and being seated in a lower gear, and I don't think it
was that unusual to do so.

The other guys would sometimes make fun of my "huge" 25 tooth rear
cog I'd sometimes show up with, but very few could keep up with me,
and it's not as if I was into Lance-style spinning. What I find
odd reading through this thread (which I've come a bit late to) is
the implication that people ride up a hill in just one gear, never
changing their climbing rhythm, despite the length or changes in
pitch of the climb.

Also remember that the corn cob was a show of manliness back in the
day. I see serious racers riding 25/26 tooth cassettes during
winter around here -- which would be tantamount to confessing
homosexuality in 1975.

The Mt' Hamilton race was first ridden as a USCF (or ABL) race in 1958
after I had initiated it and cast its classic bronze trophy in the
Stanford foundry and mounted it with 50t chainring on a mahogany
board. That was done with help from members of my club (Pedale
Alpini) put it together.

I also built a pair of Fiamme-red, 36-spoke tubular wheels with
Clement Campionato del Mundo silks for the KIM trophy. Beyond that,
corncob clusters (13-14-15-16-17) were commonly used for flat TT
racing, and because the rider who challenged my claim that the hill
didn't require extra low gears and knew what gear I often used, I made
a point of using the corncob so he couldn't claim later that I had not
ridden in a 50-15 but rather did so when I heard him approach on his
motorcycle.

The style of wreck.bike was already exercised in those days.

Jobst Brandt