Is this bike a 24 speed?

[freeradical]

If so, why would this many gears be needed for a casual weekend rider?

http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/city-tre...ismo/iseo/

[JoeH]

Yes, that would be 24 gear combinations. Probably not needed by the casual rider, but the long distance rider might use many of the combinations to get just the right ratio for the road they were on.

Then again, there is bragging rights...

[OWC Jamie]

technically, you don't need any more than one fixed gear.





( if you're in corn country )
otherwise what you want really is a range of gears to match the terrain you plan to encounter

a city bike ( maybe not san francisco or seattle ) with three speeds gets you by in Copenhagen which is nice and flat (except for where it isn't, like near the brewery )

[mattkime]

freeradical wrote:
If so, why would this many gears be needed for a casual weekend rider?

http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/city-tre...ismo/iseo/

maybe you live near hills.

fwiw - pros / racers have 20 or 22 gears at this point. 2 chainrings and 10 or 11 cogs. the 24 speed bike you're looking at has a wider range of gearing so you can keep the effort toward the civilized side of things.

[freeradical]

mattkime wrote:
[quote=freeradical]
If so, why would this many gears be needed for a casual weekend rider?

http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/city-tre...ismo/iseo/

maybe you live near hills.

fwiw - pros / racers have 20 or 22 gears at this point. 2 chainrings and 10 or 11 cogs. the 24 speed bike you're looking at has a wider range of gearing so you can keep the effort toward the civilized side of things.
I can appreciate the wider range of gears, but I don't see how the average rider would see a difference between say gear 17 or 18.

[OWC Jamie]

freeradical wrote:
[quote=mattkime]
[quote=freeradical]
If so, why would this many gears be needed for a casual weekend rider?

http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/city-tre...ismo/iseo/

maybe you live near hills.

fwiw - pros / racers have 20 or 22 gears at this point. 2 chainrings and 10 or 11 cogs. the 24 speed bike you're looking at has a wider range of gearing so you can keep the effort toward the civilized side of things.
I can appreciate the wider range of gears, but I don't see how the average rider would see a difference between say gear 17 or 18. An average non-enthusiast dslr owner might not be able to tell the difference between f5.6 and f8 either. Doesn't mean there isn't a difference.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

freeradical wrote: I can appreciate the wider range of gears, but I don't see how the average rider would see a difference between say gear 17 or 18.

Do you mean the average rider that rides a bike 2 miles once a week, or the average rider that rides 12 miles a day to and from work when it isn't raining, or the average rider that puts in 30 miles a day and rides in a century 8 times a year?

One year I was doing about 80 miles a week in a loop from my apartment, to Discovery Park, to Sac State, and back home. I turned my 10-speed into a 12-speed. I usually used one of two gears depending on the headwind. With 24 gears, I would be able to choose between 3 gears.

[Grateful11]

Back in the day I needed to choose between a Peugeot in pearl white and Bianchi Celeste green racing bike.
I chose the Peugeot it was lighter and cheaper, still love that Celeste green color, it's timeless.

[Bernie]

Peugeot had pimples on the rim for braking. I went Trek. It was the new cool at the time. It had a Shimano derailluer that pivoted in three places. Revolutionary!

[Grateful11]

Bernie wrote:
Peugeot had pimples on the rim for braking. I went Trek. It was the new cool at the time. Shimano that pivoted in three places. Revolutionary!

Mine didn't, it had tubular tires mounted on Mavic rims instead clinchers. I built an extra set of very light wheels with Super Champion rims and double butted spokes.

I remember those pimpled rims on cheaper bikes with steel rims.