"Half-step + granny" gearing...

[René Sterental]

Can you explain in more detail what this means? Over the years, I've read about how some combinations make more sense than others, and I believe the term "half-step" kept coming up. I never really understood it nor bothered to ask, but now I'd like to understand it better.

Thanks and Happy New Year!!!,

René

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: GAJett <guy4...@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Dec 31, 2011 at 11:03 AM
Subject: Re: [RBW] Re: Can I rant just a minute?
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com


For those not familiar with the "half-step + granny" you can consider this to be a compact double with the ability to fine-tune the gearing on the high side between the large chainwheels

[Kelly Sleeper]

Here ya go :)

http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ha-i.html

[René Sterental]

Thanks!

On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 6:13 PM, Kelly Sleeper <tksl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Here ya go :)

http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ha-i.html

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[Angus]

I set up half-step plus granny on my All-Rounder a number of years
ago. It worked well unloaded and on flatish ground, but in rolling
hills I found the large jump to the granny to be annoying. Went back
to a tripple with sensible (small) sized chainrings.

Angus

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[Jeremy Till]

I rode an old Takara touring bike with HS + G gearing for a while last year before I converted that bike to fixed gear, and I really liked it for the flat riding on my commute from Sacramento to Davis--as Sheldon said, it allowed for good fine-tuning of the gear depending on how i was feeling and the wind conditions, even with just a 6 spd freewheel.  I only really took it on one hilly, unloaded ride in the Bay Area and i remember it being fine, although there was a large jump between grinding out the climbs in the lowest of the half step gears and dropping down to twiddle in the granny.  I liked it enough to consider swapping the setup over to my other touring bike, but I haven't tried that yet. 

However, I think the point is is that HS+G only really makes sense if you're running 6 or less gears in the back; play around with a gear chart and you'll find that with today's commonly available 7-10spd FWs/cassettes, you can get a much wider and more continuous gear range with a "conventional" triple. 

That being said, a proper 5 or 6 spd setup with HS+G would win you retro-cool points in my book.  I believe Jobst Brandt rides with an HS (no G) setup, including his normal rides in the Santa Cruz mountains and his Alps tours.  In some of his tour reports I remember reading that his low gear was something like 46x24.  Tuff!

[Garth]

I have one road bike I use a HS+G with a 7sp. 13-32 and 26-44-48 rings.  I live in very hilly terrain and I love it.  The times I went to the mountains it was great too. It's just individual taste though.
You can use a HS setup with 8 or 9, as long as the range of the cassette is wide, like a 13-32, 11-34 or 12-36 .. sumthin' like that.  It's just fun to experiment.  Less gears is more that you think.

[Joe Bunik]

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[newenglandbike]

I used to have a half-step+granny gearing on my Sequoia (but went to a touring triple now).    I use an 8-speed in the back with the DO spacing spread to 130.     I have to agree that with an 8-speed, you definitely *do not* need the half-step/granny setup.     To really leverage half-step gearing you're just going to be shifting almost twice as often and would have to be really, really finicky about cadence.


Matt

[rob markwardt]

I've got a couple half-step bikes and find that I rarely use the "half-
step". Usually the "full step" is quite sufficient, however, there
are times when just a little bit higher or lower gearing is a nice
option...especially on long, undulating rides. I can't imagine
shifting through the whole range using all the half-steps...kind of
like pretending to be a semi-truck driver....rrrrr, shift, rrrrrrrrr,
shift, rrrrrrrrrr shift, etc. etc. etc. (might try it this evening!!).

Rob