Remembering the straight block

[pcb]

The business card for the shop I worked in when I was just a pup read, under the shop name, "For Touring Cyclists."

I was both jealous of those riding corncobs, and made fun of them. Because I was jealous.

We sometimes toyed with the idea of using our Suntour New Winner cog board to build up a true hardman's cluster: 13/13/14/14/15/15, so you'd always have a spare when you wore out a cog.

I recently built myself a Covid Corncob Cluster for the rollers, 12-19t 8spd mostly-hyperglide cassette. I should leave it that, but....but it's paired with a 38/24t double, so, still jealous.

Also sorry to say this is a phone pic, so apologies for the noise and stuff.

Originally Posted by Steve in SLO

Real hardmen ran a 12-12-12-12-12 freewheel.

[Look585]

True straight block, 45-55.

[CMiller]

Originally Posted by Eli Bingham

Sir, this is a Wendy’s.

Haha +1

[rustychisel]

Crikey... anyone remember 5 speed blocks, these are all 6 or 7s?

I wore out 2 Shimano 600 corncobs, 14-15-16-17-18 x 52/40.

I was about 17 and didn't know any better when it came to riding the Adelaide Hills.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Fixed

http://www.velominati.com/accessorie...traight-block/


Disc brakes and 1x drivetrains. These are the sort of things that belong on mountainbikes, are questionable on cross bikes, and should make an immediate trip to the rubbish bin when it comes to road bikes. Change for the sake of change; gimmickry masquerading as innovation. And to make matters worse, the appearance of 11-speed blocks has killed the last vestige of the complexity of our sport: block composition and size.

The question of gear choice was once one of the most critical decisions a Cyclist could make when tackling a course. In The Rider, Tim Krabé describes his gear choice and those of his competitors; throughout the book, he fixates upon which gear he is riding in. José Manuel Fuente used to use higher gears that the other climbers to intimidate them. Andy Hampsten famously rode only odd-numbered gears because obviously even-sized gears made his palms go sweaty.

Sean Kelly belabored his choice to use a 13-25 block versus a 12-23 for the 1989 World Championship Road Race. He knew he couldn’t climb as well as the other favorites and wanted a 25 to save his legs over the final climb. If, however, he managed to get over the hill, he would surely need the 12 in order to win the sprint. It was a classic catch-22; use a block that he could win the sprint with but get dropped on the climb, or get over the hill and lose the sprint. The race lay in the balance of a single tooth on a cog.

We used to build our blocks, not buy a complete cassette on ebay. The idea was to keep the gears as close together as possible with a straight block being the holy grail and the relative smallness of the biggest gear being a declaration of your status as Hardman. Every tooth beyond a 1 tooth jump was a sacrifice; every step beyond a 21 or 23 tooth cog was a silent admission of your sissiness as a Cyclist. The Pros today are riding 11-28 blocks on every kind of terrain, every day. Even at Paris-Roubaix, one of the only races flat enough to still require little more than a 19 even for us mortals.

Committing to nothing lower than a 19-tooth gear requires a suitcase of courage, poor planning, or both. And it looks tough as nails, that tight cluster of gears at the back wheel. Not like these big dinner plates we see riding around all over the place these days. You could serve a nice helping of Steak Frites on some of these modern blocks. Disgraceful. And while I’m not building my blocks anymore, I’m certainly still choosing a cassette for the terrain and plan to continue doing so until I’m pushing up daisies, thank you very much.


(Ah the good old days when riders were As tough as the steel They rode)
Cheers to all

POYD AND POTD..Post of yesterDay and Today..huzzah!!!

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Thanks for the schooling grandpa...

http://www.velominati.com/accessorie...traight-block/

geeezz.....

[fignon's barber]

11 or 12 speed cassettes are like the designated hitter in baseball: takes away some of the strategy. I still remember racing on 7 speed cassettes, and the feeling that one gear wasn't enough, and the next gear was too much.

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

11 or 12 speed cassettes are like the designated hitter in baseball: takes away some of the strategy. I still remember racing on 7 speed cassettes, and the feeling that one gear wasn't enough, and the next gear was too much.

when we went to 8sp we could have a 24 AND a 16!

what a luxury!

now? Meh more gears are more gears

M

[paredown]

Originally Posted by rustychisel

Crikey... anyone remember 5 speed blocks, these are all 6 or 7s?

I wore out 2 Shimano 600 corncobs, 14-15-16-17-18 x 52/40.

I was about 17 and didn't know any better when it came to riding the Adelaide Hills.

Oh yeah--5 speed is where I started--then it was the big upgrade to 6 on the back. I had a corncob for flat/mostly flat crits--but even my regular 6 had gears for "climbing" that would make my knees pop off today.

And I was cool because I had a Campy 53 big ring on the front before it was a thing...

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

http://www.velominati.com/accessorie...traight-block/

geeezz.....

What you are all of a sudden shocked by my harmless sarcasm? I’ll add a smiley for you!


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[ntb1001]

Originally Posted by paredown

Oh yeah--5 speed is where I started--then it was the big upgrade to 6 on the back. I had a corncob for flat/mostly flat crits--but even my regular 6 had gears for "climbing" that would make my knees pop off today.

And I was cool because I had a Campy 53 big ring on the front before it was a thing...

Yup...me too!!

But, before that I had a 50 because of junior gear restrictions...now that’s called a compact


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[Tandem Rider]

SunTour NewWinner 7spd came in a 12-21 configuration when it came out. I figured out right away that the 16 on my old 6spd straight block was an essential gear for cruising along in the pack. I took the freewheel apart and put it back together in a 12-20 arrangment using cogs from my old 6 spd and th shop's board just so I could have the 16, I ended up with several of those, one for each wheelset, I probably still have some in a box.

[steelbikerider]

I have one of the last great straight blocks on my 10 year old tt bike sitting unused now - a ten speed Dura Ace 12-21! Anybody want to top it with an 11 speed 11-21?

A true straight has only 1 tooth gaps between cogs.

[Tandem Rider]

Essential equipment for any racer from the freewheel era. The freewheel vice to make custom ratios. A selection of pullers. The freewheel on the left is a stock 12-21 DuraAce, The other 2 are straight blocks, a 12-18 and the one on the right being a relic from my junior days, a Regina 15-20.

As a side note, I found one in the box I must have customized for a particular course, 12,13,14,16,19,22,23

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by charliedid

What you are all of a sudden shocked by my harmless sarcasm? I’ll add a smiley for you!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very little shocks me but a smiley goes a long way------->>>>