• @grue
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    1 year ago

    The individual gears emulate a continuously variable transmission, but as a step function instead of a discontinuous function, so there’s the space in between two consecutive gears that’s more optimal than either surrounding gear for most speeds/inclines/acceleration/etc., but inaccessible.

    Both rear cassettes and internal gear hubs these days can come with a ridiculous fuck-ton of gears (they literally go up to eleven!*). And that’s before you add a front derailleur and multiply by three! How many more ratios in between those do you need?!

    (*Or more, now. The ridiculousness has surpassed Spinal Tap!)

    • @dx1
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      21 year ago

      I bike a lot and the traditional gear systems, while they’re pretty rock solid, easy enough to service, etc., definitely leave a little room for improvement. When you’re exerting a ton of force uphill and have to shift, for example, it can be a total disaster (especially if your derailleur stops are bad and your chain slips, which I’m dealing with this moment after a rebuild).