Fixed / Singlespeed Tour de France

stickman

A group of people rode the 1903 route the 'proper' way

http://www.flickr.com/groups/eingang/ discussion section.

stickman

I read that from 1903-1906 only fixed was allowed, freewheels were allowed from 1906 and derailleurs were allowed from 1937. I don't know about hub gears, i've seen them mentioned but no details. And what are the modern day rules on gearing?

Monty Dog

There are plenty of rules on the frame and the wheels but nothing in terms of gears. Derailleurs were about before hub gears - which are often heavy and slightly less efficient. Even though many rode 'fixed' gear they did have 2 sizes of sprocket on the rear wheel and the roads weren't smooth tarmac either - many of the mountain roads were simply dirt tracks.

stickman

Yes, and sometimes two sprockets on each side of the hub.

I wish they would use hub gears nowadays, they are better build quality and have light aluminium shells. They could use derailleurs for time trials where they need/want every microsecond of efficiency.

blorg

@stickman- if hub gears worked better and they were not banned by UCI they would be used, I can assure you. The main benefit of hub gears AFAIK is the weatherproofing, which is not generally a big issue in a race where equipment can be cleaned and prepared especially for the event.

stickman

Maybe there's a good reason for derailleurs, maybe it's just what people are used to?

I read that hubs are 6% less efficient mechanically - but they have smoother gear changes and are more aerodynamic, and who could feel a 6% difference anyway?

With personal experience of riding both I prefer hub gears.