Back (way back) when I lived in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Mich, I had to modify my flatlander gearing on the cheap. There's some fairly serious elevation change up there. I put a 28 cog on the freewheel, leaving the 16-15-14-13 straight gears. The first year there, I got dropped on every friggin ride (not from gearing, from my rubber legs). But my friend was from Venezuela and a natural climber. He taught me how to climb and then it was a blast.
Here's the 19-pound Assenmacher Columbus KL bike. This was probably 1981-82. Not sure why the chain is sagging? Note the freak gear setup
Early 4-hole SR front derailleur. Cinelli Unicantor saddle. Hi-flange hubs with tied & soldered spokes - I re-laced them with 1-cross in front and 2-cross in rear. Skeleton shift levers (shown in a previous post). Man, those Columbus-logo water bottles go for $100 each on fleaBay these days.
