This article was written by Paul de Vivie. In his 1898 article he advocated a 3 speed system for touring, but by 1899 it’s 4 speeds that’s required. For the spin from Grenoble to Lautaret (90km of Alpine climbing - passing the bottom of the hairpin climb to L’Alpe d’Huez) he chose développements of 3.30m, 4.40m, 6.04m and 7.22m (roughly 41”, 55”, 76” and 90”). Given the state of the roads at the time, those ratios look adventurously high!

In general his message was clear - give me gears and plenty of them.

(Source gallica.bnf.fr/ Bibliothèque nationale de France)

• Publisher: T.C.F. Revue Mensuelle
• Country: France
• Date: February 1899
• Derailleur brands: de Vivie
• Derailleurs: none