Do you change down gears before stopping at traffic lights?

[Supersuperleeds]

I thought we all jumped red lights and therefore if anything we should be changing up gears as we tear through them

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I still often change down as I'm slowing, else I forget and strain my knees when I'm riding a derailleur bike.

Likewise with my derailleur bikes & dodgy knees but I've found I'm gravitating so much to the hub gears nowadays. MTB is going to be kept as a winter studded hack cos its worth nowt to anyone but me and I'm in the process of moving my last roadie on.

*if anyone fancies a 54cm Coppi San Remo approx 10 y.o. that runs nicely but is cosmetically in need of TLC then watch the sales section soon if my pal at work doesn't fit it*

 

[Drago]

Yes I do.

Why would I not? Is not attempting to keep with the traffic flow de rigeur now?

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I do it without thinking, it is just natural and no matter how many other things there are to think about my brain parses that action in the background.

 

[Dan B]

Yes I do.

Why would I not? Is not attempting to keep with the traffic flow de rigeur now?

I don't know when you learned to drive, but when I was taught, we were told to slow down using the brakes and then select first gear when stopped. That was ten years ago or so, so I expect a lot of the traffic flow you're keeping with is not changing down through the gears either

 

[Tanis8472]

I don't know when you learned to drive, but when I was taught, we were told to slow down using the brakes and then select first gear when stopped. That was ten years ago or so, so I expect a lot of the traffic flow you're keeping with is not changing down through the gears either

That to my mind is a bloody awful way to drive. Were you also told to brake going downhill in a car?
Using the gears makes sure you are always in the right one to accelerate again if needed.

 

[Brightski]

I find that I can get off to a quicker start than almost everyone else when I change down before I stop and start pedaling at a low gear. But this obviously requires changing gears very often, which I'm not sure if you're meant to do?

I do it

 

[Full Metal Sprocket]

What gears?

 

[Sandra6]

I tend to ride in the same gear most of the time anyway. Unless the lights were at the bottom of a particularly steep hill I wouldn't be in too high a gear to set off comfortably.

 

[Feastie]

Always! Unless the lights change on me really quickly and I have no time. Otherwise I would strain my dodgy knees and end up unable to run for a few days.

I trashed my knees in the first place (or so I believe...) by riding in the same gear all the time.

 

[TheSoulReaver03]

Always, you would not pull away in 4th in your car so why do it on a bike.

Because the car engine dies when starting on 4th gear. Your legs don't.

 

[TheSoulReaver03]

They may not completely die but they are way from the most comfortable and efficient range.

That only goes for the first 4 or 6 pedal strokes, depending on your starting efficiency. I have old-style lever shifters so I don't usually shift down when stopping.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I don't know when you learned to drive, but when I was taught, we were told to slow down using the brakes and then select first gear when stopped. That was ten years ago or so, so I expect a lot of the traffic flow you're keeping with is not changing down through the gears either

Slightly different in a car in that you can change gear when stationary though rather than needing the drive wheel moving to enable the derailleur to unship and resite the chain.

However wirh a lot more rhan 10 years since learning to drive I was taught & always have changed gear to match the speed I am doing, if I'm driving along at 30 in 4th slowing down gradually to a stop, if I don't change down as my speed drops then the engine is increasingly under revving and likely to stall.

 

[coffeejo]

It also works the other way and just to prove it, I kindly demonstrated both this afternoon.

1) I was happily cycling along a narrow country lane when I saw a farm vehicle towing a trailer coming the other way, so stopped in a gate way to let him past. Had one of those "why won't my bike move" moments afterwards - standing start in the big ring was never going to end well.

2) Later on, I got to the top of a small hill and promptly inhaled a fly. I kept going down the other side but freewheeled whilst drinking water to shift the little blighter. Problem solved, I put the bottle back in the cage and started pedalling. Cue comedy legs-as-propellers moment.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Oh no, something else to worry about. How do I measure this?

By the number of beeps from the car behind you: no beeps, you're extremely efficient ... couple of beeps, there's room for improvement.
Squashed, you need to work harder on your starting efficiency.