Gearing - Confused

[sreten]

The order I tend to use the gears in is Downhill 3-9, 3-8, 3-7, On the flat
and uphill (2-7 to 2-3), and steep uphill I will use 1-3 to 1-1 (very rare).

Am I doing this right, or is there a better way. Maybe I need to understand
he technicalities better. Sometimes the jump from 3-7 to 2-7 is too much
- i'm suddenly spinning the pedals until I slow down.

Hopefully there will be some help on here

Hi,

Basically you are not doing it right. Typically each chain ring reflects
about two gears on the back, so you should drop to 3-6 before
considering 2-7, and depending on conditions also use 3-5.
(If they reflect more than two typical gears take that into account.)

In 3-6 you then drop to 2-6 and then go to 2-7 to drop a gear.
Similarly to go to 1 from 2 front from 2-3 you drop to 1-3
and then go to 1-4 to drop a gear.

Going up the gears you usually do it in reverse. i.e. 1 to 2
front drop a gear on the rear, 1-4 to 1-3 and then go to 2.
Similarly 2 to 3 drop 2-7 or 2-6 to 2-6 or 2-5, then go to 3.

On my bike with two front rings I often drop or go up two gears
on the rear and change front rings to end up in the same gear.
My front is not changed often*, big on the flat, mild hills, with the wind
and downhill, small on the flat, mild downhills, into the wind and uphill.
7 rear and I use 2f with 7 to 2, and 1f with 5 to 1.
Occasionally I will use 2f-1r and 1f-6r if it really suits the general
conditions, a short hill for the former, a short downhill the latter.
FWIW though my bike is 14 speed it really only has 9 gears,
and 5 of those are available on either front chain wheel.

Personally I'd use 3f with 9 to 4, 2f with 8 to 2, 1f with 6 to 1.

rgds, sreten.

52/42 with 14,16,18,20,22,24,28
gear inches for each rear gear :

....52 23.8% 42
14 100.3 81.0
14.3 % to
16 87.8 70.9
12.5 % to
18 78.0 63.0
11.1 % to
20 70.2 56.7
10.0 % to
22 63.8 51.5
9.1 % to
24 58.5 47.3
16.7 % to
28 50.1 40.5


* About every half hour hour on a circular ride.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I mean seriously, what a load of s***. If it's too hard I change down, if it's too easy I change up. Isn't that essentially what we all do?

Yea but do you never wonder why it works.

 

[buggi]

i think you're over analysing it. I never once "thought" about my gear ratios when i started and now the only time i think about it is when i get a new bike and i want the right gearing.

use your gears like this.

as a general rule, your chain rings at the front are:-
1. Easy for going up hill;
2. Medium for flat; and
3. Large for going downhill
(as you've stated, but there's no hard rule, they can cross over)

after that, use your back gears for tweaking the effort, move the gears up or down depending on how your legs feel.

as said, its a good idea not to run the chain to extremes (ie littlest on the front to littlest on the back or biggest at the front to biggest at the back) as this causes the chain to "sharpen" the cogs, so before you get to the extreme at the back, change up or down at the front.

as said, the back cogs are for tweaking the effort, if you want to make it MUCH easier or harder (ie if you suddenly come to a steep uphill or downhill) then change rings at the front to move a few gears at a time.

when using the large ring at the front, some of the gears at the back are the same as some of the gears if you were using the middle ring, and same with the middle ring and small ring at the front, they cross over, they do not "follow on" so you don't necessarily lose gears by moving up or down at the front

bottom line, go with what feels right rather than over analysing it in your head and getting all confused

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@buggi Put it this way, because of what I know I can change the individual rear cogs to suite any type of riding and likewise the front, it isn't about over analysing it just knowing what they do and how they work. I can get a 7sp with the same range as any other 8/9 or 10 sp, but the stepping is different, and also a triple with the same range as a compact but far better shifting on the rear, I can set up 7sp triples with better gear ratios than a compact and it still have the same low gear, so therefore its called knowledge.

 

[buggi]

@buggi Put it this way, because of what I know I can change the individual rear cogs to suite any type of riding and likewise the front, it isn't about over analysing it just knowing what they do and how they work. I can get a 7sp with the same range as any other 8/9 or 10 sp, but the stepping is different, and also a triple with the same range as a compact but far better shifting on the rear, I can set up 7sp triples with better gear ratios than a compact and it still have the same low gear, so therefore its called knowledge.

yes, but it sounds like he just questioning what gear he should be in bcoz he doesn't understand which way round the rings are and is worried he's somehow getting the combination wrong, particular as he's put his post in the beginners section. If it was more technical than that surely he'd put it in the technical section and not the beginners and he wouldn't name his rings 1-3 and 1-9? I thought he was looking for a simple answer as the ones in the books talking about 52/34s etc were confusing him. I don't think I'm the only one that thought this.

 

[Crackle]

I think we all eventually want to know how it works but it's not always necessary to know, in fact it may be a distraction when on the bike. Personally I never look when I'm riding, I just change gear and I know all the ratios on my bike because I picked them.

Unless you don't have low enough gears, high enough gears or are finding you need to often make a double change i.e one cog at the front and then a few at the back when you hit a particular hill and want to correct that, then there's no need to know, except of course out of interest which is fine.

If you want to improve you're riding concentrate on your cadence and picking a gear which keeps it optimum, which I know you've already done.

Looking at your gear ratios, then if you stay on the middle front ring only, you should have a speed ratio of 3 to 20mph. You only need to change gear at the front if you want to go faster or hit a prolonged big hill.

 

[sutts]

Yea but do you never wonder why it works.

Not really! I just enjoy the bike rides, the science behind it is of no interest to me...but I accept that to others it is! Sorry, I was a bit blunt back there!

 

[Rob3rt]

Just ride your bike for gods sake. Forget about these daft magazine articles etc.

 

[Sara_H]

I mean seriously, what a load of s***. If it's too hard I change down, if it's too easy I change up. Isn't that essentially what we all do?

Well said!

 

[Nigelnaturist]

yes, but it sounds like he just questioning what gear he should be in bcoz he doesn't understand which way round the rings are and is worried he's somehow getting the combination wrong, particular as he's put his post in the beginners section. If it was more technical than that surely he'd put it in the technical section and not the beginners and he wouldn't name his rings 1-3 and 1-9? I thought he was looking for a simple answer as the ones in the books talking about 52/34s etc were confusing him. I don't think I'm the only one that thought this.

Fair enough

 

[Ian Watts]

Hi,

Basically you are not doing it right. Typically each chain ring reflects
about two gears on the back, so you should drop to 3-6 before
considering 2-7, and depending on conditions also use 3-5.
(If they reflect more than two typical gears take that into account.)

In 3-6 you then drop to 2-6 and then go to 2-7 to drop a gear.
Similarly to go to 1 from 2 front from 2-3 you drop to 1-3
and then go to 1-4 to drop a gear.

Going up the gears you usually do it in reverse. i.e. 1 to 2
front drop a gear on the rear, 1-4 to 1-3 and then go to 2.
Similarly 2 to 3 drop 2-7 or 2-6 to 2-6 or 2-5, then go to 3.

On my bike with two front rings I often drop or go up two gears
on the rear and change front rings to end up in the same gear.
My front is not changed often*, big on the flat, mild hills, with the wind
and downhill, small on the flat, mild downhills, into the wind and uphill.
7 rear and I use 2f with 7 to 2, and 1f with 5 to 1.
Occasionally I will use 2f-1r and 1f-6r if it really suits the general
conditions, a short hill for the former, a short downhill the latter.
FWIW though my bike is 14 speed it really only has 9 gears,
and 5 of those are available on either front chain wheel.

Personally I'd use 3f with 9 to 4, 2f with 8 to 2, 1f with 6 to 1.

rgds, sreten.

52/42 with 14,16,18,20,22,24,28
gear inches for each rear gear :

....52 23.8% 42
14 100.3 81.0
14.3 % to
16 87.8 70.9
12.5 % to
18 78.0 63.0
11.1 % to
20 70.2 56.7
10.0 % to
22 63.8 51.5
9.1 % to
24 58.5 47.3
16.7 % to
28 50.1 40.5


* About every half hour hour on a circular ride.

Again, thankyou for answering in a way that I understand (though maybe I am just understanding more )

 

[theloafer]

Again, thankyou for answering in a way that I understand (though maybe I am just understanding more )

hi ian
you have some good advice already (helpful lots these guys) just think this might help http://sheldonbrown.com/

 

[Ian Watts]

hi ian
you have some good advice already (helpful lots these guys) just think this might help http://sheldonbrown.com/

I have had a quick look on here - I'm going to spend some time on it some more. Though I think also get out and enjoy the ride at the same time is good advice, and learn steadily. Looking at a Garmin 310xt to give me a bit more data to play with, but won't be for a while yet. Thanks.

 

[bpsmith]

There's a lot of banter about why beginners want this sort of detail and why not post g in the Technical action instead.

I too am a Beginner, but opened this thread out of interest as tend to stick to this section until a lot ore experienced out of respect to the veterans with lots of time spent out there. Whilst I don't thnk there would be an issue posting in there, the whole point of the section is to have replies at the level as above. Makes total sense to me.

Cheers for the info guys. I am now thinking about Cadence and maybe getting one to link to my Garmn 510. I am geeky that way, and might help me concentrate more as tend to be away in my mind and then realise I am hadly pedalling or going slow when pedalling hard. Would a Cadence sensor help and any suggestions?

 

[sreten]

Cheers for the info guys. I am now thinking about Cadence and maybe getting one to link to my Garmn 510. I am geeky that way, and might help me concentrate more as tend to be away in my mind and then realise I am hadly pedalling or going slow when pedalling hard. Would a Cadence sensor help and any suggestions?

Hi,

A cadence sensor will just tell you stuff you should already know based on your
gears and road speed. Its not hard to be aware of pedalling fast and slow.
Mashing and spinning related to cadence are things you just do, and I work
on improving both because what you really want is to be able to when you want
to is to put a lot of torque through the pedals at high rpm = maximum power.

If your geeky its useful information, as is a power meter too. But really all
you need to do is change your mindset about being in the right gear.
At any one time you have a mashing and spinning option by changing
up or down from the gear you generally feel most comfortable in.

Generally the mistake people make is mashing too much, and they
need to work on spinning until it becomes a de facto mindset part.

Generally work on spinning more than mashing starting off, but when
you can and do generally pedal fast, you aren't going to going to get
anywhere trying to pedal really fast, unless your a sprinter.

In the longer run spinning and mashing combine, in that you work
on being able to spin higher and higher gears with more pedal torque.
In other words long term its all about averege power output.

For a 50+ person like me its more about just doing the hills easier,
not going as fast as possible all the time, peak rather than average.

rgds, sreten.