Granny gears

[Chris S]

I was walking home last night, up a long steep hill. There was a cyclist in front of me and I suddenly realized that I was gaining on him. I'd nearly caught up with him when he reached the brow and shot off in to the distance.

He'd obviously being using a very low ratio. What's the point? It would have been quicker to get off and push.

 

[cloggsy]

Everyone has to start somewhere don't they?

At least he was determined to get to the top without stopping

 

[Cyclopathic]

I was walking home last night, up a long steep hill. There was a cyclist in front of me and I suddenly realized that I was gaining on him. I'd nearly caught up with him when he reached the brow and shot off in to the distance.

He'd obviously being using a very low ratio. What's the point? It would have been quicker to get off and push.

I've just started to get back into cycling after being away from it for a while. Only really for transport and recreation, I'm no sportsman. One reason for getting back on my bike is for my health. Long story short I'm a bit of a fatty and have to fight back. There were times when I first started back and even still sometimes when some hills are a bit much and here I take full advantage of the "granny gears" for two main reasons. One is that even if I am at a crawl it alows me to keep close to my prefered cadence so that I'm good to go when I crest the brow. Also even though I'm using these soft gears I can at least still say to myself that I made it up the hill.

As time goes on and I get a little mor eused to things I find that I can get up some hills without dropping down as far so it also becomes a measure of how well I'm doing at getting fitter.

As an extra bonus when I am lumbering up a hill all sweaty and lardy I provide an easy target for others who have gotten a little bit fitter to burn off, thus providing much needed encouragement to other riders who can go home boasting about burning some bloke going up hill.

So in some cases (although in reality not many actually) it may be a bit quicker to push the bike there are also many many other considerations that the rider may have and really people need to be able to get about their cycling in the way that is best for them.

I hope this has answered some of your questions.

 

[coffeejo]

I use them on 'orrible 'ills so that if I do have to get off and push, at least I know I gave it my best shot and that the hill got the better of my legs, not my mind, IFYSWIM

 

[numbnuts]

Being an old fart with emphysema my granny gear saves me from walking, when I have to push my bike that's the same day they go on ebay

 

[slugonabike]

I'm overweight and underfit, I tend to run out of gears before I run out of hill! I'm not going to get off and push before that happens though, I'll never improve if I keep doing that.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

It's about pride and determination not just about speed. I would far rather use my granny ring than push (although on some off road hills I have to).

I was walking home last night, up a long steep hill. There was a cyclist in front of me and I suddenly realized that I was gaining on him. I'd nearly caught up with him when he reached the brow and shot off in to the distance.

He'd obviously being using a very low ratio. What's the point? It would have been quicker to get off and push.

 

[Midnight]

What's the point? It would have been quicker to get off and push.

All kudos to him for not getting off to push. At least he was 'aving a go...

 

[Angelfishsolo]

+1

All kudos to him for not getting off to push. At least he was 'aving a go...

 

[Moodyman]

On commutes when I simply want to take it easy, I've had joggers overtake me uphill.

These are joggers that I'd passed on the flat earlier.

 

[Paladin - York]

When I first started doing longer distance bike rides, I had the notion that a bike was for riding at "all" times, unless you physically couldn't manage the gradient. Oh boy! The idiocy of doing just that was embarrassingly brought home to me when I was pulling out of Penrith once, on the C2C, I was overtaken by a much older person, walking, carrying bags of shopping and walking a dog. Yep! What's the point? However, it does depend on my state of mind at the time eg I sometimes challenge myself to do a gradient - seated or otherwise.

I'm aware that my walking speed is approx 3mph so when I'm hovering about that speed on the bike I usually dismount. I often feel quite refreshed after a spell using different muscles.

 

[the_mikey]

I'm thinking about a new bike, specifically for sportives and long rides over lots of hills (the cotswolds on my doorstep) and some of the hills have got easier over time but not all of them, do I need: A triple chain ring? OR that 12-27 cassette just for that slightly lower gear...

 

[numbnuts]

I'm thinking about a new bike, specifically for sportives and long rides over lots of hills (the cotswolds on my doorstep) and some of the hills have got easier over time but not all of them, do I need: A triple chain ring? OR that 12-27 cassette just for that slightly lower gear...

On my touring bike I have 48 36 26 with a 11-32 which suits me even with heavy loads.

 

[david k]

good on him for not getting off
let the gears do the work, why have em if you aint gona use em?

 

[HLaB]

All kudos to him for not getting off to push. At least he was 'aving a go...

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