Returning to Gears

[wheres_my_beard]

After about 18 months of singlespeed and fixed wheel, I have recently bought a nice geared bike. It's an 18 speed with a compact double chainring. I've ridden around 300 miles on it so far, but still have a problem

While all the gears are fine and I am fairly fit, I can't for the life of me manage to deal with either short steep hills or long shallow gradients (or even some short shallow ones!) without losing pretty much all of my momentum, being totally sapped of energy and will to live. I end up running out of steam, changing down some gears, going slower, but still getting more worn out, and so on. It feels like every hill/slope I encounter is an absolute pain, and I live in Norfolk (which isn't quite as flat as you might think, but won't be hosting any TDF KIng of the Mountain stages any time soon).

I feel like a total beginner, although I have cycled most days for the past 25+ years!! Is there something really basic that I'm not doing ( I cycle at fairly high rpm, quite comfortably normally)?

 

[fossyant]

Whats your RPM? I commute fixed and have done for nearly 3 years. I max at 120 on the flat - can't get the power down though on the fixed.

Climbing I'll possibly be doing 50-60 rpm or less on the fixed - It's about pacing yourself. I've also got two road bikes, and the climbing is fine on them. Short steep ones you attack, but keep just inside your maximum. Long ones need a good pace and steady, but I'd say about 80 rpm if sat down, less if honking out the saddle.

 

[wheres_my_beard]

I'm not sure what my actual rpm range is to be honest, but I'm not a fan of grinding along in a high gear, or spinning at above 110 rpm. On the fixed I had no choice though, it was about keeping momentum up, revs high and torque low, and just got up out of the saddle when I needed to, and span/ slowed a little when I needed to. Where as now I probably change gears far too often, fly down hills and crawl up the other side.

 

[HLaB]

It'll come back

 

[wheres_my_beard]

It'll come back

I hope so. I feel like a bit of a fraud when I'm trickling up a hill/slope all red faced and on the verge of swearing, especially if I've just hit Warp 1 on the way down to it!

 

[lukesdad]

What cassette ratios are you using ?

 

[Bigsharn]

Being someone who cries at the sight of a hill, all the advice I can give is keep trying. It's taken me a year of constant revisiting to manage a certain hill in York without changing to my granny ring (and it's not that steep a hill).

 

[wheres_my_beard]

What cassette ratios are you using ?

Its 36/52 front with 11-28 at the back.

 

[totallyfixed]

Would have thought it was quite obvious what is happening, you are having a bad reaction to going fixed cold turkey.

 

[Bicycle]

I imagine this is a perception thing. I don't notice what you mention when I swap between gears and fixed, but I do see something similar when I ride fixed while my older children or wife are on geared.

Sometimes a fixed bike will 'roll' you up the first few yards of a sharp incline with no apparent loss of speed. In truth, you do lose a little speed but it is often imperceptible.

On a geared machine, the loss of forward momentum is palpable.

You will lose speed on any machine on uphill sections. I find the sensations that come with varying gradients very different between fixed and geared. You may be feeling that 'fractured' nature that gears can give a climb.

There is also some sort of 'innate belief' that when we are really heaving on the pedals, we are making good progress. On a geared bike you'll feel as you change down that you're not transferring any power into the tarmac.

I bet you'll see little or no difference in your times after a week or two. Also... you can now coast for a few metres when you get to the top of the hills!

I'll be interested to read whether this sensation continues or disaoppears as you become used to all those girly gears again.

 

[wheres_my_beard]

Would have thought it was quite obvious what is happening, you are having a bad reaction to going fixed cold turkey.

That could explain the shakes.

It's been 4 weeks now.

I just need one more hit.

I am keen to get beck on the fixed bike though, once I get it back from the LBS.

 

[ColinJ]

It'll come back

Not necessarily! Pennine-Paul suffered on fixed on a few of my hilly forum rides so eventually he built himself a geared bike for them. He only lasted a couple of rides before going back to riding fixed or singlespeed!

 

[wheres_my_beard]

I hope I haven't mis-spent twice what I spent on my fixed gear bike, on a bike my feeble brain and body can't adapt to.

 

[al-fresco]

Strange - perhaps it is a perception thing - since I got a fixie I've only done about 50 miles geared (a boxing day ride with a friend) and, though a little strange at first, I felt I was hammering along - never needing the lowest gears, popping out of the saddle instead of changing down... in fact it was so easy it felt like cheating!

 

[wheres_my_beard]

Strange - perhaps it is a perception thing - since I got a fixie I've only done about 50 miles geared (a boxing day ride with a friend) and, though a little strange at first, I felt I was hammering along - never needing the lowest gears, popping out of the saddle instead of changing down... in fact it was so easy it felt like cheating!

That's what I expected to happen! Maybe my mindset has changed, and I've gone all soft. Bah.