So many gears, pointless?

[Chris S]

Not so great if the nearest town is 10 miles away, different horses for different courses, I like the fact we all have plenty of choice when it comes to cycling.

3-speeds are basically town bikes but I've done a couple of 30 mile round trips on one in the past week. It depends on the gradient, they'll never be MTBs but a 60rpm cadence will give you 15mph on the flat.

 

[screenman]

3-speeds are basically town bikes but I've done a couple of 30 mile round trips on one in the past week. It depends on the gradient, they'll never be MTBs but a 60rpm cadence will give you 15mph on the flat.

My legs do not go round well at 60rpm, 80 is comfortable for my advanced years which is 10 slower than they used to be and 44 slower than they avaeraged on my fastest 65inch 10tt.

 

[Chris S]

My legs do not go round well at 60rpm, 80 is comfortable for my advanced years

Is that a typo? 60 rpm is just one crank revolution per second. Top gear on my bike is 84 inches which works out at 15mph.
gear inches x pi x cadence = inches per minute
84 x 3.142 x 60 = 15835.68 (inches per minute)
15835.68 x 60 = 950140.8 (inches per hour)
950140.8 / 63360 = 15 mph

3-speeds are a lot more flexible than people think. A good thing too, their popularity would increase and their prices would go up

 

[screenman]

No typo at all, 90rpm is considered a good number to pedal at for many people, not all I must add. I have owned 3 speed and it was suitable for the type of cycling I did back then and the area I lived in, mind you it was over 53 years ago.

 

[silva]

rpm is also a good way to recognize an e-bike, it's much lower, for a same speed they ride in a lower gear. A kinda slowmotion effect that's why I think about yoga when seeing it.

 

[Mike_P]

Assuming the ebike has the requisite sensor on it which on all honesty I would not think of putting on one. Road bike ride Strava is telling my average rpm is between 59 and 67 but then most rides involve trudging uphill for far too much of them.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

My cadence is around 95-100 rpm

 

[ColinJ]

My cadence is around 95-100 rpm

I wouldn't have known what my cadence is on my multi-geared bikes, but it is fairly obvious on my singlespeed because I am always in the same gear and I know what speeds I do. I can just about turn the cranks round at 20 rpm (8% climb, 7 kph). I am happiest doing 80-100 rpm (28-35 kph) and favourite is 90 rpm (31-ish kph). I can do short blasts of 110-120 rpm (37-41 kph) but my legs feel like they are going to fly off, and I need to be going downhill because I can't keep that kind of speed up on the flat for long anyway without a monster tailwind!

PS The numbers are not coincidences... I picked the 52/19 gear ratio to suit my favourite cadence at the maximum speed that I can sustain, and still allow me to climb moderately steep hills.

 

[Twilkes]

PS The numbers are not coincidences... I picked the 52/19 gear ratio to suit my favourite cadence at the maximum speed that I can sustain, and still allow me to climb moderately steep hills.

I've always wondered how people picked a single speed gearing, that makes a lot of sense, thanks.

 

[ColinJ]

I've always wondered how people picked a single speed gearing, that makes a lot of sense, thanks.

I made a point of doing a few rides on my multi-geared bike in one gear and after trying a few ratios I picked the one that I felt most happy with.

If I were not going to do any climbs steeper than (say) 5% I would probably increase the gear ratio to (say) 52/17.

 

[classic33]

rpm is also a good way to recognize an e-bike, it's much lower, for a same speed they ride in a lower gear. A kinda slowmotion effect that's why I think about yoga when seeing it.

A 229" gear also means you don't have to pedal fast, low RPM/cadence, to keep a given speed.

Not quite certain what the dislike of e-assist has to do with the number of gears on a bike though.

 

[Tigerbiten]

Is that a typo? 60 rpm is just one crank revolution per second. Top gear on my bike is 84 inches which works out at 15mph.

I've found that ~60 tends to be around the bottom edge of my cadence power band and ~85 rpm is the upper.
At 60 rpm I'm relying on the strength of my legs to generate a lot of the power, so more useful for short bursts of power out of the saddle.
More normal for me is 70-75 rpm, less strength and more stamina is needed so I'm able to keep going longer/faster as needed.
As I get fitter this may increase to the 80-85 rpm range, at which point I'm on a long tour and very cycling fit.
I tend not to spin much over 95 rpm as it's outside my power band and my efficiency drops, I get tired faster.

One advantage of my 1900% gear range is that I can keep cadence fairly constant over the whole range.
My gears are based of a Rohloff so mostly 13.6% steps.
This is to narrow are the bottom end of my range, sub 5 mph, I could do with roughly 20% steps.
It's about right for the mid range, ~10 mph to ~18 mph.
And to wide for the top of the range, +25 mph, but I do need to be going downhill to use these gears so it doesn't really matter.

Luck ........

 

[rivers]

I said ebikes sole benefit is get faster from A to B. Whether that is without rear rack, an empty rear rack or a rear rack with a bucket oisters on it, uphill, against wind, warm, cold, whatever, is irrelevant.
Without a motor, one can also transport, only less fast.
I ride without motor and with a single gear, and I had loads of 60 kg 30 km back. Both scattered and concentrated in weight.
It just takes more time than with an ebike, that's it, that's all.

Errr I'm faster on any of my bikes than I am if I borrow my wife's e-bike.

 

[silva]

Errr I'm faster on any of my bikes than I am if I borrow my wife's e-bike.

Because State capped it to 25 ?
Because your legs are too short ?
Because she slaps you everytime you "borrow" it... ?

 

[silva]

A 229" gear also means you don't have to pedal fast, low RPM/cadence, to keep a given speed.

Not quite certain what the dislike of e-assist has to do with the number of gears on a bike though.

21 instead of 3 gears.
Alu instead of steel bolts/nuts/parts.
Carbon instead of alu.
e-assist.
Speed increase not by sports/training but by tech.
Imagine tomorrow a bike weighting 500 grammes costing 500000.
Next week its rider wins Yorkshire Giro.

x x x Searching for "Sports", please wait ... x x x

That was my point, not more, not less.
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/so-many-gears-pointless.261633/post-6003119

I don't see any point in ebikes except to get faster there.
Without an ebike, one can still get out, just slower that's all.
So if you bike for sport or tourism, lol @ ebikes. Sometimes I think ppl feel ashame if others ride faster than them.
An ebike is then like an ego prop up.

ebikes, gears, ... they all have points. Just outside sports, that's all. So don't make a strawman of my post - I'm not against ebikes...