What chainring do you mainly ride in when on the flat?

[ttcycle]

I took one of my bikes to a Dr Bike for a check up today as it's been having problems...

unrelated to the check up but she said that they predominantly recommend people ride in the smaller chainring or the middle chainring on a triple as I mainly ride in the larger chainring - she said that spinning is ideal, I mentioned that I do spin quite fast on the larger chainring but she was unconvinced by this.

So I was wondering which chainring do you all ride in on your bike/bikes?

 

[Rob3rt]

On the flat, the big ring (I have a compact on one bike and a double on other) and I manage to spin just fine.

 

[Fnaar]

Big ring on the flat on roadie... 52/39 front and 11-24 at the back.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Flattish terrain, 52T Big Ring of a 52/42/30 triple.

 

[2Loose]

Is the vote 'what ring do I mostly ride in' or 'which ring do I use mostly on the flat' as the two are different.
I ride a hilly route mostly and tend to coast the downhills, so I think I spend 2/3rds of the time in the small ring at a guess.

 

[ttcycle]

Ok, that's interesting, I think (would have to double check with the commuter bike) that the gearing was a 52....

I don't see what the fuss is..I can remember years ago when I used to grind the lowest gear when I was a new, new cyclist, but that was YEARS ago and I've learnt to spin since then.

Funnily enough, it's very rarely muscles that tire for me when on the bike (unless we're talking about mad hills) it's usually my lungs that suffer first.

 

[ttcycle]

Is the vote 'what ring do I mostly ride in' or 'which ring do I use mostly on the flat' as the two are different.
I ride a hilly route mostly and tend to coast the downhills, so I think I spend 2/3rds of the time in the small ring at a guess.

in the flat I suppose, I can understand on a hilly route using a smaller chain ring.

 

[potsy]

Middle ring at all times

 

[Theseus]

It depend on 2 things ...

1. Which bike I am riding
   • Fixed wheel - not much choice
   • Nexus Hub - Only one chainring
   • 9spd triple - see No. 2
2. What the wind is doing

 

[e-rider]

53T

 

[smokeysmoo]

Depends on the bike, on my CAAD10 I live on the big ring, on my commuter I pretty much live on the small ring as I'm in no rush to get to work and it's pretty much uphill going home

FWIW both are compacts

 

[totallyfixed]

Should the question not be, what cadence do you cycle at? Then, unless you are a beginner and know sod all about chain lines, the chain ring you use will be obvious [compacts excluded as chain lines on these seem to be optional]

 

[ttcycle]

I think I'm interested in whether people spin a high cadence in the larger gears, which my general feeling is yes, I just found it odd that the baseline recommendation was to stick in a smaller ring which for some people would just be inefficient

 

[ianrauk]

on my compact double the larger ring, on my triple the middle ring.

 

[Sleeper]

without a headwind, 53t all the way! (12-25 out back)