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

[hobo]

They say bigger gears are more efficient.

 

[MacB]

Well there're all the usual variables around conditions, terrain, distance and personal fitness, but if you want to get technical about it :-

If we're talking general road use then we can assume a range, at the back, of anything from 11 to 28t, I know there are bigger but, due to chainlines, I would have thought most people would be in their inner ring if hitting those. So using an 11-28 as an example you get:-

53t - 127 down to 50 gear inches but 58 if you're avoiding too severe a chainline
52t - 124 to 49 or 57
50t - 120 to 47 or 55
42t - 100 to 39
39t - 93 to 37
34t - 81 to 32

The last three you'd probably avoid the two smallest cogs if they're the inner of a double/compact.

Then it's then a case of knowing the sort of gears you do most of your riding in, for me that's the 50 to 95 gear inch range. Expressed as MPH that's 14 to 28 for a 100rpm cadence and 11 to 23mph for an 80 cadence. So for a 53/52/50t ring that would be rear cogs in the range 14 to 28, whereas for a 42/39t it would be 11 to 23t cogs, and 34t wouldn't give me the high gear end.

If, for example, you ride a 52/42/30 triple, with an 11 to 23 cassette, and you ride in the big ring a lot then you're either pushing very big gears or you're using chainlines that aren't optimal, as you wouldn't be in the regular riding range until near the middle of the cassette or further.

My triple now sports a bashguard rather than a big ring and a much smaller inner, it's 24/40/bash, and I have an 11t out back for my big gear. If I get fitter/stronger then I may jump up to 26/42, 28/44 or 30/46. But it's really centered around doing the majority of riding in one ring with optimal chainlines.

 

[Night Train]

I think I would ask Dr Bike what the gear ratios are on your bike and to specify the gradients and wind speeds applicable for each gear and then equip the bike with an inclinometer and anemometer so that you can ensure that you are in the right gear.

Which gear you use depends on so many variables on both the bike and the environment you are cycling in as well as yourself and how you are feeling at the time. Also on which gears you use on the cassette will affect which chain ring you use.
If your bike is low geared, as my Marin was, then the big chain ring does everything on the roads, middle ring does just about everything off road and the smallest ring is for climbing cliffs.

Even cadence will differ from one rider to another and the type of riding you are doing.

I quite like upright, low cadence, casual riding when conditions allow but will quickly switch to higher cadence when appropriate.


I have a crank with four chain rings on sitting on my parts shelf. I can send that to you to fit and then see which ring Dr Bike says you should use.

 

[Keith Oates]

On my road bikes I normally stay in the small ring and maintain a speed of 30/32 Kph on flat roads but if I'm with a group and they start to go above that I go onto the big ring but still keep the cadence fairly high. Of course when the hills are reached both the speed and the cadence drops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[marzjennings]

I only have the one front chain ring on both my road bike and mountain bike. On the roadie it's a 52 which I spin on average between 80 to 100rpm (17 at the back). The mountain bike only has a 32 at the front driving an 11-32 at the back. This time spinning from 60 to 110 (more terrain shifts than on the road).

 

[DiddlyDodds]

I don't understand , if people are using the small / middle ring on the flat what are they doing when they get to hills , and as most people would free wheel down hills when do they ever use the big ring, so is this is the case surely there gearing is wrong.

On my triple its big ring always until a largish hill , then small ring only for VERY steep hills

 

[Noodley]

I reckon Dr Bike has been listening to too much crap!

 

[rich p]

If you can spin on the big ring, you're either doing a crossover chain-line or should be taking on Thor Hushovd in the World Champs.

 

[CopperCyclist]

50/34, big ring all the time on the flat.

 

[MacB]

On my triple its big ring always until a largish hill , then small ring only for VERY steep hills

It depends on how you're geared at either end, if your setup allows you to use mainly the big ring with the first 3-4 cogs at the back, then that makes sense. Otherwise you'd have a better chainline from sitting in the middle ring as it will ine up better with the most frequently used cogs.

When I had a 52/42/30 and 12-26 I quickly realised that I really didn't use/need the 52t, after about 5k miles, having only ever used it to see if it worked, I finally decided to get rid of it. But I don't hammer it on downhills, the 42t was plenty apart from that.

 

[tyred]

I don't understand , if people are using the small / middle ring on the flat what are they doing when they get to hills , and as most people would free wheel down hills when do they ever use the big ring, so is this is the case surely there gearing is wrong.

On my triple its big ring always until a largish hill , then small ring only for VERY steep hills

I would have to agree. The 52 ring is to big for me, and I suspect most other riders of average ability. I prefer a 36/48.


A lot of bikes have passed through my hands in recent years and the one thing I always note when it is a road bike with 42/52 gearing - the 52 chainring will look basically brand new whereas the 42 will be worn out.

 

[ianrauk]

It depends on how you're geared at either end, if your setup allows you to use mainly the big ring with the first 3-4 cogs at the back, then that makes sense. Otherwise you'd have a better chainline from sitting in the middle ring as it will ine up better with the most frequently used cogs.

When I had a 52/42/30 and 12-26 I quickly realised that I really didn't use/need the 52t, after about 5k miles, having only ever used it to see if it worked, I finally decided to get rid of it. But I don't hammer it on downhills, the 42t was plenty apart from that.

Yep,
I would be happy with just the 42 on my commute bike and do away with the small and larger rings. Even when I have used the bike for longer non commute rides I find the middle ring is enough for my needs.

 

[Beebo]

Most of my riding is in London and the suburbs. So lots of sudden stopping and starting.

I find the middle ring provides me with the best range of gears for both cruising at 20mph and pulling away from a standing start. It also means I only have to worry about what the rear derailier is doing.

 

[totallyfixed]

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

To spin a high cadence in a big gear you are either going downhill or you are a full time pro. Big gears are inefficient for general riding. It is only when you come on CC that you realise what a wide range of abilities there is and levels of experience. To those who harbour delusions that big gears are efficient, find some You Tube clips of pro racing, TdF etc and look at the cadence. I coach my better half and due almost entirely to her higher cadence [around 90] her 10, 25 and 50 time trial times have really improved.
The vast majority of people I see on bikes are making life hard for themselves, wrong size bike and / or wrong position are the main culprits followed closely by awful gear selection.

 

[twobiker]

I use the 52 on the flat , or the 42, if its windy, or the 30 if its really windy,and if I'm knackered.