Whilst I'm making myself look dense...

[Blue]

If you want to keep a constant check, and don't mind spending money, fit a shimano flightdeck as a new computer as it tells you what gear your in via a constant visual display.

Maybe it doesn't apply to your bike, but I notice that if my chain is at too great an angle it makes a different sound - ie, it doesn't sound as smooth as it should and a quick gear-shift sorts the issue without having to visually check.

Be at one with your bike

 

[ash68]

you where 1/2 right the big don'ts are ( big and big, small and small )

have a look at http://sheldonbrown.com/gears.html there is some good info ie: (pushing v spinning)

thanks for the correction,got myself muddled up.

 

[fossyant]

A flightdeck is for poofs......

Gearing should be learned - it's an art !

Visualise your gear.... otherwise look at it !

 

[Blue]

A flightdeck is for poofs......

Gearing should be learned - it's an art !

Visualise your gear.... otherwise look at it !

read the second part of my reply and keep the insults to yourself

 

[Elmer Fudd]

Granny @28
Mid @38
Big @48

Rear gears 28(being #1) down to 11(being #7), so after a few calcs
Granny = 1,2,3,4,
Middle =2,3,4,5,
Large = 3,4,5,6,7.
If I drop or raise 1 ring on the front, I have to drop or raise two cogs on the rear to be roughly in the same gear. I know it works for me but does that sound sense ??

 

[Elmer Fudd]

A flightdeck is for poofs......

Don't tell that to the pilot when you are off to Spain next year !!!

 

[cyclebum]

Wow, this all goes to prove to me why I use this site, you guys between you have made it all so much clearer and like Cathryn will have to get out and give this a go ASAP. I had been told by a few people about trying to keep the chain as straight as poss, but on the whole I have just riden in what ever gear was comfortable/convenient. I now realise it is part laziness and with practice hopefully my gear usage will get more efficient and preserve may chain.
Thanks guys,and thanks Cathryn for asking in the first place.

 

[Membrane]

[Fine explanation snipped]

The trick is to learn a shifting pattern that allows you to go from lowest gear to highest gear in nice easy steps without chain-line issues or double shifting.

One thing I feel different about is the above, I don't find it useful to know how to shift linearly from the lowest to the highest gear. I use my front shifter to give myself a useful range of gears at the back for the given conditions (whilst considering the chain line). So I aim to on average have some gears above and below (on the cassette) the gear I'm using.

For me double shifting is not something to be avoided, it is a skill integral to giving yourself a useful range of gears for the conditions whilst maintaining a good chainline.

 

[Arch]

Um, I may be missing something here, but I usually know what gear I'm in thanks to the little numbers and indicator tab printed on my shifters. Am I terribly out of date or something? Even with my downtube shifters, I learnt the positions, so I rarely had to glance back to check the sprockets, unless I thought it hadn't shifted or something.

Not ending up with a big-big or small-small chainline is to be avoided, partly because you can just as well get those gears with a better chainline and partly because it is a very noticable thing to a knowledgable onlooker, and they are almost bound to give you grief over it...

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

If the chainline isn't straight, it makes more noise than when it is straight.

 

[Paulus]

Cathryn, All very good info posted so far, ie. Do not use the large cog at the front with the large at the back and the same with the small ones. As to what gear you should be in depends on how you are peddaling. If you are comfortable with the speed/effort you are putting in then you are in the right gear for you. If the effort is to much then change up a gear, if your legs are spinning and you are not going fast enough, change down a gear or two.

 

[Blue]

If the chainline isn't straight, it makes more noise than when it is straight.

The very point I was making yesterday - I find it very accurate.

 

[frog]

I doubt if running off line makes much difference to chain life.

I'm afriad it does. Having stiffness in the side-to-side travel of the chain is vital to changing gears, especially at the front. The front changer pushes the chain outwards and this means the chain can be picked up by the little lugs on the next higher ring. This in turn passes the chain onto the teeth of the ring. If the chain has too much play in side-to-side then the chain goes around the front derailleur and doesn't get picked up by the lugs. All you get is a grating noise from between your feet and no gear change up. At this point you should buy a new chain.

This happened to me with the first two chains on my old bike. Though the chain checker said the wear on the chain was within tolerance it still wouldn't change at the front without adjusting the cables. With a bit more experience the third chain was treated to a much straighter life and I only needed to change the chain when it had stretched too much, but I was still getting good gear changes right up to the end.

 

[Membrane]

Um, I may be missing something here, but I usually know what gear I'm in thanks to the little numbers and indicator tab printed on my shifters. Am I terribly out of date or something?

The STI shifters on modern drop handle bar bikes do not offer any indication on what gear you're in.

You appear to have Sram shiftgrip or Shimano trigger shifters on a flatbar bike, they do have indicators on the shifters.

 

[Arch]

The STI shifters on modern drop handle bar bikes do not offer any indication on what gear you're in.

You appear to have Sram shiftgrip or Shimano trigger shifters on a flatbar bike, they do have indicators on the shifters.

Oh, of course, those stupid things (Ok, ok, I've not had much chance to use them, and don't feel the need to learn at the moment).

Yes, I've got twistgrips. And my old tourer had downtube shifters when it still had drops, so I could see the position.

So what are the advantages of a shifter which doesn't show you what gear you're in?