Am I using my gears correctly?

[Boyfrom64]

Now I appreciate I may be asking a daftquestion; and I do not want this thread to get in to a debate about triplesverses doubles / compact doubles on the basis that the bike I ride is a triple,I am just keen to hear the views of others on how I use my gears.
When I purchased my bike about 10 weeksago I was told to try and keep the chain as straight as possible. So whilst I have three chain rings on thefront and 8 cogs on the cassette at the back my method of gear selection is asfollows:

First chain ring - first three cogs ofthe rear cassette

Second chain ring – cogs 4, 5, 6 of therear cassette

Third chain ring - cogs 7, 8 of therear cassette*

* Starting touse as I get fitter

I realise that whilst the bike has in theory 24gears in practice this is not the case. However with the way I am currently riding I am not using anywhere theamount of gears possible, which leads me to my question, is there anythingwrong with my current method of gear selection and or is there any benefits tome using a wider selection i.e. use more of the cogs on the rear cassette witheach of the front chain rings?

 

[colly]

I use my gears in accordance with how it feels. In other words if I feel like I am spinning out i'll slip it into a higher gear, if I find it getting hard to push the pedals I change into a lower gear.

TBH I don't really think much about ''what gear'' I'm using, I just do what feels best for me.

I know the received wisdom is that using your smallest chainring and smallest sprocket at the back is a bad thing but sometimes I simply can't be arsed to change to the big ring if the road looks like I will be changing back again in a couple of hundred meters.
Some gear ratios do dulplicate.

I ride a double and even with that I find constantly changing up and down on the chainset and on the rear as well is tiresome and largely unnecessary. Depends on the terrain I suppose.

 

[lulubel]

I also have a triple, but with a 9 speed cassette.

I use the small chain ring with anything from the largest to middle sprocket, the middle chain ring with any sprocket, and the large chain ring with anything from the middle to smallest sprocket.

 

[Cubist]

Lulubel FTW

 

[Chris S]

RE: "I purchased my bike about 10 weeksago I was told to try and keep the chain as straight as possible."


I think that what they meant was that gears overlap so use the one that keeps the chain as straight as possible, e,g. the biggest front cog and biggest rear probably give the same gear ration as using the middle front and rear cogs.

 

[gregsid]

Boyfrom64, I think you need a new keyboard. Space key is duff.

Helpful? Err no! I wonder if Jezston has finished with his birch branch...

 

[WychwoodTrev]

Your dealer is right keep chain as straight as poss keeps the chain and sprcket wear to a min. When you have changed to far the gears wil make a noise like a rattle. I use small on the front and first 3 on the rear, then up to middle ring next 3 one the rear, big ring on the front the 3 smallest on the rear but if you are in top gear and need to change down 3 to make a climb do so on the rear as the one extra wont be a problem. You will learn by feel if the gears are happy or not

 

[abo]

I was told (and saw a tutorial by some bike guy on YT) to shift up three on the rear, the up one on the front and down one on the rear as this would be the next gear up. Then up three on the rear, up one on the front/down one on rear, then up into the smallest sprocket.

 

[siadwell]

The thing you want to avoid is extreme gear combos as this puts lateral strain on the drivetrain so increases wear. The chain may even self-shift back.

I wouldn't get too hung up on which number sprocket you're on - as WychwoodTrev says, the gears will tell you if they're not happy!

Oh, and don't worry about not using all 24 gears. That's just the number of theoretical combinations and you'd never be able to use all of them.

 

[Cubist]

OP

What the bike shop was trying to say is that you should avoid cross chaining. It will strain the chain, it'll rub on mechs and potentially wear teeth if you have the chain running from large front chainring to large rear sprocket, and the reverse of this, small front and small rear. Apart from anything else it'll be noisy.

However, the cassette is designed and the bike is set up so that you can use any of the rear sprockets with the middle chainring without the chain crossing.

To translate this into normal road riding, try and get into the habit of using the middle ring for most of your work. You have the full 9 or 10 sprocket spread available. If you are spinning out, (or likely to spin out) of gears going downhill, you can anticipate this and move over to the big ring. You may have to go up a sprocket or two to ensure a smooth transition. If you're bombing it you're not likely to notice!!

Similarly if you are approaching a long hard climb you can drop to the granny before you run out of lower gears, thus allowing a smoother transition of the last few gears as the hill steepens.

Gears eventually become intuitive, but it takes practice. Don't fret, just get out and ride!

 

[Black Sheep]

basically, don't use the largest gears together and don't use the smallest together, so no big ring 1st and no little ring 8th

otherwise fine.

 

[Cubist]

I was told (and saw a tutorial by some bike guy on YT) to shift up three on the rear, the up one on the front and down one on the rear as this would be the next gear up. Then up three on the rear, up one on the front/down one on rear, then up into the smallest sprocket.

Good rule of thumb, but it depends on the rings and the cassette spread.

 

[abo]

Good rule of thumb, but it depends on the rings and the cassette spread.

Cool. Guess it's like as has been said, they gears tell you if they're not happy. I suppose it is a case of learning what makes them unhappy and not doing it

 

[lulubel]

Lulubel FTW

OK, someone point me to the abbreviations list. What does FTW stand for?

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

For The Win.

Basically "Yeah, get lulubel and her knowledge!"