Changing Gears

[JamieRegan]

I'm planning my first long distance cycle for next year - Edinburgh to Stornoway. I've a reasonable level of fitness (ran a marathon last year), but I don't cycle much at all. I went out the other day for about 10 miles or so and I realised that I probably don't change gears very efficiently. Do you 'expert' riders have any tips? At the moment, I simply change up when it gets easy and down when it gets tougher. Should I be a bit more sophisticated than that? Are there any rules I should be aware of? And when should I chose to change on each carousel? I have 3 cogs on my front carousel and 8 on my rear. Any tips greatly appreciated.

 

[Brommyboy]

Gears change best when not under tension: I change as the pedal comes to the top of the stroke, your weakest power point. The gear change should be almost silent! It soon becomes instinctive. And only change one gear at a time! Also, change gear just before it is needed - to wait is too late.

 

[byegad]

Also best to change just before you need the next one. If you using dérailleurs and climbing and you don't do this you can be marooned in a high gear without enough 'revs' to change down.

 

[the snail]

Also try to avoid having the chain at an angle, i.e. using small front ring with small rear cog, or large with large, as this will increase wear of the chainset. With my triple, I use the middle ring on the front most of the time, the small front ring for up steep hills, and the large for downhill/fast riding.

 

[Scoosh]

Firstly:

JamieReagan and

to CycleChat !

Secondly:
One of the keys to cycling is to develop a steady cadence - your pedal RPM. Aim for something between 60 - 90 rpm (the higher the better) and change gears to maintain this cadence. It's a bit like changing gears in a car - plan ahead, change down to keep the revs up and don't let the revs drop too far.

When going up hills (which you WILL DO going to Stornoway

) get in a lowish gear at the start and keep it steady all the way. It's called 'spinning' (low gear, medium/high cadence, rather than 'grinding' (high gear/very low cadence). For serious hills, you might have to get out of the saddle - but that is not for now.

Are you based in Edinburgh ? What bike are you riding ? There are plenty of CC riders here and we can arrange to meet - and you might even encourage us to do some <cough> training <cough>. If you really want to go faster, we'll get edindave or HLaB onto you !

 

[fossyant]

Aim for something between 60 - 90 rpm 80-100 rpm (the higher the better) and change gears to maintain this cadence.

60 rpm only going up hill and you've run out of gears, but on a triple you can cycle up walls.

 

[JamieRegan]

Firstly:

JamieReagan and

to CycleChat !

Secondly:
One of the keys to cycling is to develop a steady cadence - your pedal RPM. Aim for something between 60 - 90 rpm (the higher the better) and change gears to maintain this cadence. It's a bit like changing gears in a car - plan ahead, change down to keep the revs up and don't let the revs drop too far.

When going up hills (which you WILL DO going to Stornoway

) get in a lowish gear at the start and keep it steady all the way. It's called 'spinning' (low gear, medium/high cadence, rather than 'grinding' (high gear/very low cadence). For serious hills, you might have to get out of the saddle - but that is not for now.

Are you based in Edinburgh ? What bike are you riding ? There are plenty of CC riders here and we can arrange to meet - and you might even encourage us to do some <cough> training <cough>. If you really want to go faster, we'll get edindave or HLaB onto you !

I work in Edinburgh, live in East Lothian. I've got a hybrid bike bought from Decathlon (can't wait for the new one to open in Edinburgh, btw. Decathlon rocks!). I think it'll be ok for this journey, although I am trying to find as many routes as possible that aren't on busy roads, so would happily take tracks and trails where possible.

I do need to get faster, although this trip is not intended to be a race. I'm doing it with a friend from Nottingham and we'll be covering a 'reasonably' leisurely 50-60 miles per day. Sounds easy, eh?

 

[Paulus]

Change gears before you need to, ie, as you approach the hill, go down to a lower gear and pedal away.