Does anybody else have trouble with gear shifter logic?
- Thread starter onlyhuman
- Start date
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John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
onlyhuman said:
Nice one - once you have an idea of it that works in your head, it does start to become second nature. For me, it was thinking about raising & releasing cable tension that helped, oddly.
In a previous life, I was a motorcar tester.
There were Right hand manuals, Right hand autos, Left hand autos and a few Left hand manuals.
New recruits to the department would learn to drive each type while carefully following a speed/distance schedule on a chassis dynamometer. FTP 75 Emissions testing.
Any young whippersnapper who thought he was a good driver would be given a Right hand auto Ford Scorpio and told to 'follow the trace'.
When ( and they all did ) he stepped on the brake pedal thinking it was the clutch, we would spray the car with shaving foam and ring bells.
Hilarity over, he would then be given a manual gearbox car and told to 'follow the trace'. The FTP 75 schedule does not have any prompts for gearchanges and they need to be done swiftly and cleanly at the correct engine revs AND stay within the speed tolerances each side of the line.
Different cars have different gearbox characteristics. One 'practice' drive, one 'catalyst conditioning' drive and the next morning is the official test drive.
It had to be good. Any error would invalidate the test and waste £800.
Now I have people complaining they have trouble changing gear on a bicycle
There were Right hand manuals, Right hand autos, Left hand autos and a few Left hand manuals.
New recruits to the department would learn to drive each type while carefully following a speed/distance schedule on a chassis dynamometer. FTP 75 Emissions testing.
Any young whippersnapper who thought he was a good driver would be given a Right hand auto Ford Scorpio and told to 'follow the trace'.
When ( and they all did ) he stepped on the brake pedal thinking it was the clutch, we would spray the car with shaving foam and ring bells.
Hilarity over, he would then be given a manual gearbox car and told to 'follow the trace'. The FTP 75 schedule does not have any prompts for gearchanges and they need to be done swiftly and cleanly at the correct engine revs AND stay within the speed tolerances each side of the line.
Different cars have different gearbox characteristics. One 'practice' drive, one 'catalyst conditioning' drive and the next morning is the official test drive.
It had to be good. Any error would invalidate the test and waste £800.
Now I have people complaining they have trouble changing gear on a bicycle
Mortiroloboy
New Member
As accountantpete so succinctly puts it thumb down, finger up, easy really, just make sure you read the road ahead and allow yourself time to change gear, just like you would when driving a car.
They say ( whoever 'they' are ) "practice makes perfect".
Find where the ring changeover point is on your gear range.
eg. 53x17, 53x19, 53x21, 39x19, 39x21, 39x23
Go for a ride round the residential streets. Use the gears like you would in a car, starting from stopped in low ( 39x23 ). As you gain speed, change up one ratio at a time until you are cruising in 53x17 ( or whatever your bike has ).
When approaching a junction, change down one, maybe two ratios at a time until you come to a stop in 'low' ( 39x23 ).
Progress will be slow but you will soon get the hang of which lever or thumb trigger to push.
Find where the ring changeover point is on your gear range.
eg. 53x17, 53x19, 53x21, 39x19, 39x21, 39x23
Go for a ride round the residential streets. Use the gears like you would in a car, starting from stopped in low ( 39x23 ). As you gain speed, change up one ratio at a time until you are cruising in 53x17 ( or whatever your bike has ).
When approaching a junction, change down one, maybe two ratios at a time until you come to a stop in 'low' ( 39x23 ).
Progress will be slow but you will soon get the hang of which lever or thumb trigger to push.
asterix
Comrade Member
- Location
- Limoges or York
onlyhuman said:
That's not actually his job on this forum. Jim is the guy who can (eventually) reduce any problem to mathematics, as far as I can undertand.
WRT the logic of gear shifting, there is none. You just have to learn. I have a bike with STI and another with Ergo and it's far worse than just having one system
onlyhuman said:
If you are refering to your original post where you ask for a "mental trick", the 'mental trick' in this instance is called
MEMORY ....
Or as us who have well developed High Accelerated Region say,,, "RECALL"... because a human being memorises EVERYTHING... it's the individual's power of recall that lets him/her sit his/her exams a doddle.
gf1959 said:
Still not correct. Small lever on front changer shifts chain to smaller chainring.
Try this...
Flick both small levers simultaneously.
The chain will fall onto a smaller ring and the onto a smaller sprocket, resulting in a net reduction in gear ratio.
Pushing both large levers simultaneously is more tricky, and I don't do it. I push the front changer first followed shortly afterward by the rear changer.
The rear changer can shift the chain up to three sprockets at a swipe, so 'over changing' is likely if hand co-ordination is poor.
onlyhuman said:
http://www.livescience.com/health/060816_har1_gene.html
Oops, sorry.
Human Accelerated Region.
I too, have lapses of total recall from time to time...
jimboalee said:http://www.livescience.com/health/060816_har1_gene.html
Oops, sorry.
Human Accelerated Region.
I too, have lapses of total recall from time to time...
No. That's not me in the photo.
