Gears - simplified!

[Gravity Aided]

I've three 26 inch cycles that have not been terminated, as of yet.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

@sannesley Smaller. Basically the nearer the bike frame the cog is, the easier the pedalling that you will do, but you'll travel less distance per turn of the pedals. That's why you can often see people pedalling along a flat road their legs a blur but barely moving forwards at all. Usually on a cheap full suss supermarket bike & bobbing up and down like they're on a bouncy castle.

The trick is to think of the front and rear together, say you have 3 cogs in the front and 7 on the back. 1 being nearest the frame (easiest to pedal but slow) and 3/7 (hardest to pedal but fast) being the outermost ones front/rear.

You do not start in 1:1 and then click to 1:2 1:3 ....1:7. then go 2:1 2:2 2:3..... etc up to 3:7.

The front 3 are a coarse adjustment of pedalling ease vs wheel speed, the rear 7 give finer tuning within the rough adjustment.

It is a really bad idea to 'cross' the chain. E.g. 1 front & 7 back or 3 front & 1 back, this stretches the chain links and wears it & the cog teeth more quickly, it is best to adjust front and rear gears in conjunction with each other to keep the chain running as straight as possible. e.g. If you've been on 1 on the front (hills) and come to a flatter bit, you'd only usually go up to 3, or 4 at very most on the back before switching up to 2 on the front and into maybe 2-3 on the back at the same time and then up the rear range as the road got flatter and you could pedal better in 2 & eventually 3 at the front

Similarly if you were in 3:7 (flat or downhill fast riding) and you were coming to an uphill bit, you'd only go down to 5 or 4 at the back before dropping the front into gear 2 and maybe pushing the rear gear back up to 6, then clicking a few gears down from 6 on the back and eventually into 1 on the front if it got really steep.

Gear 2 on the front (when you have 3) is the only one where you could use all 7 gears on the back, but even then in 2 on the front I'd avoid using at least the extremes (1 & 7) on the back.

It is easy on a triple (3 front cogs) to get lazy and leave it sat in 2 on the front and just change the rear up and down. This will get you about pretty much wherever you want but not with the greatest possible ease/efficiency/pedalling comfort.

Double chainrings (2 cogs at the front) still need the same level of care and consideration in not crossing the chain as invariably the tooth count difference between 1 & 2 gear is more than the gaps on a triple, so the change in ease/leg speed is more pronounced when you do change & you need to be paying close attention to where the back gear is, rough rule of thumb, the rear gear should be in the middle third of its range when you change the front or it can be like changing a car gear straight from 1st to 4th or 5th to 2nd : there will be a horrible jolting stall or your legs will go 0-60 in an instant and balance goes a bit awry.

If you ever get a go on a hub gear bike 1= easiest pedal, top number = hardest.

Its all a bit arcane and everyone has their own opinions, above is only a rough guide to hopefully avoid schoolboy errors. Basically as others have said, if you're spinning out change up or struggling to pedal change down.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Simplified: Hahahaha, sorry, the above got a bit rambly.

 

[shadow master]

I've three 26 inch cycles that have not been terminated, as of yet.

I'm referring to New production.....2014 was difficult to buy a good 26".... 2015 virtually impossible!worlds biggest makers have ceased production.

 

[Cuchilo]

I think the easiest thing to do is know your local routes . When you are coming up to a harder part you know when to change from the big ring to the small ring at the front before you get there . If you find how to match that on the rear ( it will be the same gear as you where already in according to your legs ) then you only have to click down or up one cog as the ride goes . Once it gets easier then do the reverse and go back to the big ring on the front .

 

[outlash]

I'm referring to New production.....2014 was difficult to buy a good 26".... 2015 virtually impossible!worlds biggest makers have ceased production.

This matters why?


Tony.

 

[shadow master]

This matters why?


Tony.

Matters if you liked the 26" wheel bikes and would like a new model using the latest kit/frame technology, they simply don't exist!

 

[outlash]

Is it such a hardship to get a bike that doesn't have 26" wheels then?

 

[shadow master]

Is it such a hardship to get a bike that doesn't have 26" wheels then?

I think the 26" can have it's place,It was OK for 30 years!shorter small framed riders on technical rides,requiring fast acceleration etc....my point is this the market has taken the choice away,rightly or wrongly its happened!

 

[raleighnut]

If its got disc brakes you could put 26" wheels on, if worried about ground clearance swap to shorter cranks as well.

 

[outlash]

I'm sure penny farthing riders feel similarly aggrieved. Whilst you may have a point, this is apparently progress. One thing though, after recently purchasing a road(ish) bike with disc brakes, any bikes I buy in the future will have them too. Makes the cantis on my crosser look like death traps in comparison.


Tony.

 

[xzenonuk]

I tend to change gear, one at a time whenever i feel my legs are either spinning or pushing too much. If I feel i'm spinning (not doing enough work), I change to a higher gear... if i feel I'm pushing (doing too much work), I change to lower gear. It means changing gear a lot, but it works for me.

what this guy said, plus watch your not stretching your chain eg a extreme of that would be front small cog and back small cog etc you can easily look down and see if your chain is stretching at an angle, took me a while to work out what gear combinations i can or cannot use when i went from a 18 gear bike to a 27 gear one.

 

[Ootini]

I think the easiest thing to do is know your local routes . When you are coming up to a harder part you know when to change from the big ring to the small ring at the front before you get there . If you find how to match that on the rear ( it will be the same gear as you where already in according to your legs ) then you only have to click down or up one cog as the ride goes . Once it gets easier then do the reverse and go back to the big ring on the front .

This is what I do. Look ahead at your route and if you see a monster hill on it's way have a quick think. If you're on the big ring and cycling along quite nicely, just think, when you hit that hill, you're screwed (well I am). So shift down to the small ring in plenty of time. This will mean you'll suddenly be spinning like hell, so use the other shifter to move down the cassette until you're roughly back where you started. This way, when you do hit the hill, your front ring is already set (on the small one) and you've got plenty of room to manoeuvre up on the cassette as the hill takes it's toll.
Also works in the other direction but it's not as important, as you crest a hill you can just cruise down and adjust your gears without worrying about suddenly running out of steam, as you would on your way up a hill.

 

[bpsmith]

Exactly how I do it too @Ootini. Works a treat.

 

[rovers1875]

Why do some people over complicate things, If its hard to pedal change down, If its easy change up. Just ride and enjoy it.