So many gears, pointless?

[JPBoothy]

With getting older I'm dropping gears, currently at 1 so future looks bleak.

Or possibly an ebike.. It would be better than giving up the chance to still get out there

 

[Ian H]

I like my 3x10 gearing, close-ratio and something extra for that vertical road when you're knackered. And I like my fixed-wheel, simple, direct, no-nonsense, and indefinably zen. I've ridden both over substantial distances and even some substantial hills.

So my answer is yes, or possibly, no.

 

[marzjennings]

Is there any evidence that we all have an optimum cadence and what do you mean by optimum. Optimum in what way? Plus if it is optimal how much can it vary before it becomes sub optimal? I.e. Is it a range or a tightly controlled value?

I would assume that the reference to optimum cadence is the cadence one is spinning prior to any gear change. Every ride is different, but in general we settle down to a preferred cadence and power band during a ride, for me that's generally around 90rpm/170w, and having as many gears as possible allows me to stay within my optimum cadence and power range.

 

[Twilkes]

Is there any evidence that we all have an optimum cadence and what do you mean by optimum. Optimum in what way? Plus if it is optimal how much can it vary before it becomes sub optimal? I.e. Is it a range or a tightly controlled value?

I've been riding for years so have a pretty good feeling for what my legs can do and how sustainable it is, and on my eight speed I often find one gear too high and that my muscles will get tired so it's not sustainable but the next gear too low and that I'm not using as much of my energy to go forwards as I could be so it's sub-optimal. I don't really get those feelings very much with my ten speed, except when pushing hard, so maybe 'optimal' cadence is a range but that range gets smaller and smaller the closer you are to your max power output, or you can tolerate a wider cadence range if you're not fussed about going everywhere as fast as you can. When cycling with my wife my cadence sometimes drops below 60rpm as we're pootling down canal paths, rather than 85rpm+ when out on my own.

 

[silva]

Or possibly an ebike.. It would be better than giving up the chance to still get out there

I don't see any point in ebikes except to get faster there.
Without an ebike, one can still get out, just slower that's all.
So if you bike for sport or tourism, lol @ ebikes. Sometimes I think ppl feel ashame if others ride faster than them.
An ebike is then like an ego prop up.
Made me think about a case some weeks ago.
I was riding on a long lingering road with farms and open fields. There's a farmer that every evening drives his cows inside, crossing the road. So traffic has to wait some minutes.
There is precisely at the farm a parallel road, but too small for cars to cross easily, but fine for bikes and it's just a minute longer.
I arrived there nearly simultaneous with an ebiker (not a speedbike). The farmer directed him to the parallel road, and the guy refused. He just went with his bike between the cows and the farmers woman yelled to him that it is on his own risk.
Now, I'm used to this common cows crossing road event so I immediately took the parallel road. Guess what, I arrived like 10 sec before the ebiker at the further re-junction of the parallel road back to the main.
Now, that guy, it wasn't normal - the hate in his eyes when he passed me. See, that is what I ment with that "ego prop up". Some buy an ebike just to be able to pass other people.

There is a similar story reoccuring in the city nearby. Some young migrants at a crosswalk. They have all the time to cross the road but they don't. They wait for cars arriving and THEN they cross, purposely to make the drivers stop. Then they cross the street alike Bosses, and when arrived at the other side, they repeat it from there...

There are normal people too, in the world.

 

[Mike_P]

I don't see any point in ebikes except to get faster there.
Without an ebike, one can still get out, just slower that's all.

How about relatively short commutes up a steep hill in anything other than pretty cold weather where it would be pointless taking a shower as it would be quicker to walk and light load shopping trips - consequence of the current situation is that my ebike is getting little use as none of the former are occurring and the vast majority of shopping trips are bulky in order to cut down the number needed.

 

[JPBoothy]

I don't see any point in ebikes except to get faster there.
Without an ebike, one can still get out, just slower that's all.
So if you bike for sport or tourism, lol @ ebikes. Sometimes I think ppl feel ashame if others ride faster than them.
An ebike is then like an ego prop up.
Made me think about a case some weeks ago.
I was riding on a long lingering road with farms and open fields. There's a farmer that every evening drives his cows inside, crossing the road. So traffic has to wait some minutes.
There is precisely at the farm a parallel road, but too small for cars to cross easily, but fine for bikes and it's just a minute longer.
I arrived there nearly simultaneous with an ebiker (not a speedbike). The farmer directed him to the parallel road, and the guy refused. He just went with his bike between the cows and the farmers woman yelled to him that it is on his own risk.
Now, I'm used to this common cows crossing road event so I immediately took the parallel road. Guess what, I arrived like 10 sec before the ebiker at the further re-junction of the parallel road back to the main.
Now, that guy, it wasn't normal - the hate in his eyes when he passed me. See, that is what I ment with that "ego prop up". Some buy an ebike just to be able to pass other people.

There is a similar story reoccuring in the city nearby. Some young migrants at a crosswalk. They have all the time to cross the road but they don't. They wait for cars arriving and THEN they cross, purposely to make the drivers stop. Then they cross the street alike Bosses, and when arrived at the other side, they repeat it from there...

There are normal people too, in the world.

Oops sorry, I think I misinterpreted your comment as meaning you were struggling to get out any more

I am not an ebike (moped) fan either but never like to think of a fellow cyclist having to hang-up their cleats

 

[derrick]

My ride today, i used all the gears going up hill into a headwind.changing them one at a time, keeping my cadence steady. I did have a nice bit of downhill just before the up. Coming down i reached 36 mph going right down to 9mph going up.

 

[mjr]

7 speed 11 -28t
8 speed added 32t
9 speed added 34t
10 speed added 36t
11 speed added 42t
12 speed added 10t
Where's the benefits?

I don't think that's quite correct. There was a 7 speed megarange freewheel offering 34 teeth. Ugly and I think it needed a MTB derailleur at the time, but it existed. https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/technologies/component/details/megarange.html

As noted z the benefit is a smaller gap between your maximum power and the biggest sustainable gear.

 

[Mike Ayling]

I don't see any point in ebikes except to get faster there.
Without an ebike, one can still get out, just slower that's all.
So if you bike for sport or tourism, lol @ ebikes. Sometimes I think ppl feel ashame if others ride faster than them.
An ebike is then like an ego prop up.
Made me think about a case some weeks ago.
I was riding on a long lingering road with farms and open fields. There's a farmer that every evening drives his cows inside, crossing the road. So traffic has to wait some minutes.
There is precisely at the farm a parallel road, but too small for cars to cross easily, but fine for bikes and it's just a minute longer.
I arrived there nearly simultaneous with an ebiker (not a speedbike). The farmer directed him to the parallel road, and the guy refused. He just went with his bike between the cows and the farmers woman yelled to him that it is on his own risk.
Now, I'm used to this common cows crossing road event so I immediately took the parallel road. Guess what, I arrived like 10 sec before the ebiker at the further re-junction of the parallel road back to the main.
Now, that guy, it wasn't normal - the hate in his eyes when he passed me. See, that is what I ment with that "ego prop up". Some buy an ebike just to be able to pass other people.

There is a similar story reoccuring in the city nearby. Some young migrants at a crosswalk. They have all the time to cross the road but they don't. They wait for cars arriving and THEN they cross, purposely to make the drivers stop. Then they cross the street alike Bosses, and when arrived at the other side, they repeat it from there...

There are normal people too, in the world.

About 65 years ago when I had just entered high school in South Africa we had a what was referred to then as PT or Physical Training and one of the masters who took us used to refer to those who brought a letter from their mums asking to be excused as the sick, lame and lazy.
Far too many ebike riders fall into the third category!

I don't think that we have any crosswalks here in Melbourne Australia that are not protected bt traffic lights requiring the press of a button and usually a lengthy wait. The little scrotes would get bored pretty quickly.

Mike

 

[silva]

How about relatively short commutes up a steep hill in anything other than pretty cold weather where it would be pointless taking a shower as it would be quicker to walk and light load shopping trips - consequence of the current situation is that my ebike is getting little use as none of the former are occurring and the vast majority of shopping trips are bulky in order to cut down the number needed.

Isn't such case steep up hill just the same of what I said: to get faster somewhere?

 

[Mike_P]

Isn't such case steep up hill just the same of what I said: to get faster somewhere?

Yes but also without being soaked in sweat, it would be pretty pointless cycling purely pedal powered when the combined time including kit change, shower and drying exceeds the walking time. Equally their are people who have longer commutes whose work place has poor facilities so an ebike has a role there. Then there was the ebiker I spoke to at Halfords who had one because his knees were shot and he could not put much power through them.

 

[Chris S]

My most-used bike has three gears...

So does mine, it's great for tearing around town.

 

[silva]

Yes but also without being soaked on sweat, it would be pretty pointless cycling purely pedal powered when the combined time including kit change, shower and drying exceeds the walking time. Equally their are people who have longer commutes whose work place has poor facilities so an ebike has a role there. Then there was the ebiker I spoke to at Halfords who had one because his knees were shot and he could not put much power through them.

See, sweat is the product of effort. Doing effort is what training / sport is.
If you take the car then it's even less sweat. Basically yet another wording of what I said before.
Ebikes serve to get faster somewhere and that's it/that's all.

 

[mjr]

See, sweat is the product of effort. Doing effort is what training / sport is.
If you take the car then it's even less sweat. Basically yet another wording of what I said before.
Ebikes serve to get faster somewhere and that's it/that's all.

Cycling is not necessarily training/sport. It can be transport. We'd prefer even those to ride not drive, to reduce the amount they shoot in our lungs, so ebikes are good.

Do ebikes benefit more from close-spaced gears?