useing gears

[reacher]

can anyone shed any light on this for me ,
my buddy who is a pretty good cyclist tells me that when he is on the road he uses only the 39 chain ring and the 11 12 and 13 on the back ,
what is the reason for this and what does it mean , i thought the whole idea of the gears was to use them all ,

 

[tyred]

You don't need to, and indeed probably shouldn't use them all. Some are duplicates, some give a poor chainline.

I deliberately built my Peugeot with a single front chainwheel and wide range freewheel block as I find it convenient.

 

[iAmiAdam]

He'll be grinding his chain very nicely there, I wouldn't advise that.

 

[gavintc]

can anyone shed any light on this for me ,
my buddy who is a pretty good cyclist tells me that when he is on the road he uses only the 39 chain ring and the 11 12 and 13 on the back ,
what is the reason for this and what does it mean , i thought the whole idea of the gears was to use them all ,

He is certainly not using his gears correctly. Running a 39 - 11 combination puts the chain at an unacceptable and unnecessary angle. You do not need to use them all. Indeed, the extremes 39-11 and 53-25 are not recommended. There are a number of duplications of ratio in a set of gears and you should use gears depending on the need. In summary, if your friend is claiming to be a 'good cyclist', he needs to learn how to use his gears.

 

[Scoosh]

I would agree with you.

My understanding of gears is that they are there to enable you to maintain a steady cadence (pedal rpm). As the 'weight' comes 'on' the pedal, you change to an easier (lower) gear; when it comes 'off', you change to a harder (higher) gear, endeavouring to keep your cadence ticking along between, say, 80-100 rpm.


Your buddy may be supremely fit/ trying to get supremely fit/ not fully understanding gears/ whatever - but I'll keep doing it the way I have done, which works for me

.


I think you might (intuitively) know a bit more than your buddy ....

 

[reacher]

he trains on the velodrome as well , will that have infuenced his choice ? , he claims a near on 24 mph average on a undulateing road , although i'v not seen him do this i have seen him on a spin bike and he can definately push a big setting around , although he do's a very low rpm but on a high setting , the time although he doe'snt pedal fast is extremely good for the 20 k distance , he just seems to grind it round like a machine untill he has finished the 20 k , no one can touch him on the bikes in the gym ,
my brother said the same he had never heard of any one doing this , i must say i was a bit surprised when he told me , i can see how some would duplicate , but on the twice i'v been out i was up and down the whole range ,

 

[mcshroom]

His knees aren't going to thank him for grinding like that.

The way I see it gears are there to be used. I have a triple and 8sp on the back. I'll use the big ring with 4-8 on the back, the granny ring with 1-4 and the middle ring across the whole cassette. Don't know if that's right but it seems ok

 

[gavintc]

His knees aren't going to thank him for grinding like that.

The way I see it gears are there to be used. I have a triple and 8sp on the back. I'll use the big ring with 4-8 on the back, the granny ring with 1-4 and the middle ring across the whole cassette. Don't know if that's right but it seems ok

I know it is a high gear, but 39-11 is 'only' 53-15. Not quite as bad as running in the big ring.

 

[mcshroom]

Good point, although riding the spin bike with a slow cadence on a hard gear won't be doing him any good.

Wouldn't know what a 53x11 felt like as I only have a 48t big-ring

 

[Rouge Penguin]

Maybe he's able to hold a higher cadence with those, but he will need twice as many chains and cassettes as everyone else. Doesn't sound like a knowledgable fellow though, that's a lot of wasted speed not shifting up.

Think of a line straight back from each cog, every thing on the same side of that as the cog is good, everything else is bad.

 

[Alien8]

what is the reason for this and what does it mean

He's not very mechanically minded?

 

[reacher]

He's not very mechanically minded?

he cant be , which is strange , as he knows his stuff , he can tell me every thing about the technical side of bikes , what to buy and why ,
my brother said the same , what a strange way to ride ,
also i'v tried these setings on the spin bikes and i agree they just hammer your joints rather than build fitness ,
its an impressive work out he do's though , i cant get near it , he is ripped to hell as well , he must have zero body fat , as in nothing at all ,
the guy looks like a cartoon freak he is so cut up ,
this is the guy who i'm going to race by the way ,
or maybe just follow him round i reckon after seeing him on a spin bike this last few weeks he has improved tremendously

 

[Sittingduck]

That hurt my eyes.

 

[totallyfixed]

I only use one gear

BTW, deliberately turning a big gear is called resistance training and is widely employed by time triallists.

 

[JNR]

I deliberately complete hills sat on my seat and turn a higher gear than is necessary on my bike so eventually I will have a few cogs to turn down into when I'm in trouble on the mountain passes I'll be doing next year. My strength has improved already from a total newbie upwards. So far I don't have to use the lowest two ratios on my compact 50x34 with 12x25 even on short severe climbs. On longer climbs I'm normally ok but sometimes allow myself the luxury of changing down. I aim to be able to do most hills with at least half that cassette 'spare' so that when I'm in trouble on the mountains I have more than a prayer to save me and can change down gear.

It's cheaper than buying a new triple bike at least and I'm becoming a far better climber in the process. I still practice climbing out of the seat a bit whilst turning higher gears. I suppose it is down to fitness, strength and your power to weight ratio ultimately. I ride bikes that winners of the Tour de France couldn't dream of riding thirty years ago and I would pale into comparison of their ability.