Hybrid Bicycles - How many folks only use the middle chainring?

I hadn't owned a bike since I was a kid until a month ago when I bough a Trek 7.2 to pull around my 1 year old and get some exercise. I have been out and about almost every day since, really enjoying the hobby/sport.

The roads and paths are flat as a pancake where I live, I have found no need to use the big or little rings. In fact, I rarely get to the high or low gear in the back either, probabally 99% of my riding is done in 5 gears. will this be beneficial in extending the life of the drive train?

I'm two speed up front and spend most time on the big ring 50T.

44-12 to 44-15 most of the time for me. Climbing a steeper grade I sometimes use the middle and the smallest for offroad only.
a

I hadn't owned a bike since I was a kid until a month ago when I bough a Trek 7.2 to pull around my 1 year old and get some exercise. I have been out and about almost every day since, really enjoying the hobby/sport.

The roads and paths are flat as a pancake where I live, I have found no need to use the big or little rings. In fact, I rarely get to the high or low gear in the back either, probabally 99% of my riding is done in 5 gears. will this be beneficial in extending the life of the drive train?
By keeping up the r.p.m. , spinning, you will be extending the life of your personal drive train, your body . You are the engine and have your own tachometer, So enjoy the ride !Teach your children well !

While I don't only use the middle chainring, the occasions for me to use the large one are almost infinitesimal. My granny-gear only gets a workout when I'm going up a hill that is steep or when I go up a mild hill while I'm tired. I think I spend about 95% of my riding life in the middle chainring though. And this isn't a "flat as a pancake" area of the Country, near the bluffs of the Mississippi.

I spend more than 99% of my time in the middle ring and I've chosen my drivetrain configuration with that as a goal. I would guess that using the same gears most of the time would reduce the life of the drivetrain because those specific chainring(s) and cogs will wear out faster. My crankset doesn't have replaceable rings so when the middle ring is shot, I will have a perfect opportunity to upgrade to something stiffer and lighter! Cassettes are easy to replace so no worries there.

99% middle
1% small

I'm assuming you have an 11-32 cassette on the back?
Consider a different cassette without the extremely large & small cogs, such as a-

http://www.loosescrews.com/index.cgi?d=single&c=Cassette&sc=Complete%20Shimano&tc=8%20Speed&item_id=SH-CS508225&id=356470811124

Just Google -
8 speed cassette

I also have a 7.2 and I would say 85% on the middle ring.

You said it yourself: "flat as a pancake".
It would indeed be weird to use many different gears on such paths.
You'll learn to appreciate the lower gearing when your kid gets heavier and the hills get tougher.

I use all three of my chainrings. I use a different one each time I ride. Between the three rings I use gears 2 - 7, 3 gears per ring per ride. I figured it would spread out the wear on my chain, rings, and rear gear sprockets. I may be wrong about that I don't know. I will say the middle ring is the most comfortable for me.

Shabo

I use the middle one mostly and the small one for hills. I wouldn't miss the big one if I were to take it off.

I have 28/38/48 rings with an 8 speed 11-34 cassette.

Something like this is a typical ride for me though:

http://i.imgur.com/MDo87.png

I almost never use my big chainring. It's way too scary at those speeds.

Looks like I'm gonna be the oddball. I spend most of my time on the large chain ring, but's a 42t.

I have a triple road bike and I spend most of my time in the middle ring, 42, with rear cassette 12-25. I can't stand the 11-34 cassette on the hybrid. The spacing between the gears is HUGE. Not sure if I want to sell the hybrid or change the cassette. I'm not happy with wide flag bars. And I don't like the thumb shifters; they are unnatural hand position. If Trek hadn't discontinued the Portland, it would have been a great commuter bike.

I can't stand the 11-34 cassette on the hybrid.

Just took my new 11-32 cassette on its first real ride today. I have to say I like it. It gives a little better top speed than a 12-xx and with the smallish 44t large front chain ring I have on my mtb the 11 really makes a difference for me. I do agree that when you start climbing the 3 tooth differences in the cogs makes it a little annoying, but for something that needs to be able to ride on both the road and the trail I find a wide range rear cassette to be just the ticket.

I work on cadence. Smooth and quick pedaling at the same rate at any speed(or try to). 99.9% flat here, there is one small section with a grade I only found while riding a bike at a perfect cadence since the grade is so small. Middle and large chainring, and 2-4th gear on the rear can keep a constant steady cadence.

Mashing pedals is not good for knees and makes you tired. Spinning a constant speed at a constant pressure can keep you biking for miles.

I have a triple road bike and I spend most of my time in the middle ring, 42, with rear cassette 12-25. I can't stand the 11-34 cassette on the hybrid. The spacing between the gears is HUGE.

I have a similar dislike for large range cassettes. My bike had an 11-28 7-speed cassette and the largest gap just happened to be where I do most of my riding. I got a new wheel and upgraded to an 11-28 9-speed cassette (stayed with the 11-28 for the sake of having a decent granny gear) but as my riding legs come back, I plan to move to a much tighter cassette, either a 12-25 or even a 12-23. I like small, subtle jumps that allow me to maintain a smooth cadence.

Looks like I'm gonna be the oddball. I spend most of my time on the large chain ring, but's a 42t.

That's my middle ring :)

I have a 7.3fx and ride most of the time in the middle gear, easier for stop and go at stop signs and general riding. When i can get a long run without having to stop i shift up to the big gear. No hills where i live so no need to shift down to the small gear. Today i was in big gear front, 6th gear rear and crusing at a comfortable 18-19 mph.

I also have a 7.3 and South Florida is also as flat as a pancake. I spend most of my riding time on the largest gear upfront and the fifth or sixth on the rear.

By keeping up the r.p.m. , spinning, you will be extending the life of your personal drive train, your bodyll !

After my hip replacement a friend who at one time was a racer gave me this advise and has been very helpful this year helping with the other hip & knees.

All the time I'm changing shark-toothed middle rings for customers. Granny or big-rings - much rarer.

middle ring 80 to 90 % of the time ... pretty sure my wife has never used the big ring on her coda sport, she does use the small one on occasion

7% big (48)
90% middle (38)
3% small (28)

I probably use the middle one 50% of the time. Small one 25% of the time for hills, or hills when I'm tired (we have lots of hills), and 25% on the large one for keeping the cadence up on downhill stretches.

I also switch chainrings to keep a decent chain line. I usually only use the top 4 or 5 gears on my 8sp cassette with the large chain ring, and the bottom 4 with the small chain ring. Middle ring I usually go from 2 to 7.

I use all of them but I use the middle 95% of the time.

I probably use the middle one 50% of the time. Small one 25% of the time for hills, or hills when I'm tired (we have lots of hills), and 25% on the large one for keeping the cadence up on downhill stretches.

I also switch chainrings to keep a decent chain line. I usually only use the top 4 or 5 gears on my 8sp cassette with the large chain ring, and the bottom 4 with the small chain ring. Middle ring I usually go from 2 to 7.

Good answer.
This is what could be called "the ideal way of using triple chainring gears".

My hybrid and MTB have triples. I ride them on road or MUPs. I'm in the big ring all the time except for climbs. I never use the granny ring on road/MUPs, not even on the steepest paved hill. If I did off-roading, I'd probably use the granny ring for steep climbs.

Giant Escape 1.
I'm all over the place but the hills/mountains around here are all over the place (grades) too. Yet I'm in the middle 70% of the time. 2-7 of 8.

I’m on my middle ring 42 t about 65% of the time.

If you put your gearing into a gear calculator program you will see that in most setups the large ring will only give you one or two higher gears above the middle ring. If you have a wide range cassette and don’t like the steps on the gearing you use for flat riding, wanting to find the best spin gearing the large ring could be your friend. I have mine set to give me half step gears and often use the 6 smallest cogs of the 9 on my cassette to fine tune while on the large ring. Likewise there is overlap on the granny gear and I don’t limit myself to using the granny ring with just the largest cog. I don’t worry about half stepping off the granny as that’s a harder shift to make up front. But when I’m hauling some weight and or on rolling hills I will stay down on the granny and use the 6 largest cogs of the 9 on the cassette. So my usage of the middle and large rings 42-52t is like we used to do on a 10 speed only not having to half step unless I feel the need to get a fine tuned range. My granny 24t is like a whole different bike when needed. And my cassette 12-36 (9 speed) normally doesn’t seem too wide of spaced for my riding style on the center ring but when it does I have the option of dropping a half a gear by doing a double shift.

The gear program I like is found here. http://home.earthlink.net/~mike.sherman/shift.html

If I lived in a flat area as mentioned above I could see going with a single chain ring setup and a tight spaced 8 or 9 cassette then I guess my answer would be 100% on the middle ring. But most of Pennsylvania is too hilly for that.

I have a double, but there are lots of hills where I live. I'm 40%:60%, small:large.

I also have the 7.2fx and basically live in the middle range .. since I do 99% of my riding on MUP, the middle ring (front) and 5-8 gear in the back gets me going quite well.

I mostly stay in the middle ring and use all of the cassette range.

I believe the more you use any chainring the quicker the teeth will wear and the sooner you will get chain skip. personally I try to stay out of my 3 favorites (the 3 smallest on the rear wheel) whenever possible

The roads and paths are flat as a pancake where I live, I have found no need to use the big or little rings.

well there you go, other people who live in places flat as a billiard table do also.
those who have different terrain have different needs.

where I live the river valley is still full of the River, But,
the Columbia is different, geologically, from the Mississippi,
so I need all the range I have.

I ride in a variety of conditions and use all three although the middle ring gets used the most. I try to avoid extreme chain positions so the big ring gets used for that purpose. Haven't got the legs to push 52/11 except on thrilling downhills.

On the flats, I'll use the large gear (50). When I go up an incline I may shift to the middle gear (40). I use the small gear (30) on steep hills. This puts me in the large gear most of the time.

I use a mix but I'll admit 75% in the middle, (38 on one bike/32 on the other) 20% in the big ring, (48 on one bike/46 on the other) and 5% on the small ring, (28 on one bike, 22 on the other), only go to the small ring as a last resort, like the idea of saving it for loaded touring or when pulling loads in my utility trailer and not getting use to it for unloaded riding.

trek 7.5, 11-26, 9 speed. 48/36/26 crank

90% of the time in the middle ring and mostly in the middle 4-5-6 on the back when on flats.Most of my rides are on flats but some very steep hills around herethat I like to ride sometimes so I ride small on those. rarely use large unless I want to really punch it downhill.

On my hybrid which I use exclusively for trail riding, I converted to a 1 x 8. I've a 39 tooth ring on the front and a 13(?)x32 on the back. Depending on the time of year and how I'm feeling, I use them all.