Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

What gear and when.

Search
Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

What gear and when.

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 07-26-09, 09:35 AM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
dennisa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Wallingford,CT
Posts: 356

Bikes: 2010 Cannondale CAAD9-5

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
What gear and when.

As an amateur cyclist I think I may be in the wrong gear when climbing hills. My current bike has a tipple with a 7sp cassette. Because it felt easier I've always been in the small-small for climbing hills and when on flat the big-big. Is this correct or am I doing it wrong ??
dennisa is offline  
Old 07-26-09, 09:47 AM
  #2  
moth -----> flame
 
Beaker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 5,916

Bikes: 11 CAAD 10-4, 07 Specialized Roubaix Comp, 98 Peugeot Horizon

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
smaller at the front + bigger at the back = easier

so if you what you wrote was right then "you were doing it all wrong", as they say round here
__________________
BF, in a nutshell
Beaker is offline  
Old 07-26-09, 11:02 AM
  #3  
In the dark
 
cshell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: VA
Posts: 1,890
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Beaker
smaller at the front + bigger at the back = easier
Yep. i was told this which helped me...... The closer to the bike (inside, center) = lower gears. Going outward, away from the center of the bike = higher gears.

Like shifting in a car. (if in the USA.). shifting higher, toward the right, from 1st to 5th gear. Where 1st gear is close to your right thigh, and 5th gear is closer to the passenger seat. away from you, the driver.
cshell is offline  
Old 07-26-09, 11:42 AM
  #4  
Super Moderator
 
Homebrew01's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ffld Cnty Connecticut
Posts: 21,843

Bikes: Old Steelies I made, Old Cannondales

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1173 Post(s)
Liked 927 Times in 612 Posts
Think of your triple as "Low", "Mid" and "High" range. Small is for going up hill. Mid is for cruising. High is for faster cruising & downhills.

Generally, try to avoid "cross-chaining" which is small-small and big-big because the chain has to make an 'S' curve, wearing it a bit faster & making it noisier.
__________________
Bikes: Old steel race bikes, old Cannondale race bikes, less old Cannondale race bike, crappy old mtn bike.

FYI: https://www.bikeforums.net/forum-sugg...ad-please.html
Homebrew01 is offline  
Old 07-26-09, 01:26 PM
  #5  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
dennisa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Wallingford,CT
Posts: 356

Bikes: 2010 Cannondale CAAD9-5

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Thanks for confirming I've been doing it all wrong for a long time none the less
dennisa is offline  
Old 07-27-09, 09:15 PM
  #6  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
dennisa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Wallingford,CT
Posts: 356

Bikes: 2010 Cannondale CAAD9-5

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Looking at Sheldon Brown's site. Using the data for my current bike. 28/38/48 , 14,16,18,20,22,24,28
it looks like, If I use the small(28) and the 28 in the rear, my ratio should be. So If I'm read this correctly for every one rev on the crank the rear rim rotates 1.9 times. I notice that I can obtain the same gear ratios with different combinations of front chain ring and read cog. So how d oyou keep yourself sane to remember all of these combos and which ones overlap ??
dennisa is offline  
Old 07-27-09, 09:33 PM
  #7  
Señor Member
 
roshea's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 751
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
For hills, EPO and CERA is the good gear - accept no substitutes.
roshea is offline  
Old 07-27-09, 09:41 PM
  #8  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
dennisa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Wallingford,CT
Posts: 356

Bikes: 2010 Cannondale CAAD9-5

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Can you decipher the acronyms EPO, CERA for the newbie pls.
dennisa is offline  
Old 07-27-09, 09:45 PM
  #9  
Senior Member
 
KiuBWhy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 835

Bikes: 2007 Trek 1600

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
You just get used to it as you go on, as you ride more and more, you'll determine what works best for you (especially when climbing).

Try to avoid Small/Small or Big/Big combos (Small Chainring on front, small ring on back....vise versa for bigs) as this tends to result in crosschaining. Crosschaining is bad because it stretches out your chain unnecessarily and causes quicker wearing of the drive train in general.
KiuBWhy is offline  
Old 07-27-09, 09:47 PM
  #10  
umd
Banned
 
umd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 28,387

Bikes: Specialized Tarmac SL2, Specialized Tarmac SL, Giant TCR Composite, Specialized StumpJumper Expert HT

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Originally Posted by dennisa
Can you decipher the acronyms EPO, CERA for the newbie pls.
drugs
umd is offline  
Old 07-27-09, 09:55 PM
  #11  
Burning Matches.
 
ElJamoquio's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 9,714
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4077 Post(s)
Liked 1,002 Times in 676 Posts
Originally Posted by dennisa
Can you decipher the acronyms EPO, CERA for the newbie pls.
Erythropoeitin, and... um, the same stuff.
__________________
ElJamoquio didn't hate the world, per se; he was just constantly disappointed by humanity.
ElJamoquio is offline  
Old 07-27-09, 09:59 PM
  #12  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
dennisa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Wallingford,CT
Posts: 356

Bikes: 2010 Cannondale CAAD9-5

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
as far as the reference to drugs, seems like a proper training routine which can raise your V02 max would be a good substitute.
dennisa is offline  
Old 07-27-09, 10:03 PM
  #13  
Fixed-gear roadie
 
JacoKierkegaard's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Wilmington, NC
Posts: 1,048

Bikes: 2008 Masi Speciale Fixed

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
On my bike, 48x16. Always.
JacoKierkegaard is offline  
Old 07-28-09, 04:03 AM
  #14  
Keep on climbing
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Marlborough, Massachusetts
Posts: 2,193

Bikes: 2004 Calfee Tetra Pro

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 1 Post
Originally Posted by dennisa
Looking at Sheldon Brown's site. Using the data for my current bike. 28/38/48 , 14,16,18,20,22,24,28
it looks like, If I use the small(28) and the 28 in the rear, my ratio should be. So If I'm read this correctly for every one rev on the crank the rear rim rotates 1.9 times. I notice that I can obtain the same gear ratios with different combinations of front chain ring and read cog. So how d oyou keep yourself sane to remember all of these combos and which ones overlap ??
Yes, on most bikes there are multiple gear combinations that lead to the same gear ratio (or effectively the same, at least). I have no idea off-hand what my various gear-ratios come out to be, and I don't attempt to memorize the chart from Sheldon's site. If I need a small change because the road has gotten a little steeper, I shift the back. If I need a big change (i.e., going from a hard climb to a steep downhill) -- shift the front.
KevinF is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.