escarpment

I feel like I have been seeing a fair amount of rear derailleur goes into wheel threads lately. Am I the only one who never goes into the large cog on the cassette?
I know that a properly tuned derailleur shouldn't ever over-shift, but I always get the feeling that I am a bump away from disaster. I cant be the only one.

Tihsepa

Yes, you are the "only one". Seriously, a properly set up bike will not have this failure. Keep in mind that if the hanger gets bent that also increases the chance of shifting into the spokes. The bent hanger is most often what happens. The drivetrain was fine then the derailuer got tagged and the next time, whamo! Distruction!

dvdslw

I go to the large cog several times on every ride, when the pavement turns upward I'm usually on both the large cog in the rear and the big ring up front with an occasional jump down to the small ring up front when I'm tired or conserving energy.

Leinster

Well cross-chaining like that is also weird.

But yeah, the big sprocket is there for a reason. If you're (the OP) strong enough to ride in your neighbourhood without it, more power to you, but I'd never survive without mine, and to be honest I probably need something bigger for some of the climbs around here.

dvdslw

I don't see a problem with "cross-chaining", never had an issue from doing it and I'm cranking pretty hard uphill at 225lbs on the two big rings. As for climbs, we don't have many here in Central Florida but there's some pretty good rolling hills to deal with.

Silvercivic27

Just put the dork disc back on. It'll be fine.

RollCNY

Never use your large cog, but not for the reason you list.

Using your easiest gear is giving up: the hill has beaten you. It now knows that if it can muster up some additional grade, it can beat you. You being all in shows your cards to the terrain.

So you want to always keep one or two in reserve. This way, the hill will think that you are doing repeats, or that you are just toying with it. Often, it will simply flatten itself out and give up, preferring to save its topography to hurl at some lady on a hybrid.

For this very reason, I primarily ride a single speed. The bulk of Central NY terrain is confused and alarmed by me, and does its impression of south Florida when I roll out of the garage. Honest.

datlas 

I disagree. My "bailout" gear is 39/23. I do break it out once in awhile.

Otoh if I had a 34/28 I might actually agree.

krobinson103

I like my 34 when in combo with the 26 up front on a steep hill with a touring load. In fact I would say theres no way I'd get up without it some days. Or, I may just be on a night ride and not feel like stressing my knees. As I get older I find that while my cardio and muscles are fine, my knees are not. Muscle up a hill and I'll pay for it for days.

rms13

I use it more cross chained in combo with my large chain ring so I can get up some hills without shifting the front derailleur. But with hills/mountains around here I do occasionally need my lowest which is 34/25. I maintain my own bike and spent a lot of time dialing in my derailleurs and I'm pretty confident my limits are set where it is impossible to overshift

surgeonstone

Well that's just plain stupid. Adjust your derailleur, learn how to shift and use all.

PhotoJoe 

I'm 230 lbs and get to climb some of the mountain roads used in Tour of California. No ego here. I need every bit of my 28. Living in Chicago may be a different story.

Or, I guess i could put a 12-30 on there, never use the 30 and essentially make my bike into a 9 speed with crappy spacing.

idk416

I love these threads. They bring out the macho men
Really though, you're supposed to keep you cadence consistent...so unless its just a short little hill (just power over), you should be using easier gears and keeping the cadence similar to on the flats. Of course, if you're just riding 25k or something, it matters less. It's not like the average rider loses speed if you're in the right gear as opposed slowly grinding a big gear up the hill.

Bandera

1) Yes you are.

B) You are geared improperly.
Your low/low should be the bottom of your Low Range required to get up the stiffest local climb w/o undue stress.
Buy a tighter cassette.

iii) The bottom cog is not a cruel joke perpetrated by a vengeful design deity, it has a purpose: see B).
A properly adjusted and maintained rear derail cannot overshift into the spokes.
Get a good mechanic and worry about other impeding dooms.

-Bandera

WhyFi

Why has @Velo Vol not posted in this thread yet? I'm pretty sure that his largest cog is encased in glass with a "break in the event of an emergency" sticker.

Kai Winters

If you're worried about it don't use that gear...
If you're properly geared for your terrain and abilities you may never need it anyway as it usually a bail out gear.
Cross chaining for long periods of time or over a long time will wear the chain rings and cogs much more than better aligned gear choices but sometimes you don't have a choice so you ride the gear you have.

A big problem with big ring cross chaining is you are severely limited in gears when you generally most need them and if you do try to shift to a small chain ring you risk breaking the chain, throwing the chain off the rings, etc. as well as losing significant placing in the group of riders, being dramatically dropped, causing those behind you to curse you rightfully, etc.

Better to be aware and use the better gear.

rpenmanparker 

For some reason (maybe just convenience) there is a category of riders who just refuse to use the small front ring. Even if it means cross chaining. I have a friend who rides the big ring on our moderate paced, flat Houston rides. I'm on my 39 front and 19, 17, 15 and 14 rear riding at speeds up to 22 mph. Cadence about 90-100. I am in the middle of the cassette and have plenty of room to shift either up or down for whatever change in conditions might occur. Under those conditions, why would he be on his big ring? Either his cadence is only about 70-80 or he is crowded way over to the 26, 23, 21 cogs, neither of which is especially desirable. I dont' get it, but all I can say is different strokes.... And it may surprise just about everyone here, but I have kept my mouth shut and not said a word to him about it. Ta-da!

gsa103

Using the largest cog is the best way to prevent derailuer into spokes damage. By regularly shifting over you can detect improperly set limits before they get way out. Just don't make the first shift at high speed or load. And yes, I put a derailuer into the spokes. It was my wife's bike, and I was testing after a crash. Everything thing was fine except the hanger which was already bent.

fstshrk

12-30 is basically an 11-28 without the 11 and a 30 added to the back. There is no difference in spacing from a practical point of view.

rpenmanparker 

Doesn't the 12-30 have other different gears than the 11-28. Like 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27, 30 instead of 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 22, 25, 28? The differences may be negligible. Just saying it is not quite as similar as you think.

ls01

R600DurAce would be so disappointed in you all.

mrblue

I never use the largest cog, either, but not for the same reason as the OP. I run a triple crankset, so if the hills get gnarly (and they do in SF) I'll just drop down to the smallest chainring.

Having said that, I do not have any concerns about my chain being thrown into the spokes. I check the rear derailleur limits quite often to make sure everything is shifting as it should.

gsa103

If the RD hanger is straight, you can put the chain into the spokes before the RD. I had a mountain bike with a bad limit that would consistently do that. Think about how the spoke angles work. As you go further away from the hub, the spokes move away from the RD giving you a bit more clearance. The scenarios with putting the RD into the spokes almost always involve a pre-bent hanger.

As a side note, running an 11-speed wheelset with 10-speed cassette gives you an extra 1.8mm of clearance.

seypat

I never have figured out why people don't like shifting the front derailleur.

OldsCOOL

I use every cog on the cassette when riding in our area. If the limit screw is set correctly you wont have any thoughts of it.