Originally Posted by
Schwinnsta
OK, but you do not have do this to shift from the large cog to the small. How come? Gravity?
It's been a long time since I friction shifted.
The spring is biased towards the small cog, i.e., if you disconnected the cable the derailleur would snap to the outer/small-cog position. Combine that with the chain having an easier time falling to a smaller cog than climbing to a big one and, yes, you will get a gravity effect.