Originally Posted by
Phamilton
Just a month ago I switched from commuting on 2 x 6 to 3 x 7. Just like you said, cruise in middle ring, climb in the small ring, descend in big ring (or tailwind cruise). No sequential shifting required, and redundancies are irrelevant. Adjust for wind and fine tune cadence (trim) with RD. If the wide range 9 spd 11-34 cassette leaves one with steps that are bigger than desired, tighten them up with a 12-27 or similar. If I was running a 30/39/50 triple, a 10 spd 12-30 would give nice tight steps between all the gears in all 3 ranges only sacrificing the very top and bottom end, and not by much.
Edit: if it's really really windy, just don't use the big ring at all. It took some practiced restraint on my part to get out of the habit. "It's there, so I'm gonna use it".
That's essentially what my results come down to, although with that added point that the middle ring use is going to be (roughly) most effective when using the 15/17/20/23 rear gears, in my specific situation. Also don't use the large/small ring on the wrong side of that range. Personally, I'd go up or down one for short bursts if I'm not planning on using the small or large ring anyway. Should be more efficient and have less wear by not doing that long term though.
Originally Posted by
AnkleWork
So you're pulling a steep hill and you're getting gassed and you're already on the wrong side of your power curve -- what do you do? Consult a spreadsheet and think about it?
Most people who ride more than a little will just grab some lower gears as quickly as possible to minimize further slowing. Exactly which lower gear is not as important as shifting quickly. Can't seem to find those factors in your chart. [And most people who ride more than a little will know other scenarios.]
Friendly suggestion: Ride more and you'll be much happier.
Nope, that's why I specified a couple times that the pattern should be simple. And it is I think - two dots on the rear derailleur indicator would suffice, if you needed a reference at all. Are you maybe looking at the larger chart? That's just a list of all combinations.
Also, I'm quite happy, but thank you for the concern!