Originally Posted by DavePowers
What I am wanting to know is when is it better to down shift to the middle ring and and higher back gear than to ride in the big gear in front and small lowest in back, then shift to the middle ring and run the gears all the way back to the highest gear?
Thanks
Dave
It certainly helps if you know the terrain.
You don't want to use the big-big (or the small-small) combination. So, if you think you're gonna run out of gas before the top of the hill, then I'd say shift to the middle ring earlier. Other than that... don't overanalyze things too much. The worst that'll happen is you'll have to replace your chain sooner rather than later.