Originally Posted by DavePowers
I have been riding for about a year. I ride a trek 1000. I am wanting to learn more about shifting gears and what order. I have 3 ring in front and 8 in back. 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?
Well, you can plug in your gears' teeth-count into Sheldon's calculator. Then you can draw in a shift-pattern for your particular bike. Similar to this one:
You'll find that most "24-speed" or more modern 27/30-spd drivetrains only have 12-17 unique gear-ratios.