I don't want to start a Campy vs Shimano war here but I noticed I sprinted differently when I went from DA to Record. Since I can hook my thumb over the shift lever with Campy, I jump one gear smaller and shift (under full power) 1 gear at a time until I am in my biggest gear, then I sit and spin it up as fast as I can.
BTW - By biggest gear I don't always mean the 11 or 12. I mean the largest gear I will use for that sprint. I always ride the last km of the course a few times to look how to time a sprint. And then I hope it doesn't come to that!
An attack will be similar but a bit different in that I will settle sooner in the gear I want to turn for the effort I want to make instead of riding to failure (nothing left and can't sustain the effort a moment longer) like a finishing sprint.
With DA I would grab 2 extra cogs as I jumped instead of 1. I would also tend to sit sooner, spin up the gear I was in and have one more shift left to spin up after that (that's 2 while seated instead of 1).
Also, it depends on the kind of sprint. Is it a long sprint where I'm already on top of the gear and only have 2 left or is it uphill? Out of a corner? technical in some other way that means the sprint will start from a lower general speed before ending in utter mayhem?
This is how I sprint. Your mileage may very. Try lots of different techniques and find what works for you and your particular skill set.
Last edited by Bob Dopolina; 11-25-07 at 11:10 PM.