Originally Posted by
Catweazle
...Some of the regular riders in a 'club ride' I joined in with the other weekend advised me to approach climbing in this fashion:
- Set the chain on a gear about the middle of the cassette.
- Use the crankset to change up and down.
I'm finding that a tad cumbersome. Much of the riding I'm doing on flatter or gently undulating roads is pretty much the other way around, with the crankset on 1 or 2 as warranted by the slope or wind, and working slight variations with the gears at the back. On a flat road with no wind I can work up to and then maintain my rotation in the highest gearing available, and feel pretty comfortable doing that for ages. But when I strike a climb or wind, and then have to change that front cog, I 'lose it' completely and have to really struggle to get back any semblance of comfortable riding, and that takes a toll rather rapidly. Takes a good while to get reasonably 'comfortable' again afterwards.
I'm left with the feeling that I must be 'doing something wrong' regarding gear changes, and having trouble getting my head around it. Prolly just my newness to riding, I suppose. I'm all ears for any comments thrown my way, and very appreciative of them
I think your instincts are right about how to shift. The front chainwheel sets the average gear range and the rear cassettes are for adjustments about that average. When the going is easy (downhill with a tail wind) you will be on the big front chain and making fine adjustments on the small cassette cogs at the back.
When you hit a big hill you will be on the small chainwheel and the large cassettes at the back. In between (up a slight grade or into a head wind) you will be on the middle front chainwheel and middle rear cogs.
Note that there is a subtley here. It is accepted practice to not use the largest front chainwheel with the largest rear cog because this is cross chaining and puts strain and wear on the cogs, chain and rear derailleur. Similarly, one does not generally use the smallest front chainwheel with the smallest rear cog. It's not the end of the world if you do not follow this practice, however.
It is best to switch between the front chainwheels when faced with a sudden change in slope since it will quickly get you into the range of gears that you will need. As you have noted, though, unless you plan ahead switching the front rings can also break your rythmn.
Here's an example: After blasting along on the flats on the large front and smallest rear cog you encounter a hill. As you start the hill you pump a bit but start to slow. Soon you downshift on the rear cassette to maintain your rythmn and a nice cadence. You continue to slow and downshift on the rear again. And again. Now you are near the middle of your rear cassette. Your cadence continues to slow...but this time you let it slow a little more than before. At some point based on practice and experience, you flip to the middle front ring. Your rythmn and cadence are now restored. If you continue to slow you downshift a couple of times on the rear to larger rear cogs. If the hill continues to steepen and say you are on your second-largest rear cog, then delay a bit and then switch to the smallest ring on the front. Your cadence is restored and you continue up the hill downshifting on the rear if necessary.
Hope this helps.