Originally Posted by
catherine96821
What will limit my abilty to pull a steep hill if I am out of the saddle and on the smallest cog? Sometimes ..I just stop. If all my weight is on the pedal, I feel I am missing something obvious in the physics.
The only thing I can think of is more momentum, but eventually that would not be a variable.
Momentum and leg stength. Quads to push down and hamstrings to pull up on the other side. Also climbing you can get your whole body into it and pull up on the bars on the side that you are pushing down on the pedal.
Originally Posted by
catherine96821
Also, in what instances are the cogs referred to by *39 x 19* etc. Are these standard road bike cog numbers? for small, med, large?
The first number is the teeth on the front chainring, the second number the teeth on the back cog. Front chainrings are usually indicated by the combination of sizes, e.g. 53/39 for "standard", 50/34 for a compact (of course, there are other standard and compact sizes as well). Cassettes of cogs are usually referred to by their spread, e.g. 11-23 or 12-25. When you see something like 39x19, they are telling you the specific gears being used, in this example 39 up front, 19 in back.
Originally Posted by
catherine96821
Also, I get confused when people say higher gear, as compared to a car. is it the same or the reverse? Higher gear is more rpm right? Low gear would be going down the hill on my bike, the pedals would not spin as fast..
It just seems like sometimes it is used in the reverse when I am reading cycling. Something about the terminolgy is confusing me.
The high/low thing always confuses me as well. Low is "easier", high is "harder". 39x19 is lower than 53x11.