Originally Posted by
Robert Foster
After getting my Jamis serviced the other day it was discovered that my rear derailleur hanger had been bent. I for the last few weeks I have avoided using the small chain-ring very much because some of the gears would jump. Now that has been fixed I decided to try and use the small ring more. Somewhere I read that new riders used the big ring more than they should so I wanted to see what would happen if I used the small ring most of the time. For the last two club rides I haven’t used the big ring except on some very long slight down hill. To my amazement I have kept up better than ever. I have to spin faster than I thought I could but one advantage is I can accelerate to catch up after pulling out of the lead on a pull. My legs feel better for longer and I still have some juice left over for when we hit a hill or grade. I could see dropping into the small ring would make it easier but it didn’t make sense that it could also make me faster for part of the ride. But it seems to work.
After reading all the replies to the OP, it seems that we are missing some basic points. Go to
http://home.i1.net/~dwolfe/gerz/index.html and you will find a gear chart that gives you the ratios for the combinations named above. You will find that the difference between 50-53 tooth chainrings is about one gear. The difference in 34-39 tooth rings, 2 gears. If you look closer, there is some overlap between the large and small chainrings meaning that some gears are duplicated on both. Depending upon terrain and your comfort zone for cadence, pick one. In all reality, this is a post about cadence, based upon gearing. It was discussed for years that Armstrong's high cadence was easier on accelerations uphill than JUllrich's mashing technique. Find what works for you. Each body and situation differs. Today I was mountain biking and for me that calls for low cadences, I ride in the highest gear I can get over the next hill in. I find that for me, this is fastest and least fatiguing.
On the road, I like 80-90 cadence unless I have a sustained climb or am fatigued. Then I will run to a gear with a cadence 90-100. I experimented for a year with cadence averaging 95, it just didin't work for me. I was slower and fatigued quicker. I ride my trainer and rollers at the higher cadences a good bit to train my legs, but I ride what works for me.
Another reason you like the smaller ring, the gears are closer together. Look at the ratios on the chart. That is why I run a compact setup. With a 12/23 setup, all my gears are only a single step except two, the gears are closer and I have enough spread to ride anywhere.