Originally Posted by
Zachee
I'm not really understanding what you are saying with the torque? With a higher gear you have to apply more torque to lock up the back wheel.
My terms are probably wrong. I'm not a physicist.
Think of a 18 wheeler. That 18 wheeler goes through like 5 gears just to get to 30MPH. 5 low gears to move the heavy weight without taxing the engine, but the speed gains are small.
Same applies to bikes. The use of small gears require less force to start (or stop) the mass.
Take a road bike for example: Try to do a wheelie in a large gear. Now try it in the small gear. Which one moved the mass (you) faster?