Originally Posted by
carleton
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?
Yea that makes sense. Sorry for trying to correct you, I am an engineer lol. But yea mashing up a hill with a higher gear will require more torque and more taxing on your knees and similarly stopping with a higher gear will also require more torque than a lower gear at the same speed.