xcapekey

hey all...have recently been commuting for the last few months...this is the first time i've ridden my bike since i was about 10...back then all i had was a bmx...

now, i ride an old schwinn continental ...anyway, i'm getting use to the stem shifter and the idea of having more than one gear...but i was just wondering how you guys shift?

it's purportedly a 10 speed, but as i understand it, if i were on the large chainring and shifted the RD, the progression isn't a straight 1,2,3,4,5, right? so is it more like 1,3,7,9,10? with the intermediary gears on the smaller chainring?

so do you guys go from 1, then drop to a smaller chainring to get to 2, etc.,? or do u just ride on the large chain ring?

sorry for the nube question, but as i haven't ridden in awhile or with anyone, there's no one to really ask...

thanks in advance..

tajsss

Well I have no clue what you are really supposed to do, but I rarely change the front chain ring and just adjust the rear for what I want/feel like at the time. I myself rarely use my big chainring unless I'm going down a hill and want to see how fast I can go.
My .02

Jarery

Ride in big ring
Stay in big ring
If i get to a hill where im dropped down to 3rd largest cog and i know im going to have to shift down even more, then i drop down to small chaniring.

I dont think anyone switches down 1 chain ring, up one cog, then up another cog and back up one chainring, etc.

genec

There is no "right way..." simply adjust the gears until you have a comfortable rotating rhythem with your legs. If you go uphill, readjust to maintain about the same amount of effort... if you go downhill, readjust. The whole point is to maintain your effort and cadence as well as possible for the varying load of the road.

There is no reason to have to progress evenly through the gears... there is no "sycro" mechanism involved. The only caveat is to try to avoid using the big ring up front with the big gear in the back, and vice versa... the small ring up front with the small gear in the back should also be avoided.

There is no "1st" gear, "2nd" gear etc that must be followed.

Enjoy your bike and have a good time... it's easy.

jbone

It's not good on your drivetrain to have your chain crossed. For example big ring to big cog or small ring to small cog. So I typically use the big ring with the smaller cogs and the small ring with bigger cogs. You will actually end up with less gears, but there really shouldn't be the need to have them all anyway. If you start in the small ring up front and the big cog in rear, when you get to the middle cogs in the rear you should then switch up to the big ring in front and then continue on to the small cogs in rear.

GGDub

Its completely up to the gear ratios on your bike.

https://www.panix.com/~jbarrm/cycal/cycal.30f.html

This site allows you to calculate your gear inches. Basically, the higher the gear inches, the more torque needed to turn the pedal. If you calculate based on a 700x23c wheel you can see that the order of easiest gear to hardest gear involves a lot of shifting between your cogs and chainrings. So therefore just pedal in gears that are most comfortable, you don't need to approach like a car.

ItsJustMe

Just try not to cross your chain too much.
I have 3 chainrings on my bike. I have NEVER used the little one except playing around when I first got the bike.
I use the middle one most of the time, because with the gravel roads and hills that I ride most of the way, it keeps me in the middle range on the back for the most part. When I get into the flat, paved areas, I usually shift up to the big chainring, because in those areas I want a gear up above what I can get with the middle ring.

Bottom line; shift mostly with the back, but avoid running big chainring with lowest rear gear, or little chainring with highest gear. That won't really hurt much, it does wear the chain a little more, but I don't think it's that big a deal. It's not like doing that up one hill on your ride every morning is going to cause you to have to replace the chain in 1K miles instead of 2K miles. If it makes a lot of noise and that bugs you, then do what you like.

cc_rider

Not complicated. Do what feels comfortable.

I usually ride in the big ring. When I feel enough resistance on a hill, I shift to a lower rear gear. When I'm about halfway through the gears, I shift to the middle ring. If I run out of gears, I shift to the small ring.
Reverse the order as the hill flattens out.
Switch back to the higest gear and big ring for the downhills.

paxtonm

Don't make yourself crazy thinking in terms of gear numbers, or even gear inches. The poster who mentioned not crossing your chain is right. It's hard on the drivetrain and it's less efficient. Here's what to do: find a cadence that's comfortable. For most riders, around 80 to 85 rpms is pretty good. A lot of newB riders mash gears that are way too high. Think about it: is it easier to lift five pounds 20 times or 100 pounds once? High rpms=good. Once you are moving at a natural cadence, shift as effort demands. Try to keep a steady cadence. Whacking big hill or killer headwind means you probably want to drop into the small chainring. Use the rear end to fine tune.

Happy trails,
Mark

RonH

Ride on the big ring in the front and shift to larger cogs in the rear as the pedalling gets harder (headwind or slight uphill).
Shift to smaller cogs in the rear as the pedalling gets easier.
Keep your cadence at about 75-90 RPMs.

Shift to the smaller ring on the front when climbing hills and shift to the cog (in the rear) that allows you to pedal at a steady cadence (RPM) of about 70-85.

cyccommute 

Start with Sheldon Brown. To call a bike a "x" speed (where x= 10, 15, 18, 21, 27 or 30 with all kinds in between) is a marketing ploy. Most bikes only have a few nonduplicated gears. For a 10 spd you are looking at only about 6 or 7 gears that are really useful. The rest are possible but are usually the same as other gears or in combinations that don't do your bike any good mechanically.

Don't think of your bike like you think of a car. You don't have to start in 1 and shift progressively to 10 (or whatever value "x" is). Go with comfort and feel. I usually talk about gears in terms of high or low range for the front and then the rear cluster gears. For example, when I start on flat ground, I'll start in high range/middle of the rear cluster (usually the 3rd or 4th gear). If I have to climb a small hill, I'll shift down one gear in the back and go up the hill. If the hill gets steeper, I'll shift to the low range in the front and then adjust the rear to find a comfortable gear. If the hill gets really steep, I have a 3rd gear in the front and will shift even lower. That's all there really is to it. On the downhill side, I do just the opposite, gearing up until I reach a gear that is comfortable.

Don't "just put it in one gear and leave it there because it's too complicated". Shift often. Find a gear that pedals comfortably and lets you go as fast as you want.

xcapekey

thanks for the insight everyone...just had to ask because i have no real point of reference if i'm riding correctly or not...

reminds me of when i first started doing darkroom work, having taught myself...i started apprenticing with an expert printer and when i told her my exposure times were taking one or two minutes she had her mouth agape and told me it should be around 20-30 seconds....of course i had no idea i was doing it wrong because there was no one to ask...

so thanks again

timmhaan

think of the small chain ring on the front as regular gears. going around town, regular riding kind of stuff. depending on your gear ratio and your ability - most of your riding will be done here.

think of the large chain ring on the front as your overdrive. this is useful for when your spinning too fast in the small chain ring. you'll need to use it much less i'm sure. i rarely use my large chain ring (only use it for speeds above 24mph).

budster

I saw a good chart recently about this. Wish I could remember where. But it showed the whole "don't cross the gears" thing very clearly. Basically (for a 7 speed):

• Lowest Chainring: gears 1-3
• Middle Chainring: All gears
• Big Chainring: 5-7

Since I saw that, I mainly just leave it on the middle ring and shift the rear deraileur. On a big uphill, when I drop down to 3 or 2, my next shift down will be to shift to the low chainring; on a big downhill, I'll go up to 5 or 6, and then kick it up to Big. With a little practice it's become second nature.

Helmet Head

There's some good advice in this thread, and some not so good advice.
How far are you riding? If you're riding only a couple of miles on flats, gears don't matter much. Go with what's comfortable.

If you're riding hills and/or some significant miles, gears start mattering a lot more. One of the biggest mistake cyclists make is riding in too large a gear. Here are some examples:

"Ride in big ring. Stay in big ring."
"I usually ride in the big ring."
"Ride on the big ring in the front ..."

Ignore the three posts those quotes are from, and you should be okay.

What you want to develop is the ability to ride with a high cadence, in the 80-100 rpm range, for normal flat riding. It feels strange and uncomfortable at first, but once you get accustomed to it, you'll find you're getting from A to B faster with less effort.

You can get a computer that display your cadence, or you can go the old fashioned way and count how many times your right (or left) knee comes up in 10 seconds, and multiply by 6.
If your cadence is too low, shift down. If your cadence is too high, you'll know.

Books on cycling, like Effective Cycling by John Forester, go into this in more detail, and will cover a lot of other topics you would probably benefit from learning about as well. Like how to ride safely and comfortably in traffic...

huhenio

Get rid off the gears and go fixed .... sorry, I had to say it.

Or try to shift as little as possible and climb off the saddle a little more often. Fewer shifts = faster times.

Roody

One great thing is that you will probably ride in easy gears for now, but as the months and years go by, you will be stronger, with more stamina, and you will find yourself riding in the hard gears a lot of the time. That, for me, has been one of the most rewarding aspects of cycling. The bike actually tells you when you are stronger!

edtrek

I really liked budster's response. May I go out on a limb of my own? Even if only to show another perspective. I'm a hill-country Cyldesdale, gearing really matters to me. I've plotted the gear-inches for the various combinations and identified my optimum sequence -- I don't always use it, but I can tell what it is and if I'm deviating from it. Forrester talked about these calculations in Effective Cycling.

The chart below identifies my gear-inch (gi) possibilities and color-codes the sequence I try to use. On my 21-gear bike, there are really 10 pragmatic gear combinations.

You can see that it follows Budster's general pattern. This is a Trek1100 with non-standard cassette and chainrings. The Red X's identify combinations that I can't select because there's not enough chain. You'll also see that the shift from 27 gi's to 39 gi's involves shifting up on the chainring and down on the cassette.

I also really liked HelmetHead's post about Cadence. I just try to produce 85 rpm regardless of slope, and then I move within my optimal shift pattern to stay at 85 rpm.

I hope nobody minds the anal-retentive perspective, but gear patterns and cadence have really helped my riding. I think contemporary bikes are complex machines and if we're going to climb hills and ride distances, maybe the minutae matters. YMMV.

threephi

My own experience backs this up 100%. I started bike commuting this past July, after not having ridden a bike for over ten years. The first few weeks I ground the high gears and got a serious workout, but not much speed out of it. Then I discovered the magic of high cadence. By clicking down one or two gears from where I had been riding, each stroke was easier but I could go faster with what felt overall like less effort. The secret I think is in the cardio--once your body gets accustomed to regularly exercising at a heightened heart rate, you can hold it there a lot longer.

Like some others who have posted, I tweak the gears to keep my cadence and effort where I want them. Sometimes I want to really crank it out and will go to a higher gear, sometimes I want to take a little breather, or hit a hill or wind, and go to a lower gear.

AndrewP

If your legs hurt more than your lungs, change down to a lower gear. If your lungs hurt more than your legs, shift up. If neither hurt, dont bother with your gears, just enjoy the ride.

cerewa

It doesn't have to be all that complicated. AndrewP's advice is good... your point of reference as to whether you're riding correctly is:

are you having fun?
yes= you're riding correctly.

if you feel like you're going too slow because your feet are pushing hard and moving too slow, shift into a lower gear. If your feet are spinning around as fast as they can and it's not making you move faster, shift into a higher gear. I say, if you've got gears on your bike, don't be afraid to use them.

Roody

The gears you use also depend on the distance you are covering. I maintain over 90 rpm cadence most of the time. On my short, 3.5 mile commute, I sprint the whole way on the big chainring and small cogs, faster than hell. If I'm going on a 3 hour ride, I spin more on the bigger cogs, and maybe the medium ring.

In other words, you use gears to pace youself, along with the other uses mentioned already. To go far, use easier gears. To go fast on short rides, use hard gears.

San Rensho 

Small chain ring. "A spinner is a winner".

Helmet Head

Here's another way to think about it.

Say you need to move 1,000 bricks from one end of a yard to another. How many should you carry at a time to get done the fastest? What's the most efficient load?

Think of one brick per load as your lowest gear, and go up from there. You can put one brick in each hand and run back and forth (high cadence), or you can take bigger loads and move slower (low cadence).

How many would you move per load if you were moving only 20 bricks? What if it was 2,000?

You might be able to start out carrying 10 or more bricks at a time, but how long can you maintain that? And will it tire you so much from the outset that any gains you get will be offset by how much more tired you'll get?

What if you moved bricks every day? As you got stronger you would be able to handle bigger loads as well as move faster with those loads... (Roody's point)

What if there was a hill in the yard? You have to walk on a flat section until you get to the base of the hill. Would it make sense to carry a bigger load (use a bigger gear) on the flat part, then unload a few bricks at the base of the hill (drop to a lower gear), and carry them up separately?

Choosing the "right" gear is a lot like choosing the "right" brick load in these examples. The answer depends...

budster

I just re-read your original post and realized my three ring advice might not make too much sense for your two ring bike. The general principle still applies, so you would want:

• Small ring -- gears 1, 2, 3
• Big ring -- gears 3, 4, 5

So, find the gear you're comfy in, maybe it's small ring/2nd gear. When you want to shift to higher gears, go up to 3, but for your next shift, go up to the big chainring. Likewise, when downshifting, When you get back down to 3, go to the lower chainring on your next downshift.

Basically, if you're on the low ring, you want to be in a low gear, and a high gear on the high ring. That avoids overstretching the chain. Like I said, it becomes automatic with practice.

And I realized today as I rode up a long hill, sometimes I do "cross shift" or whatever it's really called when you shift down a ring and up a gear simultaneously to be in just the right gear for a long, steady climb.