:thumb::DMy kind of stoopid.

:thumb:

Do you have a unibrow?

You can have an uncommanded downshift to a smaller ring when using a larger ring with the largest cog. Modern rings with truncated teeth in down shift zones make shifting easier, and a little wear combined with short chain stays can make the chain angle sufficient for that without any front derailleur involvement. That can cause a crash if you're standing at the time. I did that twice before realizing what was going on.

I never noticed a problem when 12 speed meant 2x6 not 12 cogs, although we didn't have tweaked tooth profiles, the cog sets were narrower, and chain stays longer decreasing the angle.

Smaller ring x small cog is noisier and may rub on the larger ring or derailleur. Efficiency doesn't decrease much but the sound can be annoying.

I have fenders on both my touring bike and my daily commuter. I like fenders, but not for every kind of riding. I'm reading a book on the life of Eddy Merckx right now, called Half Man, Half Bike. Many of the photos show him and the other competitors spattered in mud and road grime from having raced. Hard men.

On two current 11s mechanical road setups, small ring and smallest two cogs will have the chain rubbing the large chainring very badly - so badly that I'm instantly reminded that I need to hit the big ring. I think that on 9s and 10s setups, small-small was noisy as well. My 11s Di2 setup will actually not let you shift to the smallest 2 cogs if you're in the small ring.

Big-big is not as much an issue unless, as stated, the chain is too short. It's a bit noisy, but you can trim the front derailleur. It's also not an optimal gear for the most part, and you will have less drivetrain friction plus noise in the small ring. As already stated, in a road race or competitive ride, you might be in a situation where you need big-big to get up a short steep climb and you don't want to take the effort to drop to the small ring. With the quality of front shifting these days, this may not be as much a factor, especially if you're on some sort of electronic groupset. However, it is an additional button to tap unless you have Shimano's Synchro shifting or SRAM's eTap. (Is there a Campy EPS equivalent?)

Yeah, it's a different kind of rider who does one or other. Small/small generally live on the small front, even in the case of triples...

Big/big is done more out of a brief requirement.

That's just an observation over the years, around these parts.

There's a current thread on waxing...

I realized after I posted that I actually do run big/big on my CX bike on hills. The bike doesn't complain about it and has a pretty bad front derailleur, so it's just easier to stay on the large ring. I don't ride my CX as often as my Allez, which is just plain awful when cross chained and has a great fd.

I'm convinced there is no typical when it comes to gear preferences.

I mean, if you end up cross-chaining for a few minutes as you're moving through gears, it's not a big deal, unless your bike is set up poorly. But you don't want to get in to the habit of cross-chaining for long periods of time.

Your drive train will not asplode if you happen to accidentally shift up or down the cassette in to a cross-chaining situation.

Provided the chain is long enough. I have seen the collateral damage of a too short chain and a big/big cross chain event.

I click my shifters all the way and I end up in small gear in front and small gear in back. Then my shifters dont work anymore. So I'm stuck in that gear. I have a 25 speed. But only one gear works. Anyone else have this problem?

Oh yes it will.

Maybe

Some of my bikes can handle cross chaining because the overall range isn't that great but my 42/32/22 11-40 mtb will lock up the chain and derailer if I try big big.

My Schwinn Voyageur has a 30/46/50 triple w/ 13-28 5sp FW, half step plus granny. It doesn't balk at any cross chain combination, thankfully, but it sure does feel weird to ride 30/13, and frankly looks kinda stoopid.

"The Unusable Gear" sounds like a song from a "Man of La Mancha" parody.

Thank yoı

Nice share

Good info thanks

That's a strange response to a question. Are you a bot?

Seems likely, look at the three response posts in a row...

I use small-small sometimes, such as wanting a bit bigger gear, while knowing I will need to downshift soon, so not worth shifting to the big ring.

I avoid big-big...always seems like a strain.

I know times have changed, but in my bike shop mechanic days we made sure every bike could hit every gear, and would have considered this set up "incorrect". Personally, I would never ride a bike that could lock up a chain by accidentally shifting in to a bad gear combo.

Yeah, when I was taught to do a chain change, I was told to feed it in the big-big combo, even though that would never be used under normal circumstances.

Agree. A tired rider could definitely shift into this combo. If the bike's moving fast enough, locking up the chain is going to break something and it will be expensive.

The person you two are responding to has a triple crank with a 42t big, 22t small, and 11-40 cassette. I would guess that the chain was drooping in the smallest ring and smaller cogs. I think I'd rather have that than run the risk of damaging the drivetrain. If you need the small chainring, then chances are you'll need the bigger cogs anyway, and a drooping chain is not fatal.

I usually stop riding when I’m tired.