Change low gearing as the season progresses?
 

Does anyone change from easier to tougher gearing as you become more fit?

Accidentally found out that it is not as difficult to push higher gears when I switched bikes from a very low geared bike to my other. If I kept riding my lower geared bike where I am tempted to use the lowest gears on steep climbs (14%+) don’t see that I am doing myself any favors except on very long climbs. Anyone else change gear sets during the season?

Multiple bikes = multiple choices

Double cranksets, compact doubles, touring doubles, triples, mtn triples.

I change the cassette and rings sometimes when I take my bike to Colorado where a climb might be 10 miles or more long. Not quite the same as at home where a climb of more than half a mile is a long climb.

I tend not to. My bikes are geared toward the type of riding I expect to do when I'll be riding them most.

Whether I'll be in good enough condition before then is not always a sure thing, though. My "go-fast" road bike has a 42/21 low gear, based on the assumption that I'll be light and strong by the time I take it off the hook. :o

Haven't gotten back in shape yet, but first I plan on tackling steeper and longer climbs, then maybe ditching the granny ring.

Seriously though, if you find yourself not using a particular ratio at all, it's useless and could be eliminated if you want to.

I've never been upset while climbing knowing I have one more gear.

Do you actually think that using lower gears on a steep climb makes a difference in fitness? I mean, if it takes you the same amount of time to get up a given time whether you're pushing a lower gear or spinning a higher gear, it's the same fitness, no?

But I'm not a good one to discuss this, because the only reasons I ride is for fun, and to keep fit. I'm not looking to get stronger in the sense of being able to push higher gears, if that makes any sense. I have no shame in using low gears.

I haven't gotten fit enough to do that yet.

But if I can get fit enough to ride the Regina Oro 14-22 that I bought for the looks, up off the valley floor, I will indeed consider it an accomplishment! :)

It is not about "forcing fitness" or any of that, to me. After all, if I wanted to ride to hurt myself I could just crash ...

But seriously, if you don't like the lower cogs, don't use them. You aren't "doing yourself any favors" if you don't push yourself .... and if you lack the discipline to push the higher gears when you have lower gears, then mental toughness, not watts per kilogram, is what needs building. ( :D )

Just go get yourself a heavy steel bike with heavy steel wheels, put on racks and panniers, and fill the panniers with sand bags. No need to mess with the cassette.

Actually, I adjust seat and bars sometimes as I go from not having ridden for a while to riding more. The more aero posture to which I aspire is not sustainable at the start of a comeback, and forcing myself just hurts, which makes me want to ride less, so I adjust the cockpit as needed to be able to do the ride I want and feel okay at the finish .... or I just ride a more relaxed-geometry bike.

Even more seriously, i see no reason Not to adjust your gearing to your situation, whether it be fitness, health, terrain, whatever. A cassette comes on or off very quickly, and if you are using nine out of eleven cogs, why not swap in cogs yo will actually use? i don't do it ... but I also don't ride my 11-28 bike until I have done all the climbs enough on one of my 11-32 cassette bikes and know I don't need the granny ......

The bodybuilders say many repetitions at lower weights builds muscle definition, and fewer repetitions at higher weights builds strength. While the work may be equivalent with the different gearings, the workout is not. I used to take pride in being able to push big gears, but feel no shame in using smaller gears now. I need them more for aerobic reasons than for leg weakness, plus, I'm old.

Interestingly, if you climb in higher gears using clipless pedals, you may confound the 'experts' who say you can't pull up on them. ;)

Not quite sure how the word ‘shame’ entered the conversation since the question only needs a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Ride what you want and how you want. What I do is only for me. Just curious if other do the same. If they don’t, that’s completely cool with me.

I have, traditionally. I have a winter/spring roadie with lower gears which I typically take on my club’s spring travel camps, where we travel to hillier areas to kick-start the season.

It became a regular habit when arthritis was really causing my knees a lot of trouble, roughly the past 8 years, and my winter training was subsequently uneven and not as productive as it should have been. Lower gearing helped me manage my output and complete them without destroying myself.

Quitting work in ‘20 was great for my knees, and while it took a year for them to settle down, they did, and I’ve had two winters of training like I used to have in the “old days,” and I used my regular summer bike for the season opener camp this year. It was fine, except that the winter/spring bike can fit fenders, which are something nice for the inevitable spring rains; I got well soaked this year!

Can be quite different fiber type and substrate utilization.

Yeah. I bought a long cage RD and lower geared cassette for the road bike when I went to Italy BITD. When I’m in the western US I am touring. That bike is already geared low.

No need to change the gearing. As others have said, self regulate which gears you use. Better yet, put a heavier wheelset on as the year progresses. Ride with a backpack that you can put weights in. Mount a bike trailer. pull it around loaded, then load it some more. If you're going to train seriously, don't half ass it.

I have all the ratios I need... As happens I need quite more lower ratios as I progress to 'maturity'... LOL!
Back when we had only 2x5 & 2x6, I would swap rear wheels and sometimes put on the corn cob for those super fast crits. Habit persisted when into Ultra-7. Skipped 8 spd.
From 9 spd and up, I could almost have all I might need for varying road races, but then there was always that extra cassette with that one lower 'stump puller'.
10 spd - I get my single step block from 13 (or 12) to 19 and then good steps to 25 or 27... now I've converted to Mid-Compact from STD rings and even have a 13-28...
I get dropped a lot on uphills, by young children, but always catch up on the downslide...
If you wanna go faster, ride with a faster crowd... The thing with a group ride is you're always at someone else's tempo, so you can;t slide into your comfort zone. That's one of the things which makes you 'hard' - you find out who's boss...
Ride On
Yuri

not sure I understand the question as far as ‘fitness’ is concerned

but proper lower gearing can make a significant difference

with lower gearing (and decent level of fitness of course) you can better complete long challenging rides ... and recovery should be faster ... and your knees should be in better shape when you grow old

when you climb with tall gears you can expend a significant amount of energy and your legs could be spent

when you climb with lower gears you can use less energy in comparison and your legs will not be spent ... enabling you to ride longer


you can carry 5 pounds to another room 100 times fairly easily - and continue

or 10 pounds to another room 50 times ... and continue ...

but how many times could you carry 100 pounds to another room ? three times ? four maybe five times ? maybe more ? eventually you will be spent and unable to continue

at one time BITD I sorta / kinda did that

I used a bike with lower gearing ‘early season’ - and later after my fitness had improved I most often used a bike with slightly higher gearing

( the bikes were geared with this plan in mind )

I only change gearing incidentally when changing bikes. If I know I'm not going to climb too much I might grab the bike with a 34x28 instead of the bike with a 34x32. My lightest bike has a 34x30 so if I'm feeling like giving that a go I might take that one instead of the 34x32, but it's because I'm looking for a particular riding experience, not because I'm more fit and don't need the 32.

On my mountain bike I do on my road bikes no so much.

No reason to when you ride all season.

Road bike and mountain bike until the snow flies. Once the snow flies its fat bike. If the winter weather is too crappy to ride then it's the spin bike at the gym.

I’m thinking about it now. We are having a drought and the trails are all very dusty. I was already contemplating a return to 42/16, which I had on both bikes for about two years.

A year ago I put rear clusters back on both bikes, but I’ve pretty much done all my recent rides in 42/16 so I think I may just go back to single speed for a while. The rear derailleur picks up more dust than the SS chain that doesn’t loop down.

Had to work up to the point of feeling strong enough, though. I mainly ran this winter so cycling strength was down when I started riding more in March. It took at least a half a dozen rides to feel like I could manage SS and make it look fun.

Otto

For me the variation in my fitness during the year would never warrant changing my gear range. Even pulling a single gear higher at the same cadence is a big step in terms of power/fitness. When I’m less fit I just drop into a lower gear or reduce my cadence slightly. The difference may only be in the order of 20-30W, but it is massive in terms of fitness.

So I gear for the terrain I’m riding rather than changes in my fitness. As an extreme, my mtb obviously has much lower gearing than my road bike. As we have a lot of steep climbs, my road bikes all have compact doubles with 1:1 lowest gear. On a steep climb I can often put out more power spinning in a lower gear anyway. Look at the gravel gearing Roglic used in the Giro mountain TT. No shame there! 😂

Since I started using a power meter, I soon discovered that grinding bigger gears up hills subjectively feels more powerful (higher pedal forces), but often results in lower power output because of the lower cadence. Remember that Power = Pedal Torque x Cadence.

I have found that rather than turning big gears on a climb, I am actually faster when I gear down and increase cadence. I still like to challenge myself when climbing and go for PRs but as I age, I am also slowly becoming more aware of energy conservation (VS constantly pushing myself) so I have something left in the tank for the next day. The two sets of gears are on different bikes. The bike I usually have on the Kickr is the one with the lower gears which I got out for summer rides. The bike is actually lighter than my endurance bike but forces me to climb harder on the steeps because of it.

I did when I was 17, but then I kept it there, cuz I was 17