patentcad

Cross chaining or pro riding sensibility?

A week or two ago somebody posted here about pulling up to some guy on the road in Spain and giving him grief for riding in the 39 x 12 or 39 x13 - telling him he should be in the big ring. To which this rider (responding to this unsolicited input) responded: 'I know what I'm doing I was a pro rider for years, bugger off' or something to that effect (I paraphrase, a second hand recount of a third hand story).

So this got me thinking: who's right here? So I started experimenting with my gears on my training rides and this is how it feels to ME: a 39 x 13 may be the same gear ratio mathmatical inches as a 53 x 18 (or whatever it works out to) but it doesn't FEEL like that to your legs. The 53 imparts a greater amount of leverage and torque to your pedal motion, the 39 a better/faster SPIN, despite equivalent gear ratios.

That's my personal perception. Cross chaining? As a serious rider who pays $X for bike parts/maintanence anyway, that's less important to me than the right feel for my workout that particular day. Which may be where the (alleged) ex-pro was coming from.

Any thoughts on this?

Weenies you have your topic. Discuss. And try to be NICE.

By the way I had my best group ride today in 6 years. The mileage/weight lifting is making the riding come around. And if feels fantastic. I'm not getting too carried away. It's Feb. 11. The real test will be in May/June when it's really hammer time. But I feel better when I'm riding alone too. Climbing hills in slightly higher gears. Which is probably why it's easier with the racing dudes than it was several months ago. Launched first in the 250 meter uphill sprint today like I did in early Dec. On that day 11 guys came past me in the first 50 meters. Today only 3 guys passed me - in the last 20 meters. That's progress.

okpik

53-18 is better, less friction due to chain angle

sandy_pangle

Yeah.....What He Said

rmwun54

I've ridden with an ex-pro rider and his approach to riding is to pace for endurance and long range performance. So he was riding with his 39 x 13 most of the time. I on the other hand rode with the 53 x 19 and had to drop it to the 39 x 15 just to be able to somewhat ride with him. So now I generally ride in the 39 most of the time and only use the 53 for short duration when riding long distance. Especially if the wind is behind my back, then I would stay in the 53 for most of the time. But if it were an endurance thing on a long ride the 39 is where its at.

hairyleg

Well, if you're racing or have a small cassette, then your 18 cog will be up high on your cassette, and then you will be cross-gearing to get in the 53-18, whereas the 39-13/14 is almost a perfect chainline, and very efficient.
I ride a 53_42 with a 12_21, and the 42/13 is the (my) racing golden gear, works for around 25-27 mph, and is really smooth.

hairyleg

Oh, yeah, but the 39-11 is just wrong.

roadfix

Not only is it wrong, it looks ugly!....and I don't know why but I get irritated riding behind someone with those extreme chain angle... .

TheKillerPenguin

It worked in breaking away

okpik

also depends on bottom bracket length and distance chainrings are spaced relative to cassette, it varies

micro-driving isnt always such a good idea either

patentcad

I'd tend to agree with the alleged pro. I don't care about cross chaining, wear on the drivetrain, etc. - as much as how my legs feel.

Of course I just replaced a Dura Ace chain after only 3000 miles, so maybe I pay for that approach.

'nother

^^ It's how your *head* feels.

If you were blindfolded and someone else was doing the shifting for you, you would not be able to tell the difference between two equal gear ratios where one was a small-ring/small-cog vs big-ring/big-cog.

As such, I'd tend to agree with a pro of a different sort:

Phatman

One of the problems with being in the 39-13 or whatever is that if there is an attack that goes off, it is hard to respond, since you have to get into the big ring before you can really start to crank away to respond.

If you will notice a lot of pros climb less-steep climbs in the big-big, so that they can just click down a few gears and be up with any attack

Kuma

I didn't see this previous post, so maybe there's other context I don't know about, but I think my response to such unsolicited busybody advice would have been something similar. (Was this point the thrust of the previous thread?)

As You Like It

Hmm, I tend to ride in the middle of the cassette most of the time, to where I can pop back and forth between the large and small ring if I need a little extra "oomph" or if I need to go a little easier up a small grade or something. I don't usually use extreme low-low or high-high gears that often, unless I am dealing with a really hellish hill or I'm already cranking along at a pretty good pace, like coming down a long, gentle incline.

fuzzthebee

Yes, but maybe he didn't have an 18. I don't on my Ultegra 9 speed, 12-23. I wish I did. I find the jump from 39/14 to 53/17 is too big to maintain a comfortable cadence while avoiding "cross-chaining".