hero419

When going from 30-40mph down hill directly into a climb, what should be the SOP (standard operating procedure)?
Should I climb and shift through the rear cogs until I need to shift to the small ring?
Then continue shifting through the rear cogs?

Also, I feel like I am going to break something when I am climbing and need to shift into my small ring, is this normal? Should I back off the power when shifting my front rings?

ridethecliche

I shift to about the middle of the cassette while on the big ring, then wait for my cadence to drop to about 70-80 then drop the front to small(er) chainring.

San Rensho 

I do about the same thing, go down to the small CR in about the middle of the cassette, except I keep the rpms up on the big CR, then let up a little on the pressure on the pedals and shift to the small CR and immediately. almost simultaneously, go up 2 to 4 on the cassette until I'm in the same gear inches I was on the big CR.

steaktaco

I usually try to keep the cadence and hammer into the climb. About half way through, when I can't hold it any longer, I drop 4 gears in the back and switch to the small ring simultaneously. Hard to think about it now, but on the bike I've got it down to where I don't have to adjust the cadence or lose speed.

No need to ease up on the power during shifts, unless you're on an ancient component group.

Ed Holland

Obviously it's best to avoid "cross-chaining" e.g. small ring and small sprocket, or large and large. I typically shift down to about the 2nd or 3rd largest sprocket, then shift to the smaller chain ring.

Exactly how you choose to shift will depend on the available gearing sizes, double or triple setup etc.

Ed

EivlEvo

You should simply shift gears to maintain a steady cadence.

So as you're coming off the descent, you should be powering into the climb. As you begin to feel more and more resistance building, you should shift a gear. As more resistance builds shift another gear. You want to maintain your OPTIMUM cadence for as long as possible. This means you'll have to put out the same wattage and it SHOULD seem as though you aren't climbing at all. It won't though. Because you have eyes.

hero419

I have a newer bike (07 spec. Allez Elite) with decent front de-railer (one step down from 105... Tiagra?), it just seems like it skips a beat when I drop down to the 2nd ring.
The cogs shift fine (105)

Could be operator error, I'm still not used to trim shifts, nor do I see the need when Mtn. bikes don't seem to need them.

jfmckenna

Adjusting power is still a good way to shift especially if you are bogged down which it sounds like you are. If you are bogged down you will want to slacken the chain and shift asap.

eb314

Actually, and I know a lot of people are going to tell me I'm wrong about this, but when you get to the point where you can't hold your cadence anymore, you should shift into a harder gear. Your legs lose their ability to maintain cadence before they lose their power. You'll find that if you shift into a harder gear and go to a lower cadence, you'll actually go faster up the hill.

bdcheung

^^ wrong.

merlinextraligh

+1

EivlEvo

I won't say that this is wrong, I'll just say that you go ahead and do that and I'll downshift and see you at the top.

eb314

Start in the highest gear you can maintain speed in, and shift into harder gears as you get tired. Like I said, your legs lose speed before they lose power.

bdcheung

methinks your reading comprehension is not so good. i'd post a longer reply but it's 4:52 and I'm on my way out of the office

eb314

No, I've heard this shifting advice from some pro thing I read but I can't find it, and I've also heard it from a coach.

steaktaco

I've always heard this, but I always thought it was just my teammates trying to be badahss. Actually it makes sense, think about time trials: switching back and forth between mashing and spinning to relieve your legs while still staying above LT.

AEO

I only upshift on a hill when I go to stand, or I mis-shifted one too many gears.

Phantoj

I always upshift on a climb, right before I stand. Standing climbs, I do better at a lower cadence.

The other stuff, I dunno. I can put out more power at lower rpms (despicable and execrated "masher." ) but my legs get seem to get fried quicker at lower rpms.

San Rensho 

I agree if when you shift into a bigger gear, you also stand up. But sitting down and then shifting into a BIGGER gear when your cadence drops? Not for me.

akaio

Well, I think on a short hill if you have energy to spare and youre goal is topping the hill in record time that may work. But I cannot see how it would take less energy to up shift on a hill of significant size. And if you are exerting yourself hard and thinking that you should down shift I dont see how upping the gear inches would be the right thing to do. And with the quote about what Lemond said, sure as you near the top you could push yourself and up shift because the additional effort of climbing is almost done.

Although this is a bike forum its sometimes difficult to make someone believe you because we all perceive exerted force differently, plus people are in vastly different physical fitness levels. Lets say you are driving a theoretical 5 speed Geo Metro over a mountain pass and you are in 4th gear going up a steady incline. The grade becomes much steeper and your find your foot to floor. Obviously putting itto 5th would be a mistake, so you down shift to top the pass. Now say you traded in your Geo for a Lotus and you enter the pass in the same gear but felt the urge to go up faster. Well push the RPMs up then up shift.

To the OP, generally after a descent with an incline coming right up I will make sure im about 3 cogs from the smallest before I really start pedaling up the incline. Then the first thing I drop is the to the small chain ring, then I start moving the rear gears as necessary till im a place that I feel like I can keep going up the hill. Also im not much for standing except for brief hard exertions, I see a lot of guys standing for the littlest thing and think 'what a waste of exertion'; or maybe their just uncomfortable on their saddle and want to get out of it as much as possible.

Beaker

Is that your FD trim? My 105 triple FD does this between shifting from the big ring to the as a way to minimize chances of cross chaining -- it's not a big deal and can be helpful. Of course, could be a totally different problem....

hero419

probably a totaly diffrent problem, I need to go get my first free tune up....
when I first got the bike the FD was rotated and rubing the chain in the big ring, I solved that problem but wonder what else might be off. I read through a lot of the online how to's, but I'm sure my mechnical skills pale in comparison to a LBS wrench.

waterrockets 

Not sure if this helps, but here's what I did going from a 10% downhill into a 17% uphill during my lunch ride yesterday. I did the climb as a 1-minute interval (700W average), all-out from the first pedal stroke (note: this is not how to pace a hill ). I Started at 18:05, and got to the top of the climb around 18:30 (gradual shallowing).

At 18:45, I was going fast enough that I wanted more resistance, slacked the chain, and went back to the big ring as quickly as I could. You can see I had to hunt around for the right gear after that -- messed up my rhythm.

The shift points are pretty straightforward. If cadence goes up in a straight line, it was a downshift...

My shift from big to small was accompanied by a 1-cog upshift, so it's not that big of a change.

(you can tell from the scale colors, but yellow is power, blue is speed, green is cadence)



So, my strategy is pretty simple:
-Go in the big ring until I can cover the chainring shift with one cog (let cadence fall until it's a bit uncomfortable)
-Work in the small ring as needed
-Over the top, take cadence up in the small ring until I can handle the big ring again

Hill pacing depends on your goal.

If it's a race-finish at the top, it will vary, but a separation from the bottom is probably beneficial if you're near the front of the pack -- so jump hard, and don't slow down If you're not in front, you don't get to choose the pace unless someone is obviously going to blow up.

If it's a hill in the middle of a TT, it's important not to hit it hard from the bottom. You should ramp your effort slightly, as it's more efficient to put out more power on a climb than on the flats. But you really need to temper yourself at the bottom so you don't overcook it. You want to come over the top and get back up to 25mph as smoothly as possible so you can start your recovery. Blowing up and recovering at 12mph, and your race is over.

If you're in survival mode, just want to get over the top and have 70 miles left after that, then visually pick two landmarks on the climb 1/3 and 2/3 of the way up. Go into the bottom with a really conservative effort. When you get to the first landmark, pick up your effort slightly (ignore speed -- go on perceived exertion). Hold it to the 2nd landmark, then increase your effort one more time, but not really hard -- you just want to finish off the hill with some dignity Go through the top, and get back up to cruising speed so you can recover on the flat/descent that follows.

fuzzthebee

This won't work on a group ride, powering over ~30" rollers (unless you want to get dropped).

Youngin

So I'm a total noob to climbing because I was introduced to road biking in a flat area. If I get out of the saddle to climb, and only near the top of a steel climb do I, but sometimes the chain pops like a really loud gear change, I'm not sure if it does change though. That and when I stand up and hammer it even if I hardly put any weight on the handlebars the back wheel pops up briefly. What am I doing wrong?