I keep seeing this phrase and it's got me curious, but I have no clue what it could mean.

*shrugs*

your easiest gear.

The gear you wish you had, just before you puke and fall over on a climb.

walking.
or your grandad ring.


EDIT: the bible; discuss

A parachute

53x13.

I'm on the grandad ring half the time I'm on the bike

Me = Bailout McSlacker

A bailout gear is a gear that it much lower than normally used. Usually referred to by people with triples that ride mostly in their middle ring... therefore the little ring is a "bailout" easy gear when struggling uphill.

I was looking for a bailout gear a couple weeks ago. I couldn't find it. I kept shifting, and it kept not being there.

My 26x32.

The concept "bailout gear" can sometimes lead to the wrong approach to climbing. Some people will not shift to the lowest gear they have at the start of a climb, even when that is the approriate gear to maintian the best cadence given the grade and their power output because they psychologically need a "bailout gear"

If you just forget the whole concept, and ride in whatever gear is right for the grade and your fitness, you'll ultimately climb faster.

In other words you're better off riding in your lowest gear to start, than riding in a too high of gear, just to preserve a "bailout gear."

Mine is 42x21

39x25

Bailout gear is wussy gear, mine is quite worn........

Why, in this day and age, do people avoid performing a simple Google search?


Google is your friend : enter "bailout gear bicycle" in the search box and hit <ENTER>

I would say it refers to the easiest gear, but more in the sense that a rider has it and hopes not to use it, but if s/he just can't handle the grade that day, s/he bails out and uses it.

If you begin taking up climbing rides as I did after years of just flat cruising, you'll experience a transition period of somewhat painful muscle building. To suffer the least I used the lowest gear I had, which was the 30/26, or 34/30 combo on two different bikes. After a time, I was able to increase my speed on climbs by using a higher gear without pain, the obvious result of successful muscle building. Climbs that previously required the lowest gear combo were being ridden up using at least two gear ratios higher, so those two remaining low gears on the cassette were relegated to "bail" status. I do still use them from time to time, especially at the end of 50+ miles of riding in the surrounding "semi-mountainous" region where I live. All my local rides beginning from home end with a difficult 1/4 mile slog up a steep hill, which is the perfect time to use the lowest "bail" gear. For that reason, I'll always use a cassette with at least one bail gear, even if it looks like I'm riding around with a pie plate for a cassette.

I rarely ever use my 26x32 ...... but I like knowing it's there.

That is my current lowest ratio that came with my new bike and I hate it. My regular 2 to 6 mile climbs at 7 to 9% gradient are no longer fun. Later this week I'm replacing all the Ultegra stuff on the bike with Rival, including a 50/34 compact with a custom cassette that includes a 28 in the rear. Ahh, sweet relief.

42x25.

Precisely what I was thinking.

Mine is 34/28, but that stops being a "bailout" and becomes a standard gear when the grade gets above 10%, or above 8% for too long.

Very good point. But the whole bailout idea was to have one gear left when you were at this ideal "normal" point. For say a slight bonk, windy day, ect.

Im sure we have all been halfway up a hill, out of gas, trying to shift down and there is nothing left but the stop on the rear deraillure.

Happens to me all the time

Why, in this day and age, do people persist in getting pissy about an obviously already discussed topic in a fresh thread that obviously has some merit as folks are discussing it in a civil manner?

Getting mad at the internets is not healthy. You should channel that rage into avoiding your bailout gear on the nearest 22% hill.

When I took up riding a fixed gear road bike I had, and still have a 52:18 bailout gear and the old road bike has a 42:21... I ride the same roads and tackle the same grades on both and after riding the fg that 42:21 feels really low.

My touring bike has a 24:28 but an even lower gearing will probably be warranted for loaded touring... I never use the granny unless I am loaded up or towing 300 pounds of gear on the trailer.