what does "get some gears" mean?
#6
Old formerly bold rider
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
From: London, UK
Bikes: Raleigh Equipe 1992, Claud Butler 1950
Get some gears
It means get yourself a proper bicycle with gears so that I don't have to pay for your knee operations/wheelchairs when riding your single speed (almost always at the wrong cadence and too much strain) renders you a cripple in the future...
P.S. I am 52 ride 20 miles per day across London (on a 15-speed tourer) and see a lot fixed/single speed amateurs new to cycling who are putting their knees etc under too much strain - 90-110 is the right cadence - watch racers, they don't struggle away in the wrong gear...
P.S. I am 52 ride 20 miles per day across London (on a 15-speed tourer) and see a lot fixed/single speed amateurs new to cycling who are putting their knees etc under too much strain - 90-110 is the right cadence - watch racers, they don't struggle away in the wrong gear...
#11
P.S. I am 52 ride 20 miles per day across London (on a 15-speed tourer) and see a lot fixed/single speed amateurs new to cycling who are putting their knees etc under too much strain - 90-110 is the right cadence - watch racers, they don't struggle away in the wrong gear...
#12
FNG
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 877
Likes: 0
From: Quarry Stone
Bikes: Raleigh Special * Nishiki MTN Winter Commuter * Trek Soho 3 * Specialized Langster Seattle
Stupid. I hate d-hole idiots who have nothing better to do than yell dumb $h1t at people while we're all out just trying to enjoy ourselves. I look at ANY bikers as comrades.
#13
Gentlemen.
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,516
Likes: 0
From: Chico, CA
Bikes: S-Works e5 Aerotech with 2009 Veloce and a Fulcrum 5s
#14
FNG
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 877
Likes: 0
From: Quarry Stone
Bikes: Raleigh Special * Nishiki MTN Winter Commuter * Trek Soho 3 * Specialized Langster Seattle
#17
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
It means get yourself a proper bicycle with gears so that I don't have to pay for your knee operations/wheelchairs when riding your single speed (almost always at the wrong cadence and too much strain) renders you a cripple in the future...
P.S. I am 52 ride 20 miles per day across London (on a 15-speed tourer) and see a lot fixed/single speed amateurs new to cycling who are putting their knees etc under too much strain - 90-110 is the right cadence - watch racers, they don't struggle away in the wrong gear...
P.S. I am 52 ride 20 miles per day across London (on a 15-speed tourer) and see a lot fixed/single speed amateurs new to cycling who are putting their knees etc under too much strain - 90-110 is the right cadence - watch racers, they don't struggle away in the wrong gear...
#18
Oh, you know...
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 2,834
Likes: 0
From: DC
Bikes: '74 Schwinn Sports Tourer (Polo), S-Works E5 Team Festina (Chorus 11), Trek 2200 Bonded Carbon (Fixed), Trek 920 (7 speed IGH), Chesini Olimpiade SL (1x7)
"Get some gears" is an interesting phrase in that, although there's no definitive origin, there is a likely derivation. Before we get to that, let's get some of the fanciful proposed derivations out of the way. The phrase isn't related to the well-known antipathy between fixed and derailleur using riders. Nor is the phrase in any sense literal, i.e. it doesn't record an incident where a rider spontaneously gained gearing that was beforehand not present. Some bicycles have represented the appearance of gaining gears, but this is usually the result of some complex machination as an internally geared hub or dingle cog. Impromptu gear change has also been recorded, but there is no record of bikes spontaneously gaining gears. Not that we need to study English velocipetal records for that - it's plainly implausible.
One supposed origin is that the phrase derives from mythology. The first cog-driven "safety bicycles" developed an issue whereby cog teeth would sometimes break, causing the apparent gain of gearing inches due to their new ratio. Sheldon Brown, who often took the form of his familiar - an eagle - supported this notion of a phantom gear change with his own anecdotal claims. Well, some evidence would be nice. There doesn't appear to be any to support this notion.
It has also been suggested that a rider might carry additional cogs on their person for cases such that a new gearing ratio is necessary. This is a widely repeated tale. It got a new lease of life with the e-mail message "Life in the 1500s", which began circulating on the Internet in 1999. Here's the relevant part of that:
Another suggestion is that 'get some gears' comes from a version of the French word 'girouget', meaning gear. Again, no evidence. If the phrase were just 'gear', or even if there also existed a French word 'getougir', we might be going somewhere with this one. As there isn't, let's pass this by.
There's a similar phrase originating from the North of England - 'hang a cog'. No one has gone to the effort of speculating that this is from mythic reports of cog teeth chipping off, or gears fabricating themselves out of nothingness. It's just a rather expressive phrase giving a graphic impression of changing one's gear ratio, i.e. 'get some gears'.
The much more probable source of 'get some gears' is the prosaic fact that, in the hilly streets of early 18th century England, steep grades would often make a rider wish they had an easier gear to retreat towards. The gears didn't fall from the sky, but the sight riders attacking the grades more efficiently made have made it appear as such. Jonathan Swift described such an event in his satirical poem 'A Description of a Bicycle Race', first published in the 1710 collection of the Tatler magazine. The poem was a denunciation of contemporary London society and its meaning has been much debated. While the poem is metaphorical and doesn't describe a specific race, it seems that, in describing ease with which some riders ascend hills, Swift was referring to an occurrence that his readers would have been well familiar with.
One supposed origin is that the phrase derives from mythology. The first cog-driven "safety bicycles" developed an issue whereby cog teeth would sometimes break, causing the apparent gain of gearing inches due to their new ratio. Sheldon Brown, who often took the form of his familiar - an eagle - supported this notion of a phantom gear change with his own anecdotal claims. Well, some evidence would be nice. There doesn't appear to be any to support this notion.
It has also been suggested that a rider might carry additional cogs on their person for cases such that a new gearing ratio is necessary. This is a widely repeated tale. It got a new lease of life with the e-mail message "Life in the 1500s", which began circulating on the Internet in 1999. Here's the relevant part of that:
I'll describe their saddle bags a little. You've heard of the small tool bags riders carry under their saddles. Usually just an innertube and a patch kit, maybe a multitool. They were the only place for keeping things on a longer ride. So all the rider's tools and various cycling sundries were stored in there. When the rider found he needed a higher or lower gear ratio for a climb or descent, he would "get some gears" from his saddle bag.
This is nonsense of course. It hardly needs debunking but, lest there be any doubt, let's do that anyway. In order to believe this tale we would have to accept that those cyclists told to "get some gears" rode only tensioner-equipped freewheel bikes, which, of course, they don't. Even accepting that bizarre idea, for a rider to reach into his saddle bag and remove a brand new free-wheel mounted cog every time he encountered an intimidating grade would be ridiculous.Another suggestion is that 'get some gears' comes from a version of the French word 'girouget', meaning gear. Again, no evidence. If the phrase were just 'gear', or even if there also existed a French word 'getougir', we might be going somewhere with this one. As there isn't, let's pass this by.
There's a similar phrase originating from the North of England - 'hang a cog'. No one has gone to the effort of speculating that this is from mythic reports of cog teeth chipping off, or gears fabricating themselves out of nothingness. It's just a rather expressive phrase giving a graphic impression of changing one's gear ratio, i.e. 'get some gears'.
The much more probable source of 'get some gears' is the prosaic fact that, in the hilly streets of early 18th century England, steep grades would often make a rider wish they had an easier gear to retreat towards. The gears didn't fall from the sky, but the sight riders attacking the grades more efficiently made have made it appear as such. Jonathan Swift described such an event in his satirical poem 'A Description of a Bicycle Race', first published in the 1710 collection of the Tatler magazine. The poem was a denunciation of contemporary London society and its meaning has been much debated. While the poem is metaphorical and doesn't describe a specific race, it seems that, in describing ease with which some riders ascend hills, Swift was referring to an occurrence that his readers would have been well familiar with.
#21
Senior Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,014
Likes: 0
From: Davis/Lafayette, CA
Bikes: too many
It means get yourself a proper bicycle with gears so that I don't have to pay for your knee operations/wheelchairs when riding your single speed (almost always at the wrong cadence and too much strain) renders you a cripple in the future...
P.S. I am 52 ride 20 miles per day across London (on a 15-speed tourer) and see a lot fixed/single speed amateurs new to cycling who are putting their knees etc under too much strain - 90-110 is the right cadence - watch racers, they don't struggle away in the wrong gear...
P.S. I am 52 ride 20 miles per day across London (on a 15-speed tourer) and see a lot fixed/single speed amateurs new to cycling who are putting their knees etc under too much strain - 90-110 is the right cadence - watch racers, they don't struggle away in the wrong gear...
#22
It means get yourself a proper bicycle with gears so that I don't have to pay for your knee operations/wheelchairs when riding your single speed (almost always at the wrong cadence and too much strain) renders you a cripple in the future...
P.S. I am 52 ride 20 miles per day across London (on a 15-speed tourer) and see a lot fixed/single speed amateurs new to cycling who are putting their knees etc under too much strain - 90-110 is the right cadence - watch racers, they don't struggle away in the wrong gear...
P.S. I am 52 ride 20 miles per day across London (on a 15-speed tourer) and see a lot fixed/single speed amateurs new to cycling who are putting their knees etc under too much strain - 90-110 is the right cadence - watch racers, they don't struggle away in the wrong gear...
#23
Oh, you know...
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 2,834
Likes: 0
From: DC
Bikes: '74 Schwinn Sports Tourer (Polo), S-Works E5 Team Festina (Chorus 11), Trek 2200 Bonded Carbon (Fixed), Trek 920 (7 speed IGH), Chesini Olimpiade SL (1x7)





