Which ring, inner or outer ?

JimmyK

On a double front ring bike, not for use in time trials and purely for road riding, which is the main front ring that you would use, the inner smaller ring or outer larger one ?

I tend to use the inner ring most and if i come to a downhill section , go to the outer ring for those top speeds .

Im not sure what the purists would deem the correct "way to do it " , but outer ring for bursts of speed on downhills and inner one (mostly) for everything else, there are of course the odd exception to this rule.

What is the way you do it, remember, we are NOT talking time trial.

JimmyK

Bugly

Unless its uphill or you are dropped you will find that you will be riding on the big ring

my bad thought you were asking about road racing rather then time trialling.

For general road use depends on your fitness, road condtions rifing alone in training group or with mates, whether you have a compact or std. Ride what gives you a comfortable cadence at your desired speed,

biondino

Jimmy, do you not find that on slight downhills or with a tailwind, you need to use the smallest sprockets and therefore suffer from chain rub?

On my 50/34 chainset, the highest gear on the inner (smaller) ring is only the 6th highest gear I have, so (even if it were usable) I'd rather be in the middle of the cassette while using the outer ring than limiting my options and suffering chain rub on the inner ring.

My usual rides are relatively flat and I am probably using the outer (bigger) ring 85-90% of the time.

redddraggon

It depends on what the terrain is, what size chainrings they are, and what cassette it is.

My 34t inner ring only really gets used when I'm going up hill. Spending most of the time in the 50t ring.

When I use my other bike with 39/53, I spend proportionally more time in the 39 ring, but then that gets me comfortably to 21mph without too bad a chainline.

There is no "correct way to do it".

JimmyK

if I head out on a 25 miler, then staying in the big ring , apart from when it gets hilly, is the way to go , but..........if I went out on a 50 miler ( like today ) , if i stayed in the big ring to the same degree, my legs would be rubberred well and true by the end of it. The rides I do have a fair degree of hillwork and staying in the big ring, for me anyway, would be crazy.

JimmyK

Lagavulin

On my Wilier (50/34) I'm on the big ring most of the time. With my standard double Allez (53/39) I spend the majority of time on the inner. I've got a 12-27 on the back of the Specialized but I can probably count the number of times I used the large front chainring during the winter on both hands. :oops:
I'm definitely a "spinner".

salsarider79

As has been said, there is no right or wrong. Everyone does things differently. I prefer the big ring, but it doesn't matter. It's all personal.

C-S-B

As a general rule, I use the big ring if Im doing over 30km/h - that way I know Ill be able to maintain a good chainline and cadence (50 on the front and 19 on the back).

Anything slower and I tend to stick to the little ring

roger_merriman

piece of string, depends on the gearing, and land and if your a spinner or grinder...

Steve I

Did my first ride on new bike on Saturday. It's got a 50/34 compact chainset. I thought I would have preferred 52/39, but the compact was brilliant. It's all so simple; big ring for normal flat riding and the little 34 for the hills. I was changing at the front far less than with my previous triple. However, I think 48/34 would be even better. I managed 34mph in a 50/13 combination, and I reckon I could have spun that gear to 40mph had I enough power (which sadly I haven't).