Changing gear under load.

TheDrunkMonk

Imagine you're on a 7% hill on someone's wheel. You decide to get out of the saddle and give a burst of energy. For me, doing this I want to be 2 gears higher for most effect.

Do the high end shifters and deraillieurs allow you to this without the inevitable crunching, grinding complaints from your bike? Or is it all technique? And if so, what is the text book way of doing this? I've got a 105 groupset, which seems to do everything I ask of it, except change smoothly under load.

mattbass789

Most groupsets will have more difficulty changing underload. When seeing a pro crit last year stood on the outside of a bend you can hear them all smashing the gears to get back up to speed.

So I would say the better the groupset, the better it can deal with the power delivery. Though using a bit of technique can help. If i'm going to burst on a hill, stay seated and change gear settle in the gear and then deliver the power! Ensuring you change as smoothly as possible, there's no need to change gear and go out the saddle all at the same time.

nicklouse

no group set will shift smoothly under load.

if you dont unload you will have problems.

TheDrunkMonk

I find I have a couple of choices, none as good as being able to snap into a higher gear to accelerate.

1. Spin-up crazy fast sat down, change gear whilst standing up in a 'pause' then when the you've found the gear, go for it standing up. (On a hill you're losing momentum while this is happening)

2. Change before standing, but with all the extra strain on the body rather than the bike, usually accompanied by the rear of the bike skipping about while I'm trying to get the power down too fast.

Both don't seem very smooth, as the energy used accelerating has a pause.

I think I feel this is exaggerated because I seem to be able to produce so much more power standing compared to seated.

whyamihere

You don't have to stop applying power completely, just don't shift under full power. Ease off on the pedals slightly and shift, rather than easing off a lot.

rake

i try to avoid it at all times, as said its not good for the bike especially the chain. surely its more efficient to go at a steady speed up a hill .

pottssteve

whyamihere wrote:

You don't have to stop applying power completely, just don't shift under full power. Ease off on the pedals slightly and shift, rather than easing off a lot.

+1 for this.

MichaelW

You can also reduce the gradient. Ride across the road to change gear. Beware of other traffic.
Changing gear under full load with a loud click is the hallmark of a teenage oik on a stolen MTB.

whyamihere

rake wrote:

i try to avoid it at all times, as said its not good for the bike especially the chain. surely its more efficient to go at a steady speed up a hill .

This only works on constant gradient hills. There's not many of them about.

markyone

Take the strain off a little imo split second and shift up no problems.

neeb

Yup, it's just a case of timing it right so that you can momentarily take the pressure off the pedals a little as you're changing. I think it helps if you can time it so that you're just past the point of greatest pressure on one side but haven't yet started applying maximum torque on the other side. Better groupsets might make this slightly easier, as the snappier the shifting the less time you need to spend with the pressure eased off.

TheDrunkMonk

Thanks for the advice. It sounds like I've got to practice what I'm already doing, but maybe figure out a way of doing it better/smoother. Darn, I was hoping one of you was going to say "yeah spend £70 on a rear mech" magic bullet.

Well, sounds like half a year of annoying my friends and club mates with insessant mini-sprints on every hill we get to....

neeb

There's definitely a bit of a knack to it, but it becomes second nature eventually - like feeling the biting point of the clutch when changing gear in a car.

Peddle Up!

Take care if you're out of the saddle. My chain jumped the gears and dropped me back down with a bump! :shock:

amaferanga

I would always sit down to change gears on a hill and will accelerate briefly so that I can ease off for the gear change without dropping speed. So one or two pedal strokes at a higher cadence than you were doing quickly followed by a gear change and you should be able to change without any crunching of gears.

Standing up to put in a short sprint on a hill doesn't sound like great technique to me though. By all means stand up and even change down a gear or two, but try to maintain your speed and rhythm otherwise you'll be knackered in no time and sitting back down again in an even lower gear.

ireland57

I carry some weight on the bars while shifting and standing at the same time (i.e. unload the cranks while shifting).

The timing is important obviously but it works well for me. The shifts are smooth and quick.

Sitting and shifting is probably best choice on many hills but I can't always do it.