A bit of a crossroad

GSJ

This question may be stupid I don't know but I can't seem to decide what to do..
basically, I ride in the big sprocket on the front and 4th OR 5th hardest at back, I ride a 8-speed shimano so riding in the 5th gear makes a tiny tiny noise, barely hearable, but anyways on to my question. I generally ride about 15-20miles 4/5 times a week when in 5th gear (5 in counting from left to right) i can quite do 20miles at a nice stedy speed of around 16-18mph, however this is the wrong gear and it's cross chaining right? so I've started to ride in the 4th gear which is the middle one. In this gear I can manage around the same speeds but only for around 10-13miles. So what shall I do? stick to 5th one and build up or go straight to 4th.
Sorry if this is a bit stupid and obvious for some

bails87

Use whichever gear is appropriate for the speed you're doing.

If you're on the big ring at the front then you can use the smallest 6 cogs without worrying about cross chaining. Once you get to the top 2 then it's worth changing down at the front.

GSJ

bails87 wrote:

Use whichever gear is appropriate for the speed you're doing.

If you're on the big ring at the front then you can use the smallest 6 cogs without worrying about cross chaining. Once you get to the top 2 then it's worth changing down at the front.

That's reassuring, what about the slight noise that comes with using the 5th gear? anything to worry about?

ricklilley

The slight noise is probably just the chain rubbing the front mech slightly. Which isn't anything to worry about. You can cross run the chain, it will just wear out faster.