Cross chaining

RichPWRR

Sorry if this is a bit of a stupid question but I am new to road cycling so not sure. I have read a bit on this forum about crosschaining and how it is not good for the drive train and not efficient. My question is therefore, what order should I go up the gears using both front and rear cogs ( I have a defy 5 with a compact double 50/34 and 8s 11x28) or how should I be using the gears to be most efficient and reduce wear and cross chaining?

Mikey23

Just get a feel for it... Try to stick in the middles. 50/11 is your top, 34/28 is your bottom. Try to avoid 34/11 or 50/28. Everything else should be ok.

morstar

The previous post is good advice but don't get too hung up about it. Riding a compact, there are times when it is simply easier to cross chain for a little while. The drive train is pretty robust, increased wear is a small percentage factor over several thousand miles.

Sprool

It also depends on the terrain ahead. If I know theres a long straight or downhill bit ahead then I'll move up to the big ring earlier instead of moving down through the rear cogs first. If I know theres a short downhill then a climb I'll stay in the smaller ring and just change up and down the rear cogs as necessary.
Sometimes I don't find the exact comfortable ratio on the small ring so I may change to the big and shift down 1 or 2 on the back, as long as I'm not then in 1st or 2nd ont he back.
As mikey said, staying in the middles as a general rule is a good policy but as you're already aware of it, its just a case of preventing undue wear and tear on your drive chain.

Mikey23

Yup I realised that after I posted. Don't get hung up on it .. A spell of cross chaining isn't going to kill you or the bike... Just don't do it all the time and it isn't a very efficient way of riding

RichPWRR

Thank you for the advice. I suppose it is a case of practice makes perfect, and who can complain about an excuse to spend longer on the bike.

nolight

I am on relatively flat land, and uses 53/39T 11-25T.

I stay on the big chain almost all the time. My most common gear is front big 53 rear 6th.

Shifting up would be front 53, rear 7-8-9-10.
Shifting down would be front 53 rear 5-4, then front 39 rear 4-3-2-1.

So my front 53 never goes with rear 3-2-1. My front 39 never goes with rear 6-7-8-9-10.

Mikey23

I do find it a little amusing that we have all these flipping gears 8, 9, 10 and now 11 x 2 and quite a few of them although usable are not good combinations. The above poster uses 12 and I suspect that I use not many more than that.

StillGoing

SRAM groupsets are designed so you can cross chain without any interference on the FD. As others have said, as long as you aren't doing it all day long don't worry about it. Sometimes it's easier to just stick in the one ring if you know you're going to be moving back up or down the cassette imminently.

t4tomo

philthy3 wrote:

SRAM groupsets are designed so you can cross chain without any interference on the FD. As others have said, as long as you aren't doing it all day long don't worry about it. Sometimes it's easier to just stick in the one ring if you know you're going to be moving back up or down the cassette imminently.

But having a straighter chain gives you less friction and hence is more efficient. A decent habit / rule of thumb to get into is once you crossed "half way" on your cassette then your next shift should be the chainring.

Haughjd

My first venture into cycling I never came across this issue. Perhaps because it is a triple-front, and smallish(eight) at rear. I mostly ride in the middle front-cog - and was able to go up and down the rear-mech without the "noise". To be honest i dont thing i spent much time in the large/large, or small/small combo.

Their must be some overlap between the ratios on the front I'm not sure what they are. But I'm sure you can find a website to point this out better. I'm guessing its about 1/3 the high-end of one, matches the low-end of the other.

I will use this rule of thumb: If you hear a clicking noise which indicates the "Cross-Chaining", which can't be put right with some "Trimming", then assume that you're in the wrong front cog. Change up/down, and adjust the rear cog to get in the right gear...

Jon