Using gears
Scrumple
Posts: 2,665
To avoid chain stretch, I stick to certain gear patterns on my Ultegra 10 set up.
Basically, I use my large front ring, with the smaller half of the rear cogs.
Once I get into the middle of the rear cassette, I flip down and on to my smaller front ring. I then use the bigger half of the rear cassette.
Ultimately, this means I only ever use 10 gears, and have to always make sure I am at least at (never past) half way when I change front cog.
Is this the right way to ride???
(does it make sense to read, too!)
Basically, I use my large front ring, with the smaller half of the rear cogs.
Once I get into the middle of the rear cassette, I flip down and on to my smaller front ring. I then use the bigger half of the rear cassette.
Ultimately, this means I only ever use 10 gears, and have to always make sure I am at least at (never past) half way when I change front cog.
Is this the right way to ride???
(does it make sense to read, too!)
0
Comments
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No - you can use just about all the gears apart from the extremes. Dont do Big to Big and Small to Small.0
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Yes but I think you can very safely go over half way on your cassette - big chain ring with the smallest 6 or 7 sprockets and vice versa. Middle chain ring with sprockets 3 to 8 . One guide i read said you can use 8 sprockets per chain ring. As long as you aren't seriously cross chaining i don't think you will do any harm.We are born with the dead:
See, they return, and bring us with them.0 -
cougie wrote:No - you can use just about all the gears apart from the extremes. Dont do Big to Big and Small to Small.
+1'Hello to Jason Isaacs'0 -
No. If you do this you will loose all the mid range gears.
53 39
12 119.3 87.8
13 110.1 81.0
14 102.2 75.2
15 95.4 70.2
16 89.4 65.8
17 84.2 61.9
18 79.5 58.5
19 75.3 55.4
21 68.1 50.1
23 62.2 45.8
Example is for 53/39 with 12/23 cassette. Gear ratios are in inches. You will see that if you only use the 53 down to the 16 cog and the 39 from the 17 cog you have a gap of 28" that you never use. The 89.4 is a high gear that I would normally only use in a race and the 61.9 is the sort of gear I would use for riding into the wind or on false flats during a social ride. You are losing the most useful ratios for fast cruising. As said before, just avoid the extremes of big/big and small/small.0 -
Normally I'd say no to big-big/small-small, but big-big can be pretty handy when you're on a fast ride and don't want the hassle of shifting chainring when approaching a slight incline - I've seen plenty of more experienced people than me do it, it may cause a bit of extra wear but if you set up your mechs well you shouldn't get much rubbing at the front.
Small-small seems a bit pointless though.0 -
i use all my gears, just convenient and easier when riding0
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Yes. Best avoided but if you read the hill or your legs wrong and you are struggling on the next to big just go for it. As Red says if your gears are set up right it will work OK. I have done this too many times but nothing has given up yet. Little/little IS a bit pointless as in my example you should be on the 16 or 17 on the big ring with plenty of options either way. The best way of using gears is to be near the middle of the casstte on the right ring as this gives the most options for change but you can only have so much overlap or using multiple rings becomes pointless. In my example the 12 to the 17 on the small ring are duplicated on the big ring by the 17 to 23. This means that you actually have 15 usable gear ratios some of which you can use on either ring as circumstances require. If you have a different cassette or rings go to Sheldon's gear calculator and check them out.
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/0 -
just get the bus, guaranteed free from chain stretch0
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schlepcycling wrote:cougie wrote:No - you can use just about all the gears apart from the extremes. Dont do Big to Big and Small to Small.
+1
Agree0 -
I do most of my riding on big-big (and have done for years). The only time it proved to be a problem was when I bought a triple, so I got rid of it. Saying that I never ride small-small, I don't know why.0
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I've never had any problems with any gear combinations and like Eat My Dust use big on big more than i should. I think chain stretch is mostly in the imagination. If this is really a problem use more than one chain and swap them round every 500 miles or so.
My chain is still fine after 4000 miles and using all of the available 20 gears on the compact.
I rarely use small/small not because it isn't "right" to do so, just because it rarely happens. Only on a climb when i'm in the small ring and the slope relents or even descends for a short time i might use it - mostly because i hate changing front rings.
It sounds to me like you are missing out on a lot of useful gears for little reason.0 -
From a top race mechanic:
try to use
1 to 6 in the low
3 to 10 in the high
Avoid the rest for wear.0
