Any Cyclists here?

[ZeferiniX]

Howdy there, lycra wearing road cyclist here.

As I have a couple of bikes, my normal commuter which I use when going to school is generally left in 3rd at the front, and 3rd at the rear. It's the easiest for me to use when I've got heavy panniers on my bike and I'm in my battered and baggy clothes.

On my road bike, it's generally left in 3rd at the front, and 5th at the rear. Before any other road cyclist wonders why I have 3 gears at the front, it's the campagnolo veloce 3 speed groupset, which is very useful for hill-climbing I find.

I do have a mountain bike, but I never use it as I hate going mountain biking unless it's the summer, plus I don't need it for commuting or road cycling.

My best suggestion for gearing, which road cycling pros do, is to ride in a lower gear at a higher cadence (higher rpm of the pedals) as it saves your energy a hell of a lot, meaning you can go faster for longer. Just because you can go into top gear, doesn't mean you should, as you'll only tire earlier. I've done it when mountain biking as well and it really is the best thing you'll ever do when you get used to riding with your feet doing 60rpm.

 

Didn't know riding in a lower gear at a higher cadence saves energy, seems tiresome to me @_@ probably in my case since my legs are quite heavy  Thanks for the advice, I'll keep that in mind and also experiment tomorrow with your suggestions

[Biased Opinion]

Didn't know riding in a lower gear at a higher cadence saves energy, seems tiresome to me @_@ probably in my case since my legs are quite heavy  Thanks for the advice, I'll keep that in mind and also experiment tomorrow with your suggestions

There is a very good reason you never see pros pushing high gears.

[officiallyasimulator]

I ride a Jamis Trail X3, and i stay in 3rd big and 5-6th small on the cogs, i do sometimes chuck it in max gear (3x9) if i have excess energy

 

[ZeferiniX]

There is a very good reason you never see pros pushing high gears.

 

Didn't notice because they make cycling look easy and I'm also a beginner

 

 

I ride a Jamis Trail X3, and i stay in 3rd big and 5-6th small on the cogs, i do sometimes chuck it in max gear (3x9) if i have excess energy

 

.

How long have you been biking? I won't attempt 3x9 again until my legs can handle that gear..

[officiallyasimulator]

Didn't notice because they make cycling look easy and I'm also a beginner

 

 

.

How long have you been biking? I won't attempt 3x9 again until my legs can handle that gear..

about 2 years, i only go that high on my downhill rides , which i do like once a month.

[ZeferiniX]

Damn the middle feels good Measurements are 40-30-22T if it matters.

 

I start with 2x7, 2x8 when settled and 2x9 when it gets easy on 2x8.

 

Question though, is it bad to do 2x9 in a 9 speed? 

[Biased Opinion]

Damn the middle feels good Measurements are 40-30-22T if it matters.

 

I start with 2x7, 2x8 when settled and 2x9 when it gets easy on 2x8.

 

Question though, is it bad to do 2x9 in a 9 speed? 

You should always state the gear that your in in the tooth count rather than the gear position on your cassettte and crankset. This gives us a much better idea of what gear you are actually pushing. For example my big little on my mtb was a 40:11 and the lowest gear was a 40:36. On my 20 i have a 39:13 and if you were in the middle of the cassette and the middle of the crank you would be in a gear of around 30:22 or something like that depending on the cassette. There is nothing wrong with running the 2x9 but you could probably do it with the granny and a smaller cassette ring with less crosschaining You should try to stay in the middle ring as much as possible though because it has the best chainline to the most of the cassette.

[ZeferiniX]

You should always state the gear that your in in the tooth count rather than the gear position on your cassettte and crankset. This gives us a much better idea of what gear you are actually pushing. For example my big little on my mtb was a 40:11 and the lowest gear was a 40:36. On my 20 i have a 39:13 and if you were in the middle of the cassette and the middle of the crank you would be in a gear of around 30:22 or something like that depending on the cassette. There is nothing wrong with running the 2x9 but you could probably do it with the granny and a smaller cassette ring with less crosschaining You should try to stay in the middle ring as much as possible though because it has the best chainline to the most of the cassette.

 

My crankset has a 40-30-22T

 

My cassette is a Shimano Alivio CS-HG200 and I think I have the 11-34 gradation (11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-34)

 

so since I'm using 2x7, 2x8 and 2x9, how do I get the ratios? does it go like this?

2x7 = 30:26

2x8 = 30:30

2x9 = 30:34

 

Am I doing it right? lol

[Biased Opinion]

My crankset has a 40-30-22T

 

My cassette is a Shimano Alivio CS-HG200 and I think I have the 11-34 gradation (11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-34)

 

so since I'm using 2x7, 2x8 and 2x9, how do I get the ratios? does it go like this?

2x7 = 30:26

2x8 = 30:30

2x9 = 30:34

 

Am I doing it right? lol

thats about right. those are just the tooth counts though. The gear ratio is different to that.

 

You can use this site http://www.bikecalc.com/gear_ratios

 

it will give you the gear combos that have the same ratio along with the ratios of all the rest of them. You can use this to better chose the gears base on what would have the least amount of cross chaining. 

[ZeferiniX]

thats about right. those are just the tooth counts though. The gear ratio is different to that.

 

You can use this site http://www.bikecalc.com/gear_ratios

 

it will give you the gear combos that have the same ratio along with the ratios of all the rest of them. You can use this to better chose the gears base on what would have the least amount of cross chaining. 

 

So what do these numbers mean? Which is better? higher or lower numbers?

[Biased Opinion]

So what do these numbers mean? Which is better? higher or lower numbers?

the number represents how far the bike will travel per crank rotation. There is no such thing as the perfect gear (unless you start talking to singlespeeders). You simply have to chose the gear that will maintain your preferred cadence. Higher number is a harder gear

[ZeferiniX]

the number represents how far the bike will travel per crank rotation. There is no such thing as the perfect gear (unless you start talking to singlespeeders). You simply have to chose the gear that will maintain your preferred cadence. Higher number is a harder gear

 

Thanks for the tips dude and thanks to everyone who replied to this thread I managed to improve my distance by a lot just by choosing the right gear Still sad about my very low cadence lol, 2x9 @ 14-20km/h 26er. Dunno how much cadence I'm doing but I'm comfortable with it, still hoping to improve.

[Biased Opinion]

You should also make sure you position on the bike is correct. Check out some of the GCN videos on bike fit to give you an idea of how high the seat should be. They are all on road bikes but the logic is the same between mountain and road.