Being a new roadie, I have "discovered" a ride that is basically a never-ending series of hills (goes up and down, short to medium climbs followed by similar downhills). I am assuming that such a ride would give me a fair bit of endurance training and strengthen the motor.

My question though is about shifting in such circumstances (and in general). I am assuming i should keep my cadence at the same pace. My bike came with a triple chainring and i dont have a problem with that. I am on the middle chain ring most of my riding. when i'm climbing i am continuously shifting to lower gears on my rear... when i am going down hill, i am going higher to keep cadence at same level. So when i reach highest gear and need to go to the larger chainring, do i go back to the lowest on the back and start up again? or just go straight to the larger chain ring? and when i start climbing back, what is the shifting order i should use?

thanks all for your help

at what point do you stop peddling whil going down.

While i'd like to know about the best practice about peddling downhill, frankly, drivers here are idiots, and I cant stop thinking of the next fool coming out of his driveway without even looking back, as I fly downhill...

thanks all again.

at what point do you stop peddling whil going down.

While i'd like to know about the best practice about peddling downhill, frankly, drivers here are idiots, and I cant stop thinking of the next fool coming out of his driveway without even looking back, as I fly downhill...

thanks all again.

Ride as fast as you feel prudent. A 50mph descent is frightening to most people. Your speed will be directly linked to your confidence.

Regading shifting, the no-nos are big-big, small-small. I try to shift so the transition is as smooth as possible but there are formulas that I'm sure someone will post.

cadence is not the most important thing here. the reason to maintain a high cadence is to reduce the muscle tension and LT build-up, and utimately muscle fatigue. a higher cadence is more intense on your cardio system, less on leg muscle. Im my opinion, the right time to shift is driven by muscle tension and heart rate. cadence is often a useful tool however in indicating time to shift. but its kind of like an old VW Rabbit I owned years ago: it had a light on the dash that came on when I was "supposed" to shift. I rarely agreed with the light. On my race bike I do not have cadence. I know what 95rpm feels like because my trainer bike does have cadence. I try to race at 95 or so, and I shift when I "feel" like it, always trying to keep muscle tension and HR as low as possible, without spinning out of control.

as for training: now this is peculiar to me, so take with a grain of salt: I always try not use my small chainring. except on the most extreme hills, I find that I cannot maintain speed in my small chainring without spinning too many rpm's and sending my heart rate up too high. soooo, I allow increased muscle tension and slower rpm in a bigger gear while pushing myself to maintain speed. this is a training tactic for me. now in a race if I could maintain pace while spinning faster in the small chainring, then I will

. So when i reach highest gear and need to go to the larger chainring, do i go back to the lowest on the back and start up again? or just go straight to the larger chain ring? and when i start climbing back, what is the shifting order i should use?

thanks all for your help

Go to Sheldon Browns Web site (http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/) gear calculator...fill in your information. and see what it says. BTW, I calculate MPH at various cadences as my output, it's easier for me to understand.

To answer your question, no you don't need to go the lowest on the back & start up......usually, the next gear (because there are redundant gears) on a triple is either 2 or 3 gears lower on the back when upshifting from the middle to the large ring....this is dependant on the chainrings sizes and cassette that you are using.

Play with it and if you still don't understand repost.

Len

Gear charts and knowing your ratios and all that stuff is fine, and knowing which gears to avoid (big-big and small-small) is important, but don't let it interfere with your riding. If you can't move your legs any faster, shift up. If it gets hard to turn the pedals, shift down. As you gain confidence and competence, you'll learn to anticipate what's coming and shift into the right gear before you get there. That's really about all there is to it.

this thread reminds me of riding with my wife. on her hybrid, the gear numbers are displayed. when we come to a hill, she always asks me "what number should I be in". Trouble is that I have absolutely no idea what number, nor is it important.

I was told by more experienced cyclists when I started on a road bike with a triple crankset that I should use the middle ring and when I need more gear to climb, click up three cogs and then go to the smallest ring on the crank and use the last three climbing gears as needed. That was because a gear chart would show that was the transition point between these two rings. When in the smallest cog on the cassette in the middle ring and I'm going down hill, I do the opposite, click down two gears and then go to the largest ring and use the last two cogs for additional speed. This avoids small-small/large-large.

In effect my triple has nine gears on the middle ring with three lower than that on the smallest one and two on the larger ring, for 14 gears in a row without massive multiple shifting to catch 'em all. Works for me.

In short, no, you don't want to start back at the first cog when you shift chainrings. Shifting chainrings, especially on the triple, is only like a one or two cog shift. At most, you'll have to downshift the rear once after upshifting in front, and vice versa. There's a ton of overlap, so you don't have to "start over."

Staying in a steady rpm range that is comfortable to you is a good idea -- in fact, it's the whole point of gears -- but you may want to switch it up once in a while. The rule of thumb is, if your legs are more tired than your heart & lungs, spin faster with lower force (easier gearing). If it's the opposite, spin slower with higher force (harder gearing).

Cheers,
Ari

this thread reminds me of riding with my wife. on her hybrid, the gear numbers are displayed. when we come to a hill, she always asks me "what number should I be in". Trouble is that I have absolutely no idea what number, nor is it important.

My wife does the same thing: "I'm in the 2 and the 6. Is that right?" I don't think of gearing that way, and to keep me alert, sometimes she gives me the right shifter first, sometimes the left. So the 2-6 and the 6-2 might be the same. She gets testy if I ask, "How's it FEEL?"
At least I broke her of saying, "I'm in 53rd gear..."

Sorry, double post. :o

In short, no, you don't want to start back at the first cog when you shift chainrings. Shifting chainrings, especially on the triple, is only like a one or two cog shift. At most, you'll have to downshift the rear once after upshifting in front, and vice versa. There's a ton of overlap, so you don't have to "start over."


There are some gearing combinations that you just shouldn't use (such as big ring & big cog) b/c they'll increase the likelihood of dropping your chain. Additionally, your bike chain works most efficiently when it travels in a straight line, so strive for gearing combinations that allow you 1) maintain a desired cadence and 2) keep the chain straight.

this thread reminds me of riding with my wife. on her hybrid, the gear numbers are displayed. when we come to a hill, she always asks me "what number should I be in". Trouble is that I have absolutely no idea what number, nor is it important.


I have a buddy who always asks me "what gear are you in." It's pretty irrelevant when I'm riding a POS 7sp. double, & he's on his 9 sp. triple. If we're climbing a steep hill, my answer is, "one that will get me up this G@dd@mned hill." :cool:

I'm not that hopeless, and dont give a crap about gear numbers. but I was hoping to get exactly the replies I got from you guys. My main issue was to find out where the overlap is, and from your replies, it appears to be in the first two or three cogs when shifting up or down on the chainring.

Thanks again for all of that... I'll look at a gear charts only for info, and keep on riding till i drop.

Another note about cadence --

It's normal for most riders to drop from 90-100 on the flat to 75-80 on a climb. It's arguably more efficient, but at the least shouldn't hurt you.

The standard rule is "two cogs to stand," also -- that is, upshift twice if you're going to switch from seated to standing climbing for more than a few moments.

The point where you should stop pedalling downhill, when you're not trying to go crazy down it, is probably when the hill is steep enough that you'll be going 35+ mph by the bottom no matter what you do. Also if there are lots of twisties, pay more attention to cornering strategy than trying to pedal in the barely-existent straights.