newbie question on gears

I am confused by the gear combinations such as 3x10=30. Am I correct
that in order to use all these gears, one has to alternatively shift
the front and rear gears during upshifting or downshifting? And if so,
is this the normal way the professionals do it?

I have never had any proper training on cycling and found this very
difficult to do, now I am only shifting the rear gear until the
smallest gear is in use then I will shift the front gear, but this way
I only have 2+10=12 gear combinations. What is the proper way to do it?

Zonta wrote:
I am confused by the gear combinations such as 3x10=30. Am I correct
that in order to use all these gears, one has to alternatively shift
the front and rear gears during upshifting or downshifting? And if so,
is this the normal way the professionals do it?

I have never had any proper training on cycling and found this very
difficult to do, now I am only shifting the rear gear until the
smallest gear is in use then I will shift the front gear, but this way
I only have 2+10=12 gear combinations. What is the proper way to do it?

Think of it as 2 ranges of gears. One high and one low. There is some
overlap where the highest gears in the low range are actually higher
than the lowest gears in the high range.

So if you are going easy/slow/uphil you would generally leave the chain
on the small chainring (the low range) in the front and just move it
around on the back as you require to get up hills, etc. If you are
going fast/downhill/tailwind you might wish to leave it in the high
range (the big chainring in the front) and choose gears in the rear as
neccesary to keep a comfortable cadence (pedaling frequency).

If you are a beginner, it is recommended that you use the low range to
start, and as you get stronger and more comfortable with the whole
setup, you can use the high range as well. You can of course switch
between the two as you see fit and as the terrain changes.

Have fun!

Joseph

Zonta wrote:
I am confused by the gear combinations such as 3x10=30. Am I correct
that in order to use all these gears, one has to alternatively shift
the front and rear gears during upshifting or downshifting? And if so,
is this the normal way the professionals do it?

I have never had any proper training on cycling and found this very
difficult to do, now I am only shifting the rear gear until the
smallest gear is in use then I will shift the front gear, but this way
I only have 2+10=12 gear combinations. What is the proper way to do it?

Think of it this way: The closer the chain is to the frame, the easier
it is to pedal. The further away from the frame the chain is, the
harder it is to pedal.

As a beginner, try thinking of a chainwheel for:
1) Going up hills
2) Going on flats
3) Going down hills

Let each # above relate to each of your three chainwheels up front.
The one on the left most portion is the easiest to pedal, then the
middle one, then the big one (the toughest to pedal).

Hope that helps.

"Zonta" wrote in message
...
I am confused by the gear combinations such as 3x10=30. Am I correct
that in order to use all these gears, one has to alternatively shift
the front and rear gears during upshifting or downshifting? And if so,
is this the normal way the professionals do it?

I have never had any proper training on cycling and found this very
difficult to do, now I am only shifting the rear gear until the
smallest gear is in use then I will shift the front gear, but this way
I only have 2+10=12 gear combinations. What is the proper way to do it?

There are two approaches:

a) empirical - if the gear is too hard, choose an easier one, and
vice-versa.

b) count the various gear teeth and figure out what your ratios are, and
memorise the order of gearing combinations.

To a close approximation, with front chainwheels that have a small
difference in teeth (5) the ratios will alternate front chainwheels before
changing the rear; for chainwheels that have a large difference (12) there
will be a number of small-front and large-rear ratios before the easiest
large-front and large-rear ratio. Do not be surprised if there are some
ratios from different gear combinations that are essentially the same.

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 00:28:39 -0700, Zonta wrote:

I am confused by the gear combinations such as 3x10=30. Am I correct
that in order to use all these gears, one has to alternatively shift
the front and rear gears during upshifting or downshifting? And if so,
is this the normal way the professionals do it?

As you point out, it is necessary if you want to use all the gears. There are
inevitably some combinations that are so close to one another in geared effect
that you will either use them interchangably or find yourself not using one of
them.

I have never had any proper training on cycling and found this very
difficult to do, now I am only shifting the rear gear until the
smallest gear is in use then I will shift the front gear, but this way
I only have 2+10=12 gear combinations. What is the proper way to do it?

Much smoother is at some point as you're shifting upward, to use your example,
instead of just going one click further on the rear, go up on the front and down
at the rear simultaineously. From there you can continue upward smoothly.

Same with downshifting. Shift the chainring instead of the rear at some point.
Usually you do this when you detect a trend. Like you see a big hill coming up.
You might shift down on the front and up in the back leaving you with a gear
pretty close to what you were already in... but .... now you're on the right
chainring for the next part of your ride and you won't have to downshift the
front while grinding up the hill.

IOW, use the chainrings for coarse (course) adjustments; uphill, downhill, fast,
normal, etc. And the rear cogs to get just what you want.

Spend some time with this online gimmick: http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/ . Plug
in the size of your gears, and experiment having it give results in gear inches,
the standard way of expressing bike gears since the invention of the device, or
in MPH for a given pedalling rate. Notice where the gears overlap, where there
are large steps you might want to avoid and get into bike geek mode.

Ron

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 00:28:39 -0700, Zonta
wrote:

I am confused by the gear combinations such as 3x10=30. Am I correct
that in order to use all these gears, one has to alternatively shift
the front and rear gears during upshifting or downshifting? And if so,
is this the normal way the professionals do it?

I have never had any proper training on cycling and found this very
difficult to do, now I am only shifting the rear gear until the
smallest gear is in use then I will shift the front gear, but this way
I only have 2+10=12 gear combinations. What is the proper way to do it?

Hi, here is a helpful website, that will give you all kinds of good
info.
Gear shifting: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears.html

For all things beginner [although also helpful to the oldtimer]:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/beginners/index.html

Although there are no absolutes in gear use, there are a few
guidelines. It is not a good idea to use the extremes, such as the
smallest chainring with the smallest cogs in back, ot the largest
chainring with the largest cogs. This causes, what is called cross
chaining and is harder on the drivetrain, totally unnecessary, and
inefficient.

With a triple, in front, you really don't need to use the smallest
chainring, unless you arer going up a hill. I use the middle chainring
and only shift into the larger ring, when I'm over 18mph, and am
spinning a cadence over about 95rpm. But that is me, using a custom
9-speed cassette of 14-28 with a 30-39-53 up front. Cadence varies
amongst riders, 3 years ago, 100rpm seemed crazy, now it is quite
comfortable.

Another thing that could help you better understand gear overlap and
duplication is a simple free program called GearCalc.
http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/gearpro.html

All of the above should make you quite knowledgable, then the rest is
just practicle experience. The more you ride, you will find what works
for you.


Life is Good!
Jeff

Zonta wrote:
I am confused by the gear combinations such as 3x10=30. Am I correct
that in order to use all these gears, one has to alternatively shift
the front and rear gears during upshifting or downshifting? And if so,
is this the normal way the professionals do it?

I have never had any proper training on cycling and found this very
difficult to do, now I am only shifting the rear gear until the
smallest gear is in use then I will shift the front gear, but this way
I only have 2+10=12 gear combinations. What is the proper way to do it?

One of my bikes has a triple (3 chainrings in front) and a 9-speed (9
cog cassette) rear. I find that I almost always use the middle chainring
while doing most of the shifting on the cassette. I will occasionally
use the little ring in the front for climbing a steep hill and the big
ring for descents and tailwinds.

You are right about the number of gears. Effectively, your bike only has
12 steps from the lowest to the highest gear. However, there are some
intermediate steps available that can be useful for finding just the
right gear to work into a headwind or endure a long hill.

"Dan" wrote in message
...
Zonta wrote:
I am confused by the gear combinations such as 3x10=30. Am I correct
that in order to use all these gears, one has to alternatively shift
the front and rear gears during upshifting or downshifting? And if so,
is this the normal way the professionals do it?

I have never had any proper training on cycling and found this very
difficult to do, now I am only shifting the rear gear until the
smallest gear is in use then I will shift the front gear, but this way
I only have 2+10=12 gear combinations. What is the proper way to do it?



You are right about the number of gears. Effectively, your bike only has
12 steps from the lowest to the highest gear. However, there are some
intermediate steps available that can be useful for finding just the
right gear to work into a headwind or endure a long hill.

You cannot say this without knowing the various numbers of teeth the
original poster has. It is possible to have many more significantly
different (and therefore useful) ration than 12, given 3 x 10.

"Zonta" wrote in message
...
I am confused by the gear combinations such as 3x10=30. Am I correct
that in order to use all these gears, one has to alternatively shift
the front and rear gears during upshifting or downshifting? And if so,
is this the normal way the professionals do it?

I have never had any proper training on cycling and found this very
difficult to do, now I am only shifting the rear gear until the
smallest gear is in use then I will shift the front gear, but this way
I only have 2+10=12 gear combinations. What is the proper way to do
it?

There were a number of good recommendation by other posters but several
may be a little too technical for your present needs,

One purpose for being able to change gears is to maintain a fairly
constant peddling cadence or number of revolutions per minute of the
cranks.

Top racers maintain a cadence of 125+, many experienced riders pedal at
90+ rpm while beginners may find it difficult to initially keep a
cadence of 60 rpm.

Working on gradually increasing your cadence will help build up your
heart, lungs and legs.

The lowest gearing - small front sprocket/ larger rear sprocket
combinations are designed for pedaling up hills. In these situations
cadence is unimportant for a new rider, just get up the hill.

The idea of 30 speeds is more a marketing feature than a reality because
there will be a lot of overlapping ratios. Ten sprockets on the rear
allows you to make gradual gear changes of around 5% on each shift to
adjust to changes in riding conditions that are affected by the wind or
road.

As some one else suggested, start off on the flat using the middle front
sprocket shifting between the middle 4-5 rear sprockets to get a feel
for differences in gear ratios. Work on developing a smooth cadence.

For best chain and sprocket life you should try to avoid using the
larger rear sprockets with the largest front sprocket and the smallest
rear sprockets with the smallest front sprocket. Big/big and small/small
creates too much chain crossover.

You will probably find that you are using 5-8 gear combinations of the
flat and 3-5 lower gears for climbing hills. You should avoid using the
highest gears except for fast downhill runs while you are developing
your cadence.

Chas.

jtaylor wrote:

You are right about the number of gears. Effectively, your bike only has
12 steps from the lowest to the highest gear. However, there are some
intermediate steps available that can be useful for finding just the
right gear to work into a headwind or endure a long hill.

You cannot say this without knowing the various numbers of teeth the
original poster has. It is possible to have many more significantly
different (and therefore useful) ration than 12, given 3 x 10.



I didn't say he only had 12 gears. It is very likely that he has 30
different gear ratios. I also did not say that the other ratios were not
useful - in fact I pointed out that they were useful.