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Serious question!
I've been singlespeed almost exclusively since I came back to mountain biking but now have got gears on my bike.
I understand the mechanics of flipping the lever to change gears but am looking for any tips to use them more efficiently.
WIth singlespeed the only option was to stand as the track got steeper, am I best staying seated for as long as possible and moving down the gears?
Any tips greatly appreciated!
Generally yes change down and stay seated until such point as you think you are going too slow then stand to maintain speed and then sit to keep it going.
TBH you will probably [refer to carry on grinding up in a SS type gear and giving it some
You will get used to it
Generally yes change down and stay seated until such point as you think you are going too slow then stand to maintain speed and then sit to keep it going.
Coming from SS it's unlikely to be an issue, but the risk is that you end up perpetually changing down and crawling up every climb in your easiest gear.
Judge it on the hill, sometimes you won't need to sit and can power up a climb, longer stuff it's more efficient to sit, but there's obviously a balance to strike.
It may be best to select the climbing gear before a sustained climb as it's not a good ideas to change gears when the bike is under stress. If you do need to change gears whilst climbing, try to slow your cadence first and then click it in with a smooth pedal stroke immediately after to protect your cassette from damage.
It does sound odd but I know what you mean specifically when climbing I always feel in the wrong gear and end up in one that's too tough to sit but too spiny when standing- so I only run gears on the road bike now!
Keep the pedals turning but with much less push when shifting, so you're not shifting under significant load. Plan ahead with changes. And stand up plenty, it's faster and funner than constantly hunting for easier gears so you can keep on sitting.
At 75 my mum returned to cycling about 10 months ago, and one of the things I spent time on with her when climbing is to change (down) at the front [i]before[/i] using up everything on the cassette, as that'll still give you somewhere to go if/when you need it, and won't suddenly plunge you into a comedy gear and send you off down the cassette again to find the right gear. (She last rode a 3spd hub gear,and is now on 3 * 9).
I can kinda see why she does it her way, and it's fine to get up a small slope, but makes no sense on a longer hill or one with lots of changes.
That said, I just tend to just stay in a comfy'ish gear and grind it out as long as possible, standing and sitting as required (hmm, like you;d do on a SS).
🙄
I have to say, since adding a single speed hack to my collection I've generally slowed my cadence when climbing on any bike and correspondingly increased the incidence of snapping chains on downshifts and more than once totalled the front mech while doing so.
Singlespeed has definitely improve my climbing, as mentioned above its very easy to run through the gears and end up crawling in first gear on a relatively gentle hill.
Coming from singlespeed, I think I would aim to stay in the middle ring yet using the full range of the cassette, and just treat the granny as a bail out gear for proper steep climbing or towards the end of the ride when you are struggling.
Oh, and in the granny, just use the lowest four or five cogs on the cassette (the biggest), middle ring you can use the whole cassette, big ring just use the highest four or five cogs. This avoids running with a bad chain line, excessive wear on components, and risk of chain snappage. To begin with, it would be a good habit to take a look every now and then to check you are not running with the chain crossed up.