How to describe gear selections
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I'm not sure, but I think you might be asking how to desribe what gear you're in either to a riding buddy or to a mechanic when diagnosing a problem. To be honest, I never spoke in terms of first gear, second gear, etc.
The biggest differentiation I use when riding with my wife or with someone who is new to having so many gear choices is which chainring they should be in. I'll say, " Keep it in your middle chainring and pick a lower gear for this upcoming hill..." or, " You'll need to drop down into granny gear for this one..." or, " Go ahead and use your big chainring for this stretch of road...". Since the selection of rear gears is so individual, I always let the rider sort out what gives them the most comfortable cadence. If I try and say, "Put it in third gear..." or something comparable it always ends up confusing or frustrating the other person. As for myself, I use the orange indicater in the shifter window to gauge where I am. I don't correlate it to any specific gear number, I just use it as a reference to where I am on the rear cog and front ring. By now, I know what chainring/cog selections make me the most efficient in given situations so I just glance down and eyeball things in the shifter windows and go from there.
The biggest differentiation I use when riding with my wife or with someone who is new to having so many gear choices is which chainring they should be in. I'll say, " Keep it in your middle chainring and pick a lower gear for this upcoming hill..." or, " You'll need to drop down into granny gear for this one..." or, " Go ahead and use your big chainring for this stretch of road...". Since the selection of rear gears is so individual, I always let the rider sort out what gives them the most comfortable cadence. If I try and say, "Put it in third gear..." or something comparable it always ends up confusing or frustrating the other person. As for myself, I use the orange indicater in the shifter window to gauge where I am. I don't correlate it to any specific gear number, I just use it as a reference to where I am on the rear cog and front ring. By now, I know what chainring/cog selections make me the most efficient in given situations so I just glance down and eyeball things in the shifter windows and go from there.
i went on a clinic ride yesterday where i was asking a guy what gear he was using to clear an uphill obstacle and he said "2 in the front and 1 out back"
my mechanic started talking to me using tooth counts.
i guess i need to count how many teeth i have on my rings.
my mechanic started talking to me using tooth counts.
i guess i need to count how many teeth i have on my rings.
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I always think of using tooth counts as a roadie type thing. Personally I'll discribe it like 3-4 (I always use the chainring as the first number) or I'll be like Big RIng 4, Middle Ring 6. I know the tooth count for my cassette and chainrings and can then reference back if I need to to help disgnose a problem or compare against someone else. One piece of advice is to go by what feels good to you and not what someone else uses - e.g. if someone clears a climb that you're having trouble with and you ask what gear, they might tell you Middle Ring 2 and you try it but it spins to fast for you - use it as a guide.mappable said:
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i do it by tooth count....but only to other people who will understand what i mean if i say, for example, i'm starting in the big ring, 17'. if i'm describing it to someone who doesn't know tooth counts (or is fairly new to the sport) i'll describe it differently, e.g., 'use the big ring in the front and one of the gears in the middle in back'.mappable said:
as far as how the guy at the clinic you went to described his gear selection i have to admit that i have no idea what he means and if someone said that to me i'd be completely mystified.
tooth count just seems to make more sense to me....maybe because i ride road and ss as well as geared mtb?
rt
ps - more than likely your front chain rings have 44-32-22 teeth and in the back you are likely running either a 32x11 or a 34x11. each of the cogs on the back will have the number of teeth stamped into it somewhere.
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The people I'm with always go like 1-1, 2-4 or whatever, meaning (front chainring)-(back chainring).
On some clinics and begginer rides, sometimes people enfatize that the 1-1 is very good for long or hard climbs that I think it's tends to be overdone. Last year I almost always went 1-1 when I saw the slightest hint of a climb (well, maybe not that much, but still..). This year I've been trying to go to the middle chainring in front and leave the granny gear for really long climbs. Found that for me it was more efficient (maybe I'm strong and slow). For some of my buddies, I see them on 1 in front more often, peddaling faster than I. We still get to the top of the hill at the same time, though
Well, I admit that sometimes I do go to the granny gear
On some clinics and begginer rides, sometimes people enfatize that the 1-1 is very good for long or hard climbs that I think it's tends to be overdone. Last year I almost always went 1-1 when I saw the slightest hint of a climb (well, maybe not that much, but still..). This year I've been trying to go to the middle chainring in front and leave the granny gear for really long climbs. Found that for me it was more efficient (maybe I'm strong and slow). For some of my buddies, I see them on 1 in front more often, peddaling faster than I. We still get to the top of the hill at the same time, though
Well, I admit that sometimes I do go to the granny gear 1 - 8 of 8 Posts
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