[brankulo]

My new bike came with shifter that has no visual indicator to tell me what gear i am in. As a result i keep looking back at my cassette while riding to find out how many gears i have left. It is neither comfortable nor safe. Am i missing something? Is there a trick to tell what gear i am in? Any help appreciated. I am on eagle 1x12.

 

[Forest Rider]

No trick -just a time and experience thing. The gear you are in is just a number, ride what feels right. You'll know when you run out of gears. haha

Realistically it won't matter how many are left, if you run out and it's not enough you'll need to get off for that little section anyway. Or on the flip side, you won't be able to go any faster.

 

[chazpat]

My new bike came with shifter that has no visual indicator to tell me what gear i am in. As a result i keep looking back at my cassette while riding to find out how many gears i have left. It is neither comfortable nor safe. Am i missing something? Is there a trick to tell what gear i am in? Any help appreciated. I am on eagle 1x12.

It's just a number, if you need to go faster, shift up. If you need help climbing, shift down. No need to look at your cassette, road bikes normally don't have any visual indicator and most still have gears in front and back.

 

[RustyIron]

It is neither comfortable nor safe. Am i missing something?

Like the others said. It doesn't matter what "number" you're in on a 1x drivetrain. If you're spinning out, drop it a couple more cogs. You can feel when you've hit the last one. On the flip side, if you're running out of leg strength, shift to a bigger cog. You can "feel" the shift when you're on the biggest one, and you should recognize that you're there anyway by how fast you're spinning while going so slow .

 

[Pisgah]

I see you're using SRAM, which I don't know too much about. But Shimano used to have a display called Optical Gear Display. We renamed them Optical Mud Display because water and dirt would find their way in and muck-up the works.

Unfortunately, looking back to check gears is a fact of most mountain bikers' lives.

 

[windsurfdog]

Who feels it, knows it...it has always been thus...

 

[chazpat]

I was just loading my bike into my car and took a short spin. A quick glance under my arm only took a split second, if you really need to look.

Or get a single speed and never worry about it again.

 

[J.B. Weld]

My shift lever has an optical display and I don't think I've ever looked at it while riding. Not even once.

 

[Nat]

No trick. Learn to go by feel.

 

[Le Duke]

Stop looking at your gears.

I don’t need to look at a gear indicator or the lever on my manual car to know what gear I’m in. If I’m going fast, I’m at the high end. If I’m going slow, I’m probably at the low end.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[*OneSpeed*]

Picard, is that you?

 

[Forest Rider]

Like the others said. It doesn't matter what "number" you're in on a 1x drivetrain. If you're spinning out, drop it a couple more cogs. You can feel when you've hit the last one. On the flip side, if you're running out of leg strength, shift to a bigger cog. You can "feel" the shift when you're on the biggest one, and you should recognize that you're there anyway by how fast you're spinning while going so slow .

Doesn't matter which number gear one is using with a 2x system either.

 

[J.B. Weld]

Doesn't matter what number gear one is using 2x either.

It kind of does, extreme x-chaining is hard on drivetrain parts and inefficient. Also increased chance of chain drops and more noise in small/small combo.

 

[Harold]

My new bike came with shifter that has no visual indicator to tell me what gear i am in. As a result i keep looking back at my cassette while riding to find out how many gears i have left. It is neither comfortable nor safe. Am i missing something? Is there a trick to tell what gear i am in? Any help appreciated. I am on eagle 1x12.

Then stop looking back at your gears. Seriously. What does it matter? It only matters when you push the shifter and you're at one end or the other of the cassette and you've got no more left. But then you know exactly what gear you're in so there's your reference. Otherwise, just ride your bike and shift it when you need to.

Or maybe you should just buy AXS and a fancy GPS bike computer so your computer can tell you what gear you're in.

 

[WHALENARD]

On big climbing days, 5-6k+ I'll still look occasionally. Knowing exactly what gear I'm in & knowing (for sure) how many bailout gears I have at my disposal helps phycologically with my output/pace. I get into these mind games where I convince myself I can push this gear at least until such & such point then downshift etc. Seems to help in the output vs blowing up algorithm.

 

[brankulo]

On big climbing days, 5-6k+ I'll still look occasionally. Knowing exactly what gear I'm in & knowing (for sure) how many bailout gears I have at my disposal helps phycologically with my output/pace. I get into these mind games where I convince myself I can push this gear at least until such & such point then downshift etc. Seems to help in the output vs blowing up algorithm.

this pretty much sums up perfectly my situation.
plus on local trails that i ride everyday, i want to make sure i am at the gear i typically climb particular section, or tougher gear.
the same segment doesnt feel the same every time i climb it, and i dont want to go easier on the days it feels tougher, so i dont always want to go by feel. it is just me but this the way i do it lol. it is basically a matter of 3 biggest cogs for me .

 

[Harold]

this pretty much sums up perfectly my situation.
plus on local trails that i ride everyday, i want to make sure i am at the gear i typically climb particular section, or tougher gear.
the same segment doesnt feel the same every time i climb it, and i dont want to go easier on the days it feels tougher, so i dont always want to go by feel. it is just me but this the way i do it lol. it is basically a matter of 3 biggest cogs for me .

*shrug* I still don't see the big deal.

maybe learn to count your gears when you shift? I'm at a point where I can look at speed and consider effort and have a pretty solid idea of where I am on my cassette.

if it's really that big of a deal for you, go electronic and get a gear display on a compatible computer. That's your choice right now.

 

[WHALENARD]

it is basically a matter of 3 biggest cogs for me .

Same but 2nd & 3rd biggest... sometimes 4th on smoother stuff. Their ratio on 12speed is pretty close and is where I spend most of my time when things turn to a grind. I don't spend a lot of time looking maybe 1- 2 quick glances per hellacious climb.

 

[KingOfOrd]

You could always get some grip shifters that have the gear numbers on there, I think they're the lower end components but its an option.

 

[brankulo]

*shrug* I still don't see the big deal.

maybe learn to count your gears when you shift? I'm at a point where I can look at speed and consider effort and have a pretty solid idea of where I am on my cassette.

if it's really that big of a deal for you, go electronic and get a gear display on a compatible computer. That's your choice right now.

not a big deal, it is just that i was used to see it all the time on my old bike, i am pretty sure i can adjust.
i was just wandering if there was a way to tell.