Snakepit

I've had my Cannondale BB9 for about a month now and am loving the way it handles and flies on the road.

At almost 200 miles on it, I haven't felt the need to shift gears on the bike. Granted, I've mostly ridden on flats but I seem to have found a perfect gear at 2 and 7 and have no desire to constantly shift and play with different gears. I just kinda stay on it for the whole ride as I feel it gives my legs a pretty good workout. The highest elevation I've hit is probably only about 500 feet.

A few people will shift through different gears on our rides whether we're on flats or going up a small incline.

Does anybody else just stick to one gear? Or is it better to keep switching gears to keep the wear and tear even on the chainring and cassette?

10 Wheels

Enjoy your rides and see how far you can go without shifting.

mrodgers

You said flat. Yup, you're pretty much going to run just 1 gear. I'm the same way on the trail along the river, 2nd chainring and I think 7 on the rear cruising about 15-16 mph. I ride about 85 rpm. Occasionally I'm jumping up into gear 8 (I have 9 speed) if I find myself pushing with a bit more energy.

When I'm on the road, I'm all over just about every gear. I have a 3 to 35 mph speed differential. Uphill I'm dropping down through until I'm in the 26/34 gear at 3 mph and then I'm cresting the hill and moving up through until I'm in my 48/11 doing up to 35 mph. That's pushing about 100 rpm on my cadence. I could still get a good bit more speed, but man, 35 mph is flying! I don't want to be going that fast, LOL.

My roads are like a rollercoaster track. I don't have maybe a mile of flat for a 20 mile ride.

Little Darwin

I tend to shift whenever winds or slope change. As a guess... on a 30 mile rail trail ride, this means I probably shift 10-30 times depending on the specific trail, weather conditions, and how warmed up or tired I am. The guy I ride with on many of my rides doesn't shift quite as much as I do,

For me, if I stuck with one gear, I would find it distracting to periodically end up mashing too big a gear or spinning out a too small gear, but if it works for you, then enjoy it.

Of course, now I'll probably have to count my shifts on my next ride just to see if my guess is accurate.

Northwestrider

It's easier on you knees if you shift frequently.

Wanderer

I shift A LOT! Mainly to keep me in my comfortable cadence. It will vary for any number of reasons - even that I might be more tired than usual....

pvillemasher

Same here, I shift every time my cadence falls above or below where I want it to be.

350htrr

I shift a lot, but there is lots of uneven roads around here. I even shift on flat ground if it's windy...

blue_cheese

+1 on lots of shifting. on flats I am consistently on highest ratio 3-9(48 crank, 11 cassette), but if I have to stop and go I start from 2-6. If there is an uphill I will go all the way down to the granny gears if have to in order to maintain cadence.

Copper_head

Do you ever have to slow down or stop at intersections? How do you start from a stop? Do your knees hurt?

treadtread

Around here, wind can be a significant factor - and there are 12 stop signs/lights in the 2.5 miles between my house and my office. I shift a lot (but mostly on the cassette). A triple allows me to stay in the middle chain ring on most of my rides.

roadandmountain

I shift a lot. Shift down before or after stop signs and red lights. Same with headwinds and hills. Shift up for downhills, with a draft or wind behind me.

Other than that, I don't shift much.

Snakepit

I never thought about shifting depending on the wind and starting from stop lights but it does make sense now that I think about it. I might have to go out for a quick ride tonight just to experiment with changing gears.

I actually do stop at a lot of red lights and intersections in town and I'll usually just start to pedal right where I left off. My knees seem ok but now that you mentioned it, I always have to work so much harder to get going from a complete stop than the rest of the people I ride with. It's all starting to make sense now...thanks!

cderalow

I tend to shift frequently to maintain cadence variable on the wind/slope/conditions

i downshift before stopping (normally 2-3 gears depending on where I am in the cassette).

Copper_head

Auto manufacturers know that the greatest efficiency is at a narrow rpm range so we are now seeing many vehicles using variable speed transmissions.
You are your bike's engine, and likewise your greatest efficiency is in a certain rpm range. Don't go below 60 or over 85 for cruising and use your gears to accelerate or change speeds.

rebel1916

On average once ever .68 miles.

Rootman

Hardly ain't no such thing as "flats" around here in the Ozarks, everything's a climb, fall or roller coaster ride of both - between the stops and starts that is. I'm shifting nearly all the time. I'd like to ride in a place that was flat just to have the novelty of doing it.

dynaryder

Heh,I rode my old commute route so many times,that I actually developed shift points. I could actually tell if I was tired because on this stretch of uphill I'd be in the small ring 3rd gear instead of my usual 4th.

My Safari was my usual commuter. It has a 48/36/26 triple with an 11-34 cassette. For my normal commute,I rarely used the 28/34 or 48/11,but used just about all the others.

big chainring 

I'm in Flatlandia and use just about all my gear combinations on every ride. Thats why ten speeds, road bikes, racing bikes, whatever you want to call them are so fun to ride. Comfortable riding on all terrain.

alexaschwanden

I down shift when I come to a stop and up shift when I accelerate, so I shift a lot .

yashinon

Pretty much what RoadMountain said - shift-a-holic!

Delmarva

I don't stick to one gear just for the sake of seeing how long I can last nor do I switch gears constantly. I use the gears to accommodate changing road condition and rider exhaustion! So on the hilly dirt path around the lake I'm changing some. On the coastal highway at the beach one speed does it unless the wind kicks up. May downshift at stop signs and lights.