purptiger

Hello I am 6 ft 3 in and 235 lbs I purchased a Trek 1.2 road bike in 10/16. I am trying to get a handle on the shifting. It has 2 chain rings and 9 sprocket cassette. I live in FL where it is mostly flat and unless I want to climb the bridges, it doesn't get too bad. I am trying to figure out if I should keep the rear gears in the middle and mostly use the smaller chainring? Or try to use middle rear and bigger chainring? I don't know what my cadence is, but I have also heard about cross chaining and that is not good. The front gears have a trim feature that allows the bigger chainring to work with some of the bigger gears in the back. Should I forget about the trim and stick with smaller chainring and about 1st four gears on back most of the time or what?

ClydeTim

About same weight as you. I use the 39 and spin on flat terrain. 90-100 rpm. Usually I can hold 19 or 20 without using the two outer cogs in the back. Over 22 I use the big ring. On flat rides, less than 1000 ft, i can do a 40 miler without ever touching the big ring while averaging 17+. I doubt you would even need the big ring in Fl. Another option is changing the 39 for a 42. I had one once and it is a do it sll gear. I rarely touched my big ting unless doing a mountain descent.

jsigone

you should be able to use every gear you have, all 18 of them, the ends will make some noise as the chain will rub on the front D, like small front ring and smallest rear ring. Cross chain all you want in the big ring, the stock chain should be long enough to allow this. If it does feel really tight, you need a few more links or longer chain $20ish

purptiger

The fastest speed I ever got on bike was 20 mph on down hill. Most of the time this out of shape 57 year old gets is about 10-14 mph on the flats. I ride around traffic with frequent stops , etc. lol

ill.clyde

Exactly ... use them all, as needed.

My thinking is find a cadence you like, that's comfortable, and use the gears to stay at it. If you're going uphill, shift to an easier gear to maintain your cadence. Downhill, shift to a harder gear.

They're your gears ... make them work for you

deex

I live in Florida and I use my big gear all the time. I just shift to what feels comfortable to my legs. Some days I pedal a little stronger than other days.

MRT2

I am thinking OP has a compact double. So the question is, 34 or 50 tooth chainring on flat terrain? I don't have an easy answer as I use a 36 tooth chainring when cruising on flats.

rgconner

You don't mention the gearing specifics on what teeth you have front and back, so I am going to just assume you have the range listed on the website, 34-50

That should be somewhere in the middle of the back cassette and small ring on the front if you are doing at least 60 to 70 cadence. (Higher cadence is easier on the joints)

Generally speaking I don't use the big ring unless I intend to go 18MPH or more on flats.

A handy chart showing your cadence across the top, gears down the side.

You want to be in the "blue" range, generally speaking.

Edit: Forgot the chart! =)

https://www.bikecalc.com/speed_at_cadence

For that, 34-16 or 34-17 seems the best fit.

MRT2

Honestly, you probably would be fine sticking with the small chainring most of the time. As for future mods, you might want to consider going to a 1 x system, and switching to a single 38 to 40 tooth chainring, as I doubt you every use the 3 or 4 biggest gears, or the 3 or 4 smallest gears on your current setup.

dabac

If you have overlapping ranges, there's a tiny advantage WRT wear to use the big ring and big sprockets.

In your case, possibly negated by the angle.

srestrepo

you know the other thing is, if you get bored like i did one day, you'll realize that if you're in the little chainring and a tiny rear sprocket, if you push both brifters inwards the resulting gear change (at least on my last two bikes) result in a slightly more difficult but different gear combination.

at the end of the day, we ride bikes for fun (mostly) and fitness. why not play with all the gears you have, maybe you'll like one combination in the big ring moreso than the little one.

im 265 and 5'10. my average cadence is about 85 and i'm fine with it, i tend to push the bigger ring more often than not, but i like playing with the gears. i have 11 in the back and a compact double in the front. give it a shot.

Jarrett2

I go up 20+% hills and use 1x setups.

I stumbled onto this one Sunday morning while out piddling around in a new area:
Capture.JPG

They're not as limited as some think.

Unless I get some wild racing bug, I'll likely never go back to a compact double.

purptiger

I neglected to indicate that I use Pedaling Innovations "catalyst" pedals. These are extra large flat pedals. I tried toeclips and did not like them. I am leary of trying clipless pedals since i am 57 (as indicated previously) and do not want to fall. Also, I do not want to invest in expensive bike shoes. I am sure that this will slow me down somewhat.

ClydeTim

Yeah, I guess that would make a difference.

MRT2

No, riding flat pedals shouldn't slow you down much.

That said, don't let fear of falling dissuade you from trying clipless pedals. If you are that afraid of falling, you shouldn't ride at all. I would never go back to flat pedals or toe clips. As for cost, if you shop around, you will find cycling shoes for around the cost of a pair of tennis shoes or running shoes.

ill.clyde

+1 ... and a good pair of cycling shoes will last forever as long as your feet are done growing.

I've had my shoes for seven or eight years now.

Snuts

Get that out of your head.

Ride, shift, play, repeat.
The more I ride the more I enjoy it. Might be the increase in fitness. Have I mentioned I'm 57.



-Snuts-

MRT2

Don't know about forever, but a pretty long time. I still have my first set of cycling shoes, which are maybe 12 years old. My other shoes are 2, and 4 years old. The most I paid was $75, and the least I paid was $40.

ill.clyde

True ... Generally speaking there's some sort of improvement that drives a shoe update for me I'm pretty content with my current shoes

MRT2

I bought a set of inserts from Erik's. When just walking around, they feel funny. On the bike, they feel pretty good. Have yet to test them on ride of 2 hours or more, but I will soon.

rm -rf

Cadence
In general, to ride efficiently, you should aim for light pressure on the pedals, with a fairly fast cadence. That's "spinning". To get an idea of pedal cadence, ride at a steady pace on flat ground. Count the right side pedal for 20 seconds and multiply by 3 to get the cadence number.

It takes a while to get your body used to spinning, so just try shifting one cog easier in the back than you would normally use, which will bump up your cadence. It'll get easier as you build up the time on the bike.

I shift a lot, even on fairly flat rides. I'm looking for the "just right" cadence for me, pushing the pedals not too hard or too easy.

Gearing
It depends on where you ride, and at what speeds.
See the chart below, showing your 50 chainring in black and your 34 chainring in red. You have a 9-speed 11-28 cassette in back. These are typical spinning cadences, 80 to 95 rpm.

It's best to avoid the extreme cross chaining, but it won't hurt the drivetrain if you do it occasionally. So avoid the big ring/smallest cog and the small ring/biggest cog.

You can see that the small chainring is good up to around 20 mph. The big ring will be good down to around 14 mph. Between 14 and 20 mph, either one works fine.

So, a lot depends on the road ahead, and your typical speeds. With a slight downhill or a big tailwind, you could get well over 20 mph, so stay in the big chainring. Headwinds or rolling hills would work better in the small chainring. Flat roads and calm winds: either one works, but the small ring might be better, allowing slower speeds as needed.

(I still occasionally try to shift the back one more cog, and find I'm already cross chained. I "usually" know which front chainring I'm in, but sometimes lose track. It's not a problem.)

The chart:

Nstoltzner

There is a mantra that I have learned which is that you should let the gearing control your cadence not the other way around. Spinning too fast? Go a gear harder. Too slow? Go easier until you need to shift. That way you keep a steady cadence.

ClydeTim

Yes,high cadence. Takes somme time to getitbut practice helps. After my first 2 years of riding we had a rainy season. I did intervals on the trainer. .one minute aiming for 100 rpm. Repeat several times with light pedaling between intervals. Try to do the 100 rpm without bouncing. I was amazed at how much my cadence improved after a month. It was like a new set of legs, better ones.

Willbird

Clipless really becomes second nature quite quickly. There are benefits to the bike shoes even if you do not ride clipless.

Years ago I rode way too long in floppy soled shoes and developed hot spots in my feet, it takes a while to recover from that once it happens.

I mostly use the big chainring when I get the wind at my back and or a downhill section.

Bill