|
|
| *Vultures Knob>>>Road Bike |
What's the best way to shift a road bike if I need to change both the front and back gears? both at once? |
What's the best way to shift a road bike if I need to change both the front and back gears? both at once? i'm on a gt ... i find that it is not much of what bike brand you are on unless you are on a real budget bike that only has the looks and nothing else... it is more a mixture of your skill, the bikes' setting and the terrain. i do it sometimes when the load is still not that hard on the gears. changing even one gear at a time could lead to problems if you do it while the load is too much ie., uphill. how do you know when is the load too much? you'll learn through experience.... then, bikes with better gears sets (and chain) would be able to shift better and could be done at a higher load. changing gears on some basic bikes could be pretty hard even on a smooth road. even if you have a top notch bike, you won't be able to shift both at once if all your settings are not adjusted properly. terrain is another factor. on the tarmac it is usually not a problem. the steepness would not change to suddenly. but if you are doing mtb that is another story. anyhow, shifting both gears at once does not safe you much time and the seconds that you safe compared to shifting one at a time are not significant unless if you are racing or in a contest of some sort. moreover, i personally believe it is not that good for your chain and gears. the better way is to anticipate the changes in front and shift the gears and maintain the momentum of your legs before its to late. assuming you are able to shift on high load, yours legs might not want to comply. just like pushing your car to go at 5th gear on 5mph.. but anyhow, if you like shifting both gears for the fun of it then go ahead... cycling is all about fun and fitness if you are not competing ps. for chains, go to this site, it might help http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html... i dont think it'll be good for the chains and i dont think it's possible because once you shift a gear, the gear needs time to change it's course Change the rear gears first. These provide the small changes in difficulty while the chainrings up front make the big ones. It's easier to adjust to small changes rather than large ones. Just make sure you shift the front before the load gets too tough on them. It's harder to shift up front once a load is on them (going uphill). You can't. You will either take too much tension off the chain and drop it (it wlil fall off) or you will put too much tension on the chain and jam or snap it if you try to do the front and back at the same time. You can drop or go up a few gears all at once in the rear, some shifters are even designed specifically to do that (the new SRAM road shifters, for example on road bikes and many shifters for mountain bikes). For the front it is best to shift one ring at a time, since the chain is making such a large jump. Once you learn how to shift properly, you can do it pretty quickly. Once you learn how to ride well, you will be able to anticipate your shifting needs so that you are not trying to do it all at once. I do it all the time. Flawlessly. Campagnolo lets you do that. It works great on a sudden transition from uphill to downhill or vice versa, or even if you're moving to/from the big rind and need to shift across the back to even up. Don't know about the other brands. You can do both with Campy. I like to first shift the front to give the rear the slack and then shift the back. All this is done in a split second. If done exactly at the same time you can throw the chain into oblivion (the space between the seat stay and small cog. No fun when you are in a bunch). Brain |
| Tags |
| Recumbent Bike Bmx Bike Kids Bike Schwinn Bike Cruiser Bike Road Bike Folding Bike Mountain Bike |
Bike Categories--Copyright/IP Policy--Contact Webmaster |