Rear mechs... Hard working little buggers!
Discussion
My commute from Epsom to Waterloo isn't the most scenic of rides, and unless I'm feeling suicidal, there aren't really many alternatives I can take to give myself some variety.
This morning, therefore, I decided, just by way of something a little bit different, to count how many times I used the rear mech!
I knew it would be quite a lot, but I was rather surprised to find that I actually used it a grand total of 204 times in 15 miles!!!
OK, it's not your typical Sunday ride in the countryside, as in addition to changes in gradient, I've also got 81 sets of traffic lights, a couple of roundabouts and general weight of London traffic to contend with, but even so, it's a lot!
In the 18 months I've had this bike, I've covered 2,260 miles on it, all commuting. Assuming this morning was reasonably indicative of an average ride, then over that time, I've changed gear over 30,000 times, and it has been flawless each and every time!
Suddenly, I find myself looking at my humble rear mech with rather more respect!
This morning, therefore, I decided, just by way of something a little bit different, to count how many times I used the rear mech!
I knew it would be quite a lot, but I was rather surprised to find that I actually used it a grand total of 204 times in 15 miles!!!
OK, it's not your typical Sunday ride in the countryside, as in addition to changes in gradient, I've also got 81 sets of traffic lights, a couple of roundabouts and general weight of London traffic to contend with, but even so, it's a lot!
In the 18 months I've had this bike, I've covered 2,260 miles on it, all commuting. Assuming this morning was reasonably indicative of an average ride, then over that time, I've changed gear over 30,000 times, and it has been flawless each and every time!
Suddenly, I find myself looking at my humble rear mech with rather more respect!
Kermit power said:
littleandy0410 said:
You won't be rushing out to buy a single speed then!
Quite! That whole "less to go wrong" thing seems a little suspect in light of this! 
Kermit power said:
littleandy0410 said:
You won't be rushing out to buy a single speed then!
Quite! That whole "less to go wrong" thing seems a little suspect in light of this! aka_kerrly said:
Agree the old mech does take a pounding an in general it's very hard to completely ruin one.
What I find more staggering though is you have to deal with 81 sets of traffic lights!!
Sounds about right - if I ride from work (Central London) to my mother's (SE London), it takes around 60 minutes and there are (IIRC) 62 sets of traffic lights. What I find more staggering though is you have to deal with 81 sets of traffic lights!!
My ride into work from SW London: 8 miles, 25-30 minutes, 30 sets of lights, and that's a carefully picked route that's designed to minimise them!
aka_kerrly said:
Agree the old mech does take a pounding an in general it's very hard to completely ruin one.
What I find more staggering though is you have to deal with 81 sets of traffic lights!!
Here's a typical ride....What I find more staggering though is you have to deal with 81 sets of traffic lights!!
As you can see, I only actually came to a complete halt 12 times, but just look how up and down the speed is once you add in coasting towards red lights which then change, or towards traffic blockages which then clear...
BadgerBenji said:
Kermit power said:
littleandy0410 said:
You won't be rushing out to buy a single speed then!
Quite! That whole "less to go wrong" thing seems a little suspect in light of this! Kell said:
Lots of people say that, and it probably does work if you're purely in town, but my commuter has 24 gears and while on the flat, I can get away with just one, I've used most of them at one time or another. I've certainly used both top and bottom gears (and bottom gear more than I'd like to admit).
I've been out mountain biking before now with a guy on a rigid singlespeed keeping up with me on a 3x9 full susser. Half my age, half my weight and twice my fitness, but even so, the scrawny git didn't have to rub it in quite that much!!! You should (just for fun) try riding it single speed. Find the highest gear that you can pull away from the lights at and try keeping to that. You'll be surprised!
I did this on a similar commute (Carshalton to St Paul's - 100 sets of lights!) when I was rather low on bicycles and a friend gave me a knackered old racer. I converted it to single speed and used it 2 or 3 times a week on that route. I'm pretty fat and unfit too.
I'm guessing your route - but from Epsom centre down through Morden and the Cs7 is fairly flat. The steepest bit is Balham Hill and you can normally get a run at it. Maybe if you live up by Epsom downs it'll be tricky!
I did this on a similar commute (Carshalton to St Paul's - 100 sets of lights!) when I was rather low on bicycles and a friend gave me a knackered old racer. I converted it to single speed and used it 2 or 3 times a week on that route. I'm pretty fat and unfit too.
I'm guessing your route - but from Epsom centre down through Morden and the Cs7 is fairly flat. The steepest bit is Balham Hill and you can normally get a run at it. Maybe if you live up by Epsom downs it'll be tricky!
AyBee said:
And how many changes did you actually have to make? I think you'd be surprised that you wouldn't really miss them if they weren't there. I make loads of changes when I ride my nice bike or mtb on the commute and yet my regular commuter is a singlespeed!
My old V8 could just about pull away in 5th, but that didn't make it a good idea! In all seriousness, though, I'm a middle-aged fat knacker doing a 30 mile round trip with a couple of 5% gradients in it, so I'm not going to even contemplate doing that with just one gear, and concentrate instead on trying to keep my cadence relatively uniform.
I used to do a similar commute and tried a singlespeed. Was totally killer. I called it the beast bike and could only hack it 1 or 2 days a week!
Didn't help that's I'd geared it for comfortable 22/23mph, but any decent gear being accelerated from 0-10mph 80 times in an hour is going to hurt unless you like going really really slowly.
Go for it I say
Didn't help that's I'd geared it for comfortable 22/23mph, but any decent gear being accelerated from 0-10mph 80 times in an hour is going to hurt unless you like going really really slowly.
Go for it I say
BMWBen said:
I used to do a similar commute and tried a singlespeed. Was totally killer. I called it the beast bike and could only hack it 1 or 2 days a week!
Didn't help that's I'd geared it for comfortable 22/23mph, but any decent gear being accelerated from 0-10mph 80 times in an hour is going to hurt unless you like going really really slowly.
Go for it I say
It makes getting on the weekend bike so much nicer though Didn't help that's I'd geared it for comfortable 22/23mph, but any decent gear being accelerated from 0-10mph 80 times in an hour is going to hurt unless you like going really really slowly.
Go for it I say
pbarlow0032 said:
I feel lucky. My home to work commute is 14 miles and I pass through one set of traffic lights. If there happens to be some roadworks with a set of temp lights I go ballistic :-)
I one or zero (depending on way)! I have to cross a busy main road twice which is a bit of a PITA, then I have about 8 miles with no lights , the odd junction, but no need to stop! It is open high ground so the wind blows you to buggery!BMWBen said:
I used to do a similar commute and tried a singlespeed. Was totally killer. I called it the beast bike and could only hack it 1 or 2 days a week!
Didn't help that's I'd geared it for comfortable 22/23mph, but any decent gear being accelerated from 0-10mph 80 times in an hour is going to hurt unless you like going really really slowly.
Go for it I say
Its all about coping with pain. I kept increasing the gearing on my singlespeed as I got stronger, up to the point I was doing 30mph on the flats, although at something like 130-140rpm. My legs ended up spinning so fast the bike felt like it wobbled dangerously lolDidn't help that's I'd geared it for comfortable 22/23mph, but any decent gear being accelerated from 0-10mph 80 times in an hour is going to hurt unless you like going really really slowly.
Go for it I say
I used to mash that bike up hills as my friends popped into low gears and lagged behind. The mentality to get me up was simply 'if I stop I walk as I cannot get started again' but my god it used to knacker me out!
I'm glad I moved to a geared bike as its faster and easier to ride, but I still only use about five gears for most rides normally but I do like to sometimes pick one gear and then ride home solely using that every now and then for nostalgia's sake.
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