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!
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...
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!!! 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.
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