Why do so many people not change gear?

[WeirdNeville]

I don't have any gears...


I did have to teach a girl at work how to use her gears, 4 days before her first triathlon. The grin on her face was massive when it clicked home. And after I'd sorted her front deraileur so that it took it's role in life slightly less literally.

TonyHetherington said:

Has been an interesting coupple of days tho! Any more tips? I have more time to shave from my commute

Now you're spinning, focus on pedalling techinique. Envisage the bottom bracket as a turbine to which your legs happen to be attached. You want nice smooth torque throughout as much of the pedal revolution as possible. I don't know if you've got clips/cleats, but they help massively with this. If you find yourself bouncing on the saddle, loosen up and let your legs go floppy and catch up with road speed again, and then just spin them away. You should be "ankling" too - towards the bottom of the pedal stroke you're pointing your toes slightly to get a bit of extra power, then scraping back on the pedal too through bottom dead centre from that pointed toe position. Don't over exaggerate, it should come naturally, but it helps get a bit more power out of the calves.

[XitUp]

WeirdNeville said:

I don't have any gears...

I'd bet that you have at least one.

Unless you're rocking a P-Far...

[robbyd]

Still don't get this. I still gain more speed by changing up. I need resistance to work against to keep momentum. If I change down and spin faster I slow down. This is on a very light road bike - not a MB. I don't mean very low cadences - my range is 80 - 90 rpm. I don't really call that 'spinning'. My computer will often tell me the ride average is lower than this, however, due to hills, but I'll still be overtaking 95% of other riders on any hill. I have spun up to 150 on my single speed for a very short time, and often around 120 just because the gear can be too low at times. I think it comes down to body type and strength in the legs in the end...

[mchammer89]

The ratio of fast to slow twitch fibres changes between people, hence some will prefer grinding, and some spinning. Use what is best for you.

[shalmaneser]

robbyd said:

Still don't get this. I still gain more speed by changing up. I need resistance to work against to keep momentum. If I change down and spin faster I slow down. This is on a very light road bike - not a MB. I don't mean very low cadences - my range is 80 - 90 rpm. I don't really call that 'spinning'. My computer will often tell me the ride average is lower than this, however, due to hills, but I'll still be overtaking 95% of other riders on any hill. I have spun up to 150 on my single speed for a very short time, and often around 120 just because the gear can be too low at times. I think it comes down to body type and strength in the legs in the end...

It maybe worth just using a gear a couple of cogs lower at any given time - there should certainly be resistance though, and 80-90 rpm's not that low.

[The Stiglet]

shalmaneser said:

robbyd said:

Still don't get this. I still gain more speed by changing up. I need resistance to work against to keep momentum. If I change down and spin faster I slow down. This is on a very light road bike - not a MB. I don't mean very low cadences - my range is 80 - 90 rpm. I don't really call that 'spinning'. My computer will often tell me the ride average is lower than this, however, due to hills, but I'll still be overtaking 95% of other riders on any hill. I have spun up to 150 on my single speed for a very short time, and often around 120 just because the gear can be too low at times. I think it comes down to body type and strength in the legs in the end...

It maybe worth just using a gear a couple of cogs lower at any given time - there should certainly be resistance though, and 80-90 rpm's not that low.

You'll need to up the cadence if you go down the gears to match the same road speed you were traveling at previously in a higher gear. For this system to work you really need a cadence in excess of 90 rpm and ideally 100 rpm.

As previously noted, Lance was the key protagonist in this 'movement' but he would be spinning at 105 rpm in a TT whilst Ulrich would be pumping a seriously high gear at 78-80 rpm. Horses for courses but the benefits of a high cadence cannot be overlooked.

[dubbs]

The benefits of high cadence or there for the right person - it's not a one size fits all hence even in the ProTour pelotons you don't see them all doing it either.

I tend to cycle with high cadence and it suits me but then I'm having to run as well so anything to stop the dead legged feeling of a 40km "crank-it" session just before running 10km suits me

For those that want to get in to spinning without listneing to some whining wannabe who somehow links pressups on the handlebars to good cycle training then look these up:

thesufferfest.com

VERY VERY hard work but chuck these on your iPad and get it in front of the spin bike or a turbo trainer and you've got some awesome improvement waiting for you

[TonyHetherington]

WeirdNeville said:

ow you're spinning, focus on pedalling techinique. Envisage the bottom bracket as a turbine to which your legs happen to be attached. You want nice smooth torque throughout as much of the pedal revolution as possible. I don't know if you've got clips/cleats, but they help massively with this. If you find yourself bouncing on the saddle, loosen up and let your legs go floppy and catch up with road speed again, and then just spin them away. You should be "ankling" too - towards the bottom of the pedal stroke you're pointing your toes slightly to get a bit of extra power, then scraping back on the pedal too through bottom dead centre from that pointed toe position. Don't over exaggerate, it should come naturally, but it helps get a bit more power out of the calves.

I've been trying to do this for a couple of days - it's not come naturally, but I think I see what you mean. So am sticking at it, but thanks for the suggestions - much appreciated.

[BliarOut]

Bugger, it's certainly not relaxing, is it Trust my first go to be an hour into a raging Fenland wind That said it did seem quick considering..

[XitUp]

I found it was easy to get up to a highish cadence (no cadence meter so I don't actually know how fast) but when I free wheeled for a few seconds it was hard to catch it back up again.

[BliarOut]

Does anyone else find they get a massive pump in their legs? Not sure high cadence suits the more mature gent