 By Thomllama on 10/14/2006 OK, is it just me? or where I'm riding? or is it everyone but.. How many people use all those gears on these bikes? I mean 27 and more? I find myself on all the bikes i've ridden using just the 2nd gear on the front and just shifting the rear.... let me know what you think... I'm new to Mtn biking but a ten speed road bike I've been riding since the early 70's (yup, I'm old) Some of my reasons/ thoughts for this... 1. weight.. if not using 2 gears.. we could lose the extra sprokets and the deraileur-shifters-cables... lot lighter!! 2. shifting the front gears always seems... well... annoying... not very "fast" or accurate! 3. when I do shift the front it seems to be way to extreme of a change and I end up doing the "free wheel pedel" thing or bogging down. now I know I should be shifting the rear to make up for it... but wow what a lot of shifting - stress on chain, clunking catchy feel in the pedels OK? is it just me and my lack of expereance? |
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toooooo many speeds? |
RedThunder says:
 I always seem to be on the middle ring on the front and somewhere in the middleish on the back. When I get on tarmac, big ring on the front and small sprockets on the back. For the very steep hill... ganny gear and big sprckets on the back. Generally as a rule the chain should be from sprocket and chainrings in a line. Makes the chain last longer. Also, many sprockets combos are the repeating ratios. So 27 gears is a little misleading. RT |
Trigeak13 says:
I use all of my gears. And wish I had more. I have 3 rings in the front and 9 speed in the rear. However, I race and also ride on very hilly trails so with longs climbs and crazy fast downs I need the range. |
DangerousProductions says:
 I run 9 gears on all my bikes, no front derailleur just chain device and rear 9 cassette, but thats for freeride/downhill so I dont know about road bikes. Personally I hate having more than one ring on the front. |
MikeG says:
 I'm like Trigeak13. We have a range of downhill and uphill parts in our area. If nothing else, the 9 gears in the back are more of a range than my current 7. I can't wait to get my hands on my new bike. The big gear is definately bigger, and gives you more of a chance to tackle those really tough climbs. I really noticed a dramatic change in my ability to climb, once I went from a 48-38-28 to 42-34-22 crank too(I think those are the right numbers). |
Bryston says:
I have a bashguard on the front. So I have 2x9 speeds and I use pretty much all of them. |
moutnbiker says:
 ok heres the deal. It is a lack of experance on your part. You have to get use to getting the feel of what gear you will need. say comming in to a turn and comming out of a turn. remember, when your comming into a turn high gear, brake, turn, pedal , shift, shift, shift. for hills is god to have a wide range of gears. It just takes time to get the feel of whats right for you. And the big Ring up front is very usefull for those fast straight downhill bombs. If your only using the middle up front and I have a 42 up front I would fly past you like youe standing still, it makes that much of a diffrence. So yes I would say its good to have all three up front. 27 speeds. not realy because you can fine the same gear ratio in diffrent spots. |
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