Gear Questions

[littlegrasshopp]

Hi, hoping I can get some help and varied insight. I am relatively new to mountain biking. Definately a beginner but getting better each time I go out. My fiance is an incredible mountain biker and learning to be patient with me. Because this comes naturally to him, he has a hard time explaining how to do things.

I currently ride in my granny ring on the front. If I know I'm in a long flat section or a down hill I will go to the middle ring but I'm not good at switching that ring back and forth in hilly stuff so I spend a lot of time in the higher gears of the small ring. This bugs DF because I'm putting strain on the chain -or when in the middle ring, I've got too much slack on the chain because I'm riding the smaller gears in that ring. I understand that problem but can't figure out how to correct my riding style. Do I spend time mashing the bigger gears or increase my speed pedaling in the smaller gears??? I feel like I'm stuck right in the middle of the two rings. What do I do to improve my strength??

I should say that I'm completely comfortable riding on everything we ride - single track - in the small ring. Most areas are hilly and techincal (for me) so I'm fine in these gears. He just wants me out of the small ring because of the tention on the chain?? Any way I can help??? Or should I just ride the way I ride for now and focus on not hitting the trees???

[SadieKate]

He's absolutely right about the chain issue. You can break the chain.

What seems to be the challenge with shifting rings? The moment of soft pedalling while you shift? The length of the push on the lever? Forgetting to anticipate the shift so you have too much pressue on the chain to shift?

By the way, welcome aboard. We have a thread titled "Getting to Know You" where you can introduce yourself.

[littlegrasshopp]

probably a bit of everything you mentioned. I have shram x7 shifters. They are fine on the rear gears but shifting up to the middle ring on the front is a big and slow shift. Doing this while navigating a down hill is hard. Then - shifting up twice to shift to the middle gear (pedaling in the higher two gears while I shift down to the small ring) uses up my energy so that sometimes I actually come to a stop and most of the time I'm just too tired to make it to the hill. It's easier to just stay in the small ring.

When I have long periods in flat stuff or steap hilly stuff I will change rings but when it's more frequent I have real problems. I'm sure it's a bit of anticipating. Trying to ride while doing the shifting - over roots, turns and dips. I don't know if it's an experience thing that will come with time or if there is an easier way I should be doing this.

Thanks - I'll go introduce myself now :)

[copaiba]

about myself is that if im riding with someone who is more experienced and confident (men or women!), i tend to not experiment so often because i'm trying to do what they think is right and just keep up without hitting trees.This is metaphorical because i'm too damn chicken to mountain bike.
So I alternate riding with better riders with riding alone. when I ride alone, i can be cautious without holding anyone else back and get the feel of the bike without getting confused by what i'm hearing from my riding partner. Ultimately, you have to have your own little relationship with the bike; i love my bike.
you need to be able to sense, by hearing the chain or by the feel of the pedalling, that you need to gear up. cause it sounds like you need to gear up at least sometimes and you arent comfortable with it. do what makes your bike happy and you will love riding. listen to the bike not just your partner.
yoda finished speaking now.
you are so brave!

[emily_in_nc]

I'm new to mountain biking and have also experienced some of what you allude to. What I've found with mountain biking (after years of road riding) is that there is so much going on to attend to at any one moment that actions I take on road bikes with ease can be more difficult. On trails, there might be roots, rocks, trees in the way, sharp turns, loose sand/gravel/washout; and at the same time I am trying to negotiate gears. If I stop, even getting clipped in (I use clipless pedals) with my second foot can be challenging as I am often bouncing all over the place while trying to do that, rather than smoothly coasting along as I am on a road bike. Sometimes I too avoid shifting just because there is so much going on that I need to pay attention to that I can't manage the shift (especially upshifts in the front, same as you) at the same time as I am turning, braking, getting out of the saddle, avoiding obstacles, and trying to stay upright!

However, I find that I stay mostly in the middle ring, and that helps a lot with the chain issue that bothers your fiance. I shift up and down in the back as needed, and I try to only go into the inner/granny ring on long climbs. Normally I can see those coming and anticipate and shift down in front before I run out of gears in back. On short, steep hills, I power over in my middle ring. Since I stay in my middle ring a lot more, I don't have to deal with getting back to it from the small ring as often as you do.

So perhaps you could try riding in your middle ring (stick with the larger/easier cogs in back so it doesn't feel very different from the inner ring) as much as you can versus your inner ring. I don't know if this will help, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

One other thing that has been helpful to me is occasionally riding alone. If that's possible for you, you might want to give it a try. I find that I can work on my skills much more effectively when I am not trying to keep up with someone else or talk to them. I feel like I get faster going with others (since I push myself not to fall behind more skilled riders), but I improve my skills more on my own when I can actively PRACTICE specific things. I had one trail ride, for instance, where I actively practiced clipping in with that second foot. I stopped numerous times and had to clip in again. Since that ride, I have had a much easier time of that particular skill.

Good luck! And don't feel bad - mountain biking is definitely a challenge compared to road riding! I wear a heart rate monitor, and find that my average HR tends to be about 10 beats per minute higher on mtb rides than on road rides. So yes, we are working harder!

Emily

[littlegrasshopp]

Good advice but at this point I don't feel strong enough to ride much in the middle ring. Down hill and flat I'm fine - small inclines I'm fine but if it's gets much more than that I have issues. A lot of the trails I've been riding are very rooty...to doing a big ring switch (which on my bike takes more effort and time) is not easy and a bit scary. I think I'm getting to the point I can think of 2 things at once but not much more.

Should I weight train to get stronger, or do rides where I intentionally ride harder gears to build strength, or practice practice practice the big ring changes??

[emily_in_nc]

Should I weight train to get stronger, or do rides where I intentionally ride harder gears to build strength, or practice practice practice the big ring changes??

I do weight train, but no more than twice a week because I won't weight train on days I ride, for obvious reasons. Riding harder gears can help, but only if it doesn't give you knee problems. Certainly don't go from one extreme to the other, but maybe try to ride one gear harder than usual for a given stretch, just to challenge yourself; in other words - don't always bail out to the easier gear if you might not need it.

I do understand what you mean about roots! I think if you can find a place to ride that is less rooty just to practice the shifting, you'll gain confidence and the motion will be more automatic. For example, just some gravel roads, fire roads, or something like that - easier than single track for sure! Just practice shifting and riding in the middle ring.

Tonight I rode single track and did a lot of shifts - I don't look down when I shift, I just do it. I am getting better at it, so a lot of it is just practice. I also didn't use my granny gear for the entire ride where I used to have to, but I am riding a lighter mountain bike now (24.5 lbs Titus Racer X), so that helps greatly! Hauling my 32-lb. older MTB required much more granny usage! Perhaps your bike is on the heavy side? That will make using the granny less a bit more difficult.

What is your largest gear in the back? Mine is a 32, so with my middle ring and that gear, I can get up most hills except for the very steep stuff.

All of what you say will work, but I think practice is number 1!

Good luck - I hope some more experienced mountain bikers will chime in because I am still a newbie too, so probably not the best to give advice.

Emily

[littlegrasshopp]

I had to ask DF to find out about my bike :) 34 is my largest gear. My bike itself is probably about 23 pounds. So it's me. Light bike with light wheels and easy gears. Guess I'd better start practicing. We have a small park near me with lots of graval roads. I'll hit one and see how it goes. Thanks!