how often do you ride in your big ring?

[archibella]

I was just wondering... because it seems like I'm usually in the small ring, with occassional bouts of the granny gear in the hillcountry... A riding partner of mine always seems to be in her big ring, even going up some hills, and she's always having to wait for me to catch up Do I just need to start riding in the big ring on flats to build up my muscles?? I'm confused because that seems to be contrary to the concept of spinning...

thx

oh, p.s., this is all on a road bike.

[Veronica]

I tend to ride in my middle ring unless I'm doing a sustained climb and I'm in my granny.

My middle ring maxes out at about 22 mph and I spin at about 90 RPM. If I feel like I can keep that cadence in the big ring, I'll go up.

I've had knee problems all my life so if they get at all achy, I back it off.

V.

[SnappyPix]

I only have a double, so don't have a lot of choice!
To be honest, unless I'm on a long stretch of flat, or a rising hill, I'm always swopping and changing between the two chainrings.
I used to be of the opinion that I worked through all the gears of one chainring before moving onto the next!
No, no, no, no, no!
My constant twiddling works great for me, because now I rely solely on cadence, speed and momentum - I go by how it feels, rather than what I think I should be in.
Switching from one to the other and back again allows me to get a much better ratio of gears (I have 18 instead of 9!), keep my cadence steady and achieve a much smoother transition up and down the gears.

I know it's slightly different for a triple because the gearing ratio is much lower - but for me the principle is the same (my hybrid/commuter is a triple).

[KSH]

I have 3 rings in the "front".

My granny gear... I just figured out how to get into that... 2 months ago. I have owned the bike for 10 months.

My middle gear... is where I use to stay 100% of the time.

As I have gotten stronger and faster though, I have been in the big ring a lot more. I never though I would have a reason to be there... but now it works for me... and gets me going really fast (and I am spinning, not mashing!)

In due time... you will be in the big ring.

NOTE: I always average 90-110 cadence no matter what ring I am in.

[runnergirl]

I have a double...

If I'm riding alone, unless I'm doing a sprints workout, I'm almost always in the small chain ring. Group rides, I'd say small chain ring 30%, big ring 70%. Alone I usually can't push the big ring over 85 rpm, but on group rides I've gotten up to 115 rpm in the big ring...I gauge mainly by if I can maintain a decent cadence more than anything.

[tatormc]

Everyone has a different riding style. I have a double and most of the time in the small ring. I spin like crazy going up hill cause I can't stand to be in a big gear and my thighs on fire. I don't have much of a pain threshold! But there is a lady I ride with that's similar to me in weight and size and she is always in her big gear. We did a 45 mile organized ride and she is just mashing up the hills in her big gear. I think she's crazy but as I said everyone has a different riding style.