$@!#$@ what gear am i in?

[mimitabby]

I just found one called "Dura-Ace 9-Speed Right Hand In line Gear Display" They also make one for 10-speeds. Unfortunately, there's no info on how big the thing is or how to install it.

In Line gear display is good. i can say that to my LBS

thanks!

[li10up]

Over-simplified reply but it will work until you get the hang of it.

Stay in your middle chainring up front. When you run out of gears to make it easier to pedal, shift to your inside (smaller chainring up front). This will most likely make your pedals have no resistance so you will need to shift to a harder gear in the back.

When in the middle chainring and you run out of gears to make it harder to pedal, shift to your outside (largest chainring up front). You may need to shift your back gear to an easier gear.

Move back to your middle chainring up front as soon as possible to prevent crossover - which wears out the chain and your gears sooner.

[snapdragen]

Ah! found another link: http://www.bikemannetwork.com/biking...RDPRTSH/LD7706

I wonder if my raggedy a**, can't see to read without glasses, eyes would be able to see it......

[emily_in_nc]

Stay in your middle chainring up front. When you run out of gears to make it easier to pedal, shift to your inside (smaller chainring up front). This will most likely make your pedals have no resistance so you will need to shift to a harder gear in the back.

Actually, this advice can be a little dangerous. You should shift your front chainring before you run out of gears in back. If you are in your middle chainring and shift all the way to your largest cog (or sometimes even second largest) in back before shifting to "granny" in front (if you need it), you have a very good chance of dropping your chain to the inside. Been there, done that! It will stop you dead on a climb, making it very hard to get going again once you stop and put your chain back on. Much better is to shift in front only when you're, say, on the third cog in back. It puts much less stress on your drivetrain and you are much less likely to drop your chain.

I find it pretty natural to take a quick glance down to my front chainrings to see which chainring I'm in, if I forget, and even to glance back between my legs to see which cog I'm in, but I've been riding for years. It can be harder to do on a mountain bike on trails, and it does take some practice. Because I've been doing this on road bikes for so long, I totally forget to use the little gear indicators on my mountain bike gear shifters. I need to remember that those are there for my convenience (and safety)!

Emily

[Veronica]

I have Bar End shifters, so I can't answer the Shimano/Campy thing... but a quick glance down and back between your legs is pretty easy.

I've been staying out of my smallest gear recently and find this easy to do even while climbing to see how many gears I have left before the smallest.

V.

PS Lisa with bar ends - straight up for the rear is the easy gears, the middle is the middle gears, straight down is the hard gear. Yes there is some variance in there, but this line of thinking works for me. And it doesn't need to be exact, you just need to glance to keep from cross chaining.

[KnottedYet]

Had Shimano brifters on my Trek. Don't know how I knew what gear i was in, but after a month or two I didn't need to look anymore.

I'm hoping the transition to Campy will somehow resurrect that knowlege.

It has been kinda fun with the number indicator thingies on my BikeE and my Kona. Instant gear identification!

[salsabike]

So...I used to have indicators on the Sirrus, but when I got the Eros Donna without them, I just learned to go by feel, always being careful not to crosschain. No problems so far at all. And I really don't like looking down when I ride.

[HipGnosis6]

So...I used to have indicators on the Sirrus, but when I got the Eros Donna without them, I just learned to go by feel, always being careful not to crosschain. No problems so far at all. And I really don't like looking down when I ride.

I also ride a Sirrus (it really is a good commuter, even if it's not a fancy road bike with drop bars) and while I like the indicators, I use them very little and instead ride by feel. Why? Well, two reasons. First of all, I learned to ride with gears on an old Univega hybrid, and it didn't have any markings. Second, I was doing a large part of my riding at night, and since the indicators aren't backlit, they were useless. Not that lit indicators wouldn't be pretty cool.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

PS Lisa with bar ends - straight up for the rear is the easy gears, the middle is the middle gears, straight down is the hard gear. Yes there is some variance in there, but this line of thinking works for me. And it doesn't need to be exact, you just need to glance to keep from cross chaining.

Yes, thanks, I have been using this same thinking, and it's working pretty well for me. I'm doing ok!

[li10up]

Actually, this advice can be a little dangerous. You should shift your front chainring before you run out of gears in back. If you are in your middle chainring and shift all the way to your largest cog (or sometimes even second largest) in back before shifting to "granny" in front (if you need it), you have a very good chance of dropping your chain to the inside. Been there, done that! It will stop you dead on a climb, making it very hard to get going again once you stop and put your chain back on. Much better is to shift in front only when you're, say, on the third cog in back. It puts much less stress on your drivetrain and you are much less likely to drop your chain.

That's why I said it was overly simplified. Doing what I suggested one time would show the rider that she needed to be in a couple of gears harder in the back (smaller cog). So once she got to the biggest cog she would then know to shift up two gears before droping down into her smallest chainring. This would then naturally lead into knowing when to shift into her smallest chainring without doing the double shifting....a learning process.

[Lise]

I'm with you, mimi. Every bike I've ever owned has had numbers to tell me what gear I'm in. Not the Bianchi. So I do it by feel. I realized I like the numbers because it lets me know how far "up" or "down" I have to go before I need to shift from big to little ring. Doing it by feel is working pretty well.

[xeney]

There are very few hills where I live and I hardly ever shift, so the only time this happens to me on my Bianchi is when my husband has been working on it or riding it and has left it in some weirdo gear and I don't notice until we are on our ride. I can see the front chain ring okay (not that that helps, I think I have been off the middle chain ring once in each direction; the triple is totally wasted on me) but I can't see the rear, so if I really can't tell by feel I just ride ahead of him and make him tell me what gear I'm in.

If I don't start riding some place with hills I should probably sell that bike, because if all I ever use is "middle/middle," with occasional forays into "middle/left of middle" and "middle/right of middle," I could probably get by with a three-speed Raleigh.

[SadieKate]

Xeney, you can always come with me on one of my hill-seeking rides!

[SadieKate]

That's why I said it was overly simplified. Doing what I suggested one time would show the rider that she needed to be in a couple of gears harder in the back (smaller cog). So once she got to the biggest cog she would then know to shift up two gears before droping down into her smallest chainring. This would then naturally lead into knowing when to shift into her smallest chainring without doing the double shifting....a learning process.

I think Emily's advice is excellent. I've met many a rider that did not figure out why they kept dropping their chain -- and many of them would fall on steep climbs as a consequence, not to mention damage to the frame.