Ordered my new bike!

[Triskeliongirl]

We have plenty of hills here, I live in the texas hill country, and I have also taken my bike to the spanish pyrenes. I am 50, so only a little bit younger. Perhaps I am more of a masher than you, but what is important is that the gearing we each choose fits our riding styles. I am surprised that with a wide range casette like a 12/34 you are doing double shifts. In fact, I miss the tightness of my 12/27 but prefer the range of my 12/34 paired with my compact double (50/34). Do you climb out of your saddle? Do you take advantage of descents to gain momentum on ascents (on rollers). If not, that may explain why you prefer lower gears than me. I like climbing out of my saddle, not just to get more power, but as one more position variation, especially when cresting a hill.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

We have plenty of hills here, I live in the texas hill country, and I have also taken my bike to the spanish pyrenes. I am 50, so only a little bit younger.

Oh, forgive me, we are more alike than I thought. (except for the Pyrenees part) Good to know others in their 50's here. I forget that there are hills in Texas.

Perhaps I am more of a masher than you, but what is important is that the gearing we each choose fits our riding styles. I am surprised that with a wide range casette like a 12/34 you are doing double shifts....Do you climb out of your saddle? Do you take advantage of descents to gain momentum on ascents (on rollers). If not, that may explain why you prefer lower gears than me.

Oh, just realized the difference when you said this about descents- our favorite riding roads here go through lots of rolling hilly farmland that has plenty of turns and woods on both sides. Many times I cannot take advantage of a descent to get up the next hill because the descent ends in a blind curve that would be very foolish to go into at full speed. There are many twisty wooded back roads that we ride here, and many curves in the highways have poor visibility due to high rocky sides or forest on the sides. Many roads also end in a T on a downhill. We have a handful favorite long screaming descents with high visibility that we love, but they are a big exception in our rides. Some of them just end in a T at another highway, so no taking advantage of descent speed to get up the next hill there. Of course if you are talking small descents followed by a hill, then yes absolutely I do take full advantage of that when it is safe to do so.
I have an inkling that the altitude changes in the roads happen here more quickly back and forth than maybe where you are. (isn't everything bigger in TX?) So two hills that might be the same height could go up and then down in a shorter distance here maybe? Perhaps that's why I need to change gears more rapidly, often 2 at a time.
There is one hill we go up that branches off the flat highway at a right angle to our right and is so steep immediately that it's a real challenge to shift for. There is no running start, no wide swing turn. And there is no time to shift one gear at a time. My goal there is to shift drastically but as smoothly as I can. I like the challenge, and feel great satisfaction when I do it well and can hear only sweet pretty little metallic clucking sounds even though I'm changing a gazillion gears in the space of a few yards.

I like climbing out of my saddle, not just to get more power, but as one more position variation, especially when cresting a hill.

I don't stand in the climbs as much as most riders. I like to do it on the small hills, but not the big long ones. I know I need to stand more, and I am working on that. My legs are getting a bit stronger each month.
I am hoping my new bike will fix my center of gravity problem and lead to my being able to ride no-handed and feeling better able to stand on the climbs.


I think this discussion has gotten to be quite interesting in a bigger scope!

[Triskeliongirl]

This is interesting, cuz I used to ride more like you, so for me its been an evolution brought about by both gaining experience and a properly fitting bike. Before my accident I had a triple, and I used that small chain ring. But, the fellow making my custom crank set urged me to go with a compact double, and while at first it was hard, I realized that for me my granny gear really was a crutch, if I had it I used it but I could climb even a long slow mountain descent in the pyrenes in my 34/34. Also, getting my terry bikes with short top tubes is what was required for me to feel really comfortable out of the saddle, I needed to be balanced over the bike. No, I don't do this in a long steady mountainous climb, but its great to avoid having to change gears when the road suddenly steepens for a short way. Once you have a better fitting bike you may find your riding style changes too. But if that happens its very easy to swap out a chain ring or casette. I used to even use different casettes for different terrain, but decided to stick to the 11/34 cuz its easier.

Lisa, you posted after me on the wool weenie thread. Do you like my new sweater? It looks a tad heavier than the shak, but I hope its not too bulky. I like that my shak S is very slim and sleek, but then I can't layer it over my heaviest cotton t-necks. It looks like the oganic sweater i just ordered in M will do the trick, I just hope it doesn't end up bulking me up too much. We'll see..... there is always return UPS. I said that last time but that Ibex stuff is so addictive. And boy is wool warm!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

It will be very interesting to see how a custom fit bike changes my riding experiences.

Lisa, you posted after me on the wool weenie thread. Do you like my new sweater? It looks a tad heavier than the shak, but I hope its not too bulky. I like that my shak S is very slim and sleek, but then I can't layer it over my heaviest cotton t-necks. It looks like the oganic sweater i just ordered in M will do the trick, I just hope it doesn't end up bulking me up too much. We'll see..... there is always return UPS. I said that last time but that Ibex stuff is so addictive. And boy is wool warm!

I don't have that sweater, so I can't tell if I would like it for myself. It looks elegant.
I spent years piling on bulky acrylic sweaters trying unsuccessfully to keep warm in winter. When I switched to merino wool, I found I could wear several thin layers and keep warmer than with my old thick acryllic sweaters. So now my preference is just to layer thinner merino- a thin base merino top with one or two shaks and a wool vest, and I'm good down to 20 degrees, so I'm thrilled to be able to keep with thin layering now. If I need more than that I wear a wool jacket on top. I like the shaks so much I prefer wearing 1 or 2 of them rather than a typical sweater these days. I hope your sweater is just what you are looking for!