how often do you ride in your big ring?

[caligurl]

good question! for me it depends on the ride.... the wind... and how i'm feeling!

if it's a climb... and a long one.... i'll almost always end up in my baby (granny) gear! i do train on our local hill in the middle ring..... but my cadence is not as high as i'd like it to be....

naturally if i'm coming downhill or on a really flat, flat... i'm in the big gear.... i recently did a really flat century and was in my big gear 80-90% of the ride!

on our local ride.... there are times i'm in all three on one ride! especially if it's windy! i'll be in the big ring with a tail wind.... the small to attempt to keep my cadence up for the headwind.. and the middle for other parts of the ride!

i have no ego issues with having a baby (granny) ring either.... there is no way i would have been able to accomplish the rides/climbs i did within my first year of riding if i didn't have it! i'm only getting older so i'm not willing to give it up either! i've got it if i need and and don't have to use it if i don't need it!

[bluerider]

I would say 70% big ring but if I notice my cadence slipping I go small. I'm not ashamed either to say I use my "granny" gear but I use it also to gauge how I'm progressing. I have this brutal climb about 9% gradient that goes on for about a 1km and I "test" my strength by how often I have to suck it up and slip into "granny" mode.

[mtbdarby]

I have a hybrid bike for on the road with 3 rings. I found that I was maxed out at 20mph on my big ring on a flat and that was drafting - is that normal? Does that mean that's as fast as I can go on the flat with this type of bike? I was spinning like a mad woman - it felt great but I could only keep it up for a few miles cuz he's much faster than I am.

Just curious as I do more road riding...

[CorsairMac]

I ride a triple and I would say probably 75-80% big ring!? I'm glad you asked this bella coz I was just thinking the same thing recently.

I wasn't aware how much time I spent in the big ring until another rider asked me if I found it comfortable coz I ride it so much. Since I too ride by cadence I ride the ring that allows me to keep my cadence between 90-100, usually I ride around 95-103. As soon as the cadence slips, I drop a gear in back first. Once I'm outta gears in the back I move up some gears then drop the front. It just feels to me that I can get more speed out of the big chainring, little gear, high cadence, then the middle ring, bigger gear and high cadence (make sense?). but it's probably just me! lol

Dar: it's probably the gearing on the hybrid bike. I know on my commuter and MTB the cassette is designed more for climbing or comfort riding so the gear ratio is different. I'll top out on gears on both of those and be pedalling a cadence in the 11?s coz I don't have any more gears! and my max/avg spd is always lower on those bikes.

[bikerchick68]

I ride a double... so in flats I'm in my big gear (53) and climbing I drop into my small gear...

I granny gear anything steep... already had a knee issue and would rather go slow than blow my knees up again... I'm definitely a hill slug but I ALWAYS make it to the top!

[CR400]

By far I spend the majority of my time on my big ring (52). I have a triple also. And recently have not been afraide to use that granny on some really steep and persistant climbs. I tend to like to power over the bigger gears to build and maintain strength. However my cassette goes down to a 26 cog so I don't mash as often as people think. Cadance can be anywhere between 120 (or higher all I know is the spin is to the point I have to go up a gear so I stop bouncing all over the place), down to 60. I also have a thing when I ride that I like to feel a little resistance to the stroke and smaller gears don't usually do that.

[SadieKate]

If you are looking for comparisons be sure that the gearing ratios are the same and you're looking at the same relative body position and terrain. I see quite a few riders in the big ring of a triple crankset using their largest cogs which is a no-no. Cross gearing is really hard on your drivetrain and leads to broken chains. The most important thing is that you ride in gears which you can drive at the proper cadance for the terrain and wind. I just started using aero bars because I'm doing a 10 mile TT every couple of weeks. I have suddenly found myself using the 50T big ring for large portions of the flat rides around my house because I can comfortably maintain a more aero position. Once I sit up or hit the hills I'm down in the middle to granny. In the mountains, I may never get out of the granny until I'm on a long downhill.

If you are doing wind sprints where you are working on max speed sprints in the shortest amount of time, yeah, you probably are going to be in the big chain ring most of the time. Serious race training programs will look at gearing this closely. If you're just looking at fitness and increasing distance, ride the gear that works for you.

SnappyPix has it right. Just keep fiddling and find the ratios that are right for you and change them with strength and fitness not because you "think" you should be in a certain gear.