More shifting/hill questions

[schnitzle]

Thanks Becky, I guess that answers why I couldn't find much on the web about it. Too many variable. I think finding a hill to practice on is a great idea. I happen to live on a few! Sometimes I am extra dumb

Oh so if I'm starting from a stand still at the bottom of a hill (lots of cars, need to stop so I can look both ways) I assume I'll need to be in my lower gears already? So turn the crank with one foot to shift down before I take off?

[Becky]

Oh so if I'm starting from a stand still at the bottom of a hill (lots of cars, need to stop so I can look both ways) I assume I'll need to be in my lower gears already? So turn the crank with one foot to shift down before I take off?

You should be in a low-ish gear, but you don't want to be geared so low that you can't get any momentum to help you balance as you start out. (I under-gear all the time on my mountain bike- it's not pretty )

There's a stop sign at the top of a steep short hill on my commute home. I'll often shift to a harder gear as I approach it, just so that I'll have some "kick" and balance when I start pedalling again.

If I'm approaching a stop sign, and I know I'll have to climb immediately after it, I'll shift to the "right" gear as I come to a stop. That way, I can take off when traffic is clear without juggling my bike.

[schnitzle]

You should be in a low-ish gear, but you don't want to be geared so low that you can't get any momentum to help you balance as you start out. (I under-gear all the time on my mountain bike- it's not pretty )

There's a stop sign at the top of a steep short hill on my commute home. I'll often shift to a harder gear as I approach it, just so that I'll have some "kick" and balance when I start pedalling again.

If I'm approaching a stop sign, and I know I'll have to climb immediately after it, I'll shift to the "right" gear as I come to a stop. That way, I can take off when traffic is clear without juggling my bike.

Awesome, thanks again!!

[Biciclista]

a guy who used to race told me that under a load, it's easier to go from your bigger chain rings down than it is to shift the gears in the back on the cassette.
So I'd suggest you stay in your middle chain ring until you need to shift then drop into the lowest chainring... hopefully you'll still have a couple more gears in the back when you do this in case it gets even steeper.

[Possegal]

So I'd suggest you stay in your middle chain ring until you need to shift then drop into the lowest chainring... hopefully you'll still have a couple more gears in the back when you do this in case it gets even steeper.

I just recently started doing it this way and I find it is helping me a lot actually.

[schnitzle]

That makes sense, thanks Biciclista and Possegal

[DarcyInOregon]

a guy who used to race told me that under a load, it's easier to go from your bigger chain rings down than it is to shift the gears in the back on the cassette.
So I'd suggest you stay in your middle chain ring until you need to shift then drop into the lowest chainring... hopefully you'll still have a couple more gears in the back when you do this in case it gets even steeper.

I stay in my middle chain ring up front so as to keep up my cadence. I start to gear down in the back when my cadence falls below 70. For cyclists with faster cadence than I have, they gear down when their cadence falls below 80. If the grade gets real steep over 11%, or if it is a long climb of more than a mile and I need to conserve energy, I may ease up on my chain a bit, then shift into the granny in the front. If I have prior knowledge that I am facing a hill with a grade that is excessively steep, like over 13%, I will shift down to my granny in the front and the lowest in the back at the bottom of the climb so that I won't have to worry about dropping my chain halfway up the climb. If I didn't have prior knowledge, and find myself on a hill where halfway up it turns to a 16-17% grade, well the grade is too steep to get slack to shift into the granny, so I stay in my middle chain ring and start praying. I got up some real steep hills in my middle chain ring this year, which suprised me considerably, and even more satisfying, I passed male cyclists who dropped their chains.

[schnitzle]

I don't have a cadence har har! Ok obviously not true, but I need a cyclometer because I'm usually too distracted to count and too busy just keeping going. That's awesome that you're getting up hills in your middle chain ring Darcy!! When you said that the guys dropped their chains, do you mean they fell off because of the way the were shifting or?? Man that must feel good to pass those guys

At this point I'd rather spin than mash. I'm too out of shape to mash, plus I want to be nice to my knees.

So I kept everyone's comments in mind this evening when we rode through Kenmore. Last time I didn't make it up the intersection underpasses because of shifting mistakes and general tiredness. This time I got up all 4 of them (2 out and 2 back) plus most of a hill from the Sam-river trail to the B-G. I did make some dumb mistake there and had to walk the last few feet to the top of the hill. Definitely an improvement for me though, so thanks!! In the underpasses I really tried to remember to shift up going into the downhill so I would have extra power to get up the other side. Considering I'm hauling 250lbs I felt pretty pleased with myself

[DarcyInOregon]

I don't have a cadence har har! Ok obviously not true, but I need a cyclometer because I'm usually too distracted to count and too busy just keeping going. That's awesome that you're getting up hills in your middle chain ring Darcy!! When you said that the guys dropped their chains, do you mean they fell off because of the way the were shifting or?? Man that must feel good to pass those guys

Some male cyclists tend to cycle all of the time in the biggest chain ring on the front because they are mashers with a low spin. They use their strong leg muscles to power their way up hills, and some take immense pride that they bike only in their very highest gear and never shift at all, whether flats, rollers or hills. Then ... they go up a hill with a grade steeper than normal for them, like 13% to 18%, they go oops, they try to shift down in front, but there isn't enough slack in their chain, and the chain comes off. They put the chain back on, but there they are, on a grade that is too steep for them to get started back on the bike, and they are walking up the hill. They look like newbies, but nope, they are experienced cyclists, just ones with a different pedaling technique who got caught in too high of a gear on a grade steeper than they expected. Or when I pass them and they are still pedaling, it is because they are still in their highest chain ring in front and trying real hard not to tip over, afraid that if they shift down a chain ring they will drop a chain.

Schnitzle, you are still in the stage where you are gaining fitness and muscle power. Don't worry about cadence and all of that right now. Just get into your lowest gear at the bottom of a hill and go up until you reach the top. The grades in the Northwest can get real steep, so if you have to get off and walk, it is no biggie, just blame it on how they build roads around here. You burn calories walking your bike up a hill too. The underpass you described, where you go under a road, so down and then up, shift up like you mentioned and accelerate down the road and continue to accelerate up the next side coming out of the underpass, and don't start to shift down until you feel yourself losing speed. For an overpass, in the Northwest the grades of an overpass typically range from 4% to 8%, with 4% being mild and 8% being the steepest. When you encounter a hill that is steeper than the steepest of the overpasses, then you know the grade of the hill is over 8%.