Gear Question

[jlnc]

Thanks for the feedback...guess I will give the big ring a try this week!
@Shannon, yes the other riders are on road bikes with skinny tires. I am used to being a little bit behind other riders in my groups, but this was a whole new level of getting dropped, lol...I lost sight of the nearest rider and got really frustrated (and exhausted). I am hoping to move to a road bike early next year.

[Velocivixen]

I use big chain ring in front for flats and down hills and sometimes even slight rolling hills. Remember that the changes with the chainrings in front will be big changes. The gears in the rear simply "fine tune" it. There is no right or wrong. I will say that I used to always coast downhill and sometimes get a little "wobbly" going too fast, so now I shift to a high gear (big chain ring front & smaller cog in back), and pedal downhill and I have more control of the bike and it's not wobbly! Seemed counter-intuitive at first, but it's true.

[Roadtrip]

I am hoping to move to a road bike early next year.

I think riding strong this year on your FX will make you a mch stronger rider when you do get that road bike.

[jlnc]

I hope so!!

[marni]

I live in houston which is flat flat flat- I ride almost exclusively in my big ring with the back derailleur somewhere in the middle. Because I have a bad knee, I tend to need a little bit or resistance to keep the knee stabilized. I tend to run through chains a bit more than some people because I am always in the big ring but I'd rather make progess than sit and spin chicken legs.

just saying- do what feels good to your knees and to your endurance.

marni

[pixiegloss]

I am new to this gig too and have been messing with my gears, trying new things since I started riding a few weeks ago. I live in Florida... also flat, flat, flat, so I've found I also spend about 95% of my time on the big ring in front (I still haven't learned the terminology either and it's way too early in the morning for new vocab right now).
My quicky advice on gearing would be to remember this: the bigger the rings, the further you will travel on each rotation of the crank (pedals), and the harder it will be to pedal... don't be afraid to move to that third ring in front and move down al ittle in back, then see how fast you go pedaling your heart out--I think you'll be amazed how easily you'll be able to stay with the pack! Good luck!

[jlnc]

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone, I will definitely give the big ring a try this week! It is fairly hilly around here, so I'll have to get used to shifting both the front and the rear to accommodate for the terrain. Although, I think on the 19 mile route, there are longer flat sections than I am used to.

[Roadtrip]

Just don't wait to shift... If going uphill you want to be able to ease off a little when changing gear... Doing so while under load (hammering up that hill) may leve you in a gear that you can't sustain. I had to learn that one the hard way