Low Gears and Internet Shaming

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

Yes. Exactly this. He’s in the business of getting clicks - be they negative or positive. “Gear shaming” is a clickbait term meant to evoke sympathy for a condition that doesn’t really exist.

But here we are discussing it. So kudos to him.

I mean, yes, Russ is running a YT channel that he makes a living off of, so he is trying to make content to get clicks, like any other content creator on YT, IG, or TT.. BUT, do you really believe if you show up at certain group rides in SF with a certain set-up, you won't get some comments? maybe not to your face if in person, but likely loud enough for you to hear at times..

it certainly makes you wonder why someone who wouldn't ride lower gears would ever watch the PLP videos, but there also seems to be plenty of folks on Paceline who don't care for his or Grant's content who sure seem to be somewhat up on it, so..

I don't doubt for a second that folks are talking crap to him or anyone else about running low gears or about the gear he uses in general (online as noted is the norm now).. I have no doubt he's been called "not a real cyclist" based on what he wears or rides.. why do I think that? I've been called that before myself.. by family members.. because I didn't fit a certain view of what they thought a "real cyclist" was, which is ironic as they don't necessarily fit the mold, but that's cool..

there are so many trolls on the net that love to talk crap to people.. I can only imagine if you have the reach that PLP does (currently 187k subs, who knows how many viewers), it's turned up to 11 at times.. I could imagine it gets to you..

Fianally, I'll leave you with this- if you are really passionate about your career, you really love it and you have a passion project that is a multi-year thing.. you put it out there for 10s of thousands of folks to judge it and you start getting all kinds of negative comments back on it.. how are you going to feel? I get this may not be same same, but I also don't think it's that different.. Russ isn't making tons of cash off his channel like Hoovies Garage or some others, he's not really living large.. his channel, while his business, is really more like a small independent bike shop hanging on.. a passion project.. IMHO..

YMMV

[aaronffs]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

The beauty of Wickwerks chainrings is how beautifully and quickly they shift. The bridge technology ramps lift a whole section of chain at a time. The best way to describe it is that as you complete moving the shift lever over the chain is already back up on the large chainring. You absolutely do not have to change how you ride to use these.

I've had various revisions of these on probably about 1/2 dozen bikes over the years. I even ran a triple setup with his rings on my Lemond Versailles, another bike setup for climbing.

Wickwerks is well known in the European CX world too for how well they shift. Even Katie Compton was riding them when she dominated the CX world.

Now in the interest of full disclosures the owner of Wickwerks is a personnel friend of mine. But I would not recommend these if they did not work.

Of course since he is my bud, the set above only cost me some "famous" Carrot Cake from a local eatery.

Real world endorsements like this do make me want to try out these wickwerks rings, 53-34 really seems like the best of both worlds to me (group riding here the small ring is only for when you got dropped and gave up)

[aingeru]

Miguel indurain won 5 tours and 3 giros. Nowadays he goes around with 34 x 34 climbing gear...

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by benb

The bizarre thing about all this internet hub-bub is I've never seen or heard even the tiniest amount of gear shaming in real life.

^^^This. I have heard admiration for enormous pie plate cogs -- "wow, I'll bet you could climb a wall with that thing! I need to get me one of those!" -- but never any negative comments about low gears.

fwiw I do still hear the occasional admiration for running a (relatively) tiny cassette. Just the other day I overheard someone on a group ride saying to someone else "Damn, a corncob! You must be a beast!" without any hint of sarcasm. And not too long ago someone came up to me at a post-ride coffee stop and, while admiring my bike, noted "A 25?!?! Respect, sir!"

(Full disclosure: All my other bikes have a 28.)

But the negativity/shaming seems limited to the internet these days.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

This is way over the top, sorry to say. If “micro aggressions” extend into the world of “gear shaming” we’re in trouble.

maybe.. but we have no idea what else is going on in someone's world to compound what we perceive as a "small thing".. BTW, not sure what this post is discussing would be considered a micro aggression, at least I understand it..

[54ny77]

still a thing of beauty on the right bike.

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

Everyone's wound up too damn tight these days.

[benb]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

^^^This. I have heard admiration for enormous pie plate cogs -- "wow, I'll bet you could climb a wall with that thing! I need to get me one of those!" -- but never any negative comments about low gears.

fwiw I do still hear the occasional admiration for running a (relatively) tiny cassette. Just the other day I overheard someone on a group ride saying to someone else "Damn, a corncob! You must be a beast!" without any hint of sarcasm. And not too long ago someone came up to me at a post-ride coffee stop and, while admiring my bike, noted "A 25?!?! Respect, sir!"

(Full disclosure: All my other bikes have a 28.)

But the negativity/shaming seems limited to the internet these days.

The only thing I've really seen in real life is an overweight rider shaming a some else about their bike not being light enough.

At the start of the hillclimb.

And the guy getting shamed won the race and probably finished in 1/2 the time of the guy who decided to randomly talk about bike weight.

It was weird.

[benadrian]

Originally Posted by benb

The bizarre thing about all this internet hub-bub is I've never seen or heard even the tiniest amount of gear shaming in real life.

Maybe Russ is too isolated where he lives and isn't getting the right balance of the coolness of real-world cyclists versus the general terribleness of the internet.

This is kind of what I came here to post. I ride with a bunch of cycling groups (sport road, gravel, randonneur, bike punks, etc.) and no one has ever given me guff for my low gear choices.

The internet is a different story. I see people chatting on the comments about gear choices all the time, some are positive but some are very negative. Russ makes his living on the internet, has a distinct point of view, and leaves his comment sections open. It's a fertile ground for internet trolls. I figure with every post he makes, someone replies, "quit being a pussy ass cyclist." I can imagine this getting quite fatiguing.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by benb

The only thing I've really seen in real life is an overweight rider shaming a some else about their bike not being light enough.

At the start of the hillclimb.

And the guy getting shamed won the race and probably finished in 1/2 the time of the guy who decided to randomly talk about bike weight.

It was weird.

I had one of my "I'm an idiot" moment early in my early riding time in San Diego.. I was at the start of a ride in La Jolla in San Diego that had two options, fairly flat one or one up Mt. Soledad.. I was riding a Rivendell 650b with a triple on it.. looking around at the other riders I saw a handful of "old guys" with smaller cassettes and doubles and said, in my head, "if these guys can do it, I can!" well, this one guy, probably in his 60s, came back and checked on me a few times.. I made it up, but I was very humbled that day and learned what having years of riding in your legs can mean.. also learned I was glad I kept my mouth shut and kept my thoughts in my head..

[makoti]

I had no idea I was supposed to be feeling ashamed. I'll get right on that.

[sweitee]

Originally Posted by aaronffs

Real world endorsements like this do make me want to try out these wickwerks rings, 53-34 really seems like the best of both worlds to me (group riding here the small ring is only for when you got dropped and gave up)

I was asking about these chainrings a while ago. I ended up picking up a 5-arm set for cheap on ebay a while back and I really really like them for exactly the reasons James mentioned - I love the 1:1 ratio with a 11-34 uphill and really like having that little extra gear downhill. I definitely am a low-cadence pedaller so extending both ends of my gear range makes a big difference for me. Philadelphia has a lot of short climbs so I feel like I shift my front derailleur fairly often. I've dropped my chain one time while shifting since I got these and I didn't resize my chain when swapping from 52/36 so I would guess that's not entirely the chainring's fault.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

still a thing of beauty on the right bike.

Yes. Yes, it is.
No idea why it is sideways

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by fourflys

I had my "I'm an idiot" moment early in my early riding time in San Diego.. I was at the start of a ride in La Jolla in San Diego that had two options, fairly flat one or one up Mt. Soledad.. I was riding a Rivendell 650b with a triple on it.. looking around at the other riders I saw a handful of "old guys" with smaller cassettes and doubles and said, in my head, "if these guys can do it, I can!" well, this one guy, probably in his 60s, came back and checked on me a few times.. I made it up, but I was very humbled that day and learned what having years of riding in your legs can mean.. also learned I was glad I kept my mouth shut and kept my thoughts in my head..

I used to do the SDBC rides from LaJolla. Part of the entertainment were the riders and their bikes. Super light, aero, and the latest groups. At the time, I was riding Record 11 on my Pegoretti with a 39/53 and 12-27 and Zonda wheels. I think the "miles on your legs" is a good point to make. I was in my mid-40s with 20+ years of cycling and I took a tactical view of the routes. I knew them well, so I could pour on the speed to hit a climb going relatively fast and maintain my momentum so I could cover much of the climb before downshifting. I was a fat guy riding a bike that was not necessarily light, but practical light. I took a few comments from clueless riders about my "heavy" steel bike.