Low Gears and Internet Shaming

[fourflys]

Interesting video from Russ today.. I can only imagine the type of comments he and other folks get from the keyboard warriors.. as I've said many times, no one will ever pay me to ride a bike, I will never be "fast".. I've raced cross, didn't finish last, was pretty proud of that! I imagine a lot of the trolls in the comments are just that, trolls.. but I can see how it can affect the content creators and that sucks as Russ just wants to make content for the niche audience he has..

anyway, here's the video-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-XlicNnLyA&t=197s

[mhespenheide]

I'm relatively fit, but nowhere near my racing fitness from my teens and 20's.

I raced USCF juniors with a 50x14 and raced collegiate with 53x12. I very, very rarely needed the 53x12. Sometimes I used the 53x13. A 52x13 is very, very similar to a 53x13.

Shimano insists on offering cassettes with 11-tooth small gears. If I only need a 52x13, I really only need a 44x11. Yet even a 50/34 is supposedly a "compact" chainring. Either give us smaller chainrings or give us cassettes that don't waste the first two gears.

As always, only my opinion. If you like and use bigger gears, more power to you and I'm glad you have that option.

[jdanton]

I raced as a Cat 1, and did a lot of pro races. I won a lot of high level time trials. I didn't really need an 11t then and I really don't now. Agreed that I wish there were more cassettes with 12s, but I'm guessing the wide availability of compact cranks kills that.

We were dumb about gearing. We are smarter now, there is no need to shame anyone about the gears they choose to ride. Remco always uses an 11x34.

[Elefantino]

I run a 46/30 with an 11/32 on one of my Serottas, a 50/34 with an 11/34 on the other.

I feel no shame.

[fa63]

I ride a 43/30 crankset with a 10/36 cassette most of the time, and always find the reaction from others amusing It has somehow been engrained in people's minds that a 1:1 ratio is as low as one needs to go on the road... At least I think that the industry is moving in the right direction, albeit slowly.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by fa63

I ride a 43/30 crankset with a 10/36 cassette most of the time, and always find the reaction from others amusing It has somehow been engrained in people's minds that a 1:1 ratio is as low as one needs to go on the road... At least I think that the industry is moving in the right direction, albeit slowly.

For sure! I think a 1:1 is just an opening argument..

[jamesdak]

How can someone on the internet shame you?

Self-confidence is a real thing. Why care what ANY one else thinks?

[hokoman]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

How can someone on the internet shame you?

The internet is a dark place, everyone will message you privately and post publicly about their opinions. It gets old real quick. I would hate to be anyone famous - just read the comments online about any subject/topic and you realize there are a lot of pathetic people who must wake up trying to ruin other people's day.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

How can someone on the internet shame you?

Self-confidence is a real thing. Why care what ANY one else thinks?

As discussed, one or two comments are one thing.. you can brush those off, but if that’s all you see.. one’s psyche is a interesting thing for sure.. I know for me, I can get down if I think I’m not doing a good job, etc..

[bigbill]

When I raced in the 90s, I had Dura Ace 8S STI with 53/39 and 12-21 and would install a 12-25 to do Mt Mitchell. For racing, 12-25 and 12-23 weren't useful because of the jumps between gears, plus 12-23 took away the 16, a bread and butter gear for pack fodder like me. In VA Beach, I used a 39/53 with an 11-23 because of the pancake flat routes and huge packs of riders. Sprints over 40 mph were not unusual. Otherwise, I have no use for an 11, but that is what we're fed these days. Campy 11 was great for me, a 12-27 had the same gears as an OG 12-21 with three extra climbing gears.

I used 39/53 cranksets until 2019 when I started swapping to 36/52. My Shimano 8000 has an 11-28 or 11-30 depending on the wheels. The 11 is clean. My gravel bike has a 34/46 and 11-32 and it hasn't limited me yet. I turn 60 next year, we'll see.

My Red AXS bike has a 35/48 and 10-33 which changed my mindset on gearing with the tremendous range in the big ring.

I'm happy to see anyone on a bike.

[redir]

I remember one race on the east coast, The Roan Groan, back in the day and on their website they 'recommended a 23,' almost as if you are really going to need your climbing gears and anything over that makes you a wuss, the race ended with an 8 mile climb up Roan Mountain. Most anyone who raced could handle a 23 but there were definitely parts where even a 27 would have been more useful. I think people just thought differently back then like, if you can't handle it then just stand on the pedals. But sitting is always more efficient.

I was also racing cross and 25 or 27 was as big as anyone would go back then. Again the thinking is if you can't clime the hill then get off and run it. The race I spectated a month ago even the top level pro's were using much lower gears now.

[carpediemracing]

I didn't realize that gear shaming was a thing. I never saw his clips before but the fact that he had to make a clip about how he does what he does because he enjoys it and not to put others down, and to not put others down because they don't share the same beliefs about gearing or whatever... sad.

I find big gears to be really useful when I want to pedal less fast, like on descents or in fast bits where I'm tucked into the draft very nicely. I hate it when I'm on descent, pedaling as fast as I comfortably can, and can't really accelerate the bike. I once ran a 55T (a ring I borrowed off our tandem) while waiting for a replacement big ring and it was amazing on descents because I could pedal just a bit slower than my ride partners.

I also like having little cogs because although I rarely use them, if I have an 11 and a 12 to start off my cassette, my 14 and 15 will be better lined up with the big ring.

I tried the super light small cog thing and found that the combination of small cogs and small rings gave a grind-y chain feel. From experience I know that small rings and small cogs wear a bit faster.

I also found that really big chainring jumps make for faster wear on the chain and the big ring.

Finally I'm not that strong in steady riding so I am always at the edge of blowing up. Having smaller steps between gears makes a difference when I'm at the limit. Sometimes even a one tooth jump was too much, making me looking into half step gearing (where the two chainrings are basically about 4 teeth apart, giving you a half-gear worth of shift.

On our tandem I put a smaller cassette to tighten up the gear jumps. We don't climb enough to need super low gears. Our problem was running out of gear on flats, based on the comfortable rpm limits of the two on the bike.

At the same time, I'm curious what it's like to ride a wide range cassette, meaning with the gigantic rear cogs. I don't know what the jumps are like, if they're big jumps to me. I think I have a pretty narrow range of usable cadence, and as I get under pressure it gets narrower.

Currently my bikes have a 53/42, 53/39, with a set 54/42 on standby/reserve and my wheels are 11-25 and 12-25 for training wheels. For race wheels I have 11-23 and 11-25. Was racing from the 80s and really haven't change gearing stuff much since the 90s.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by carpediemracing

I find big gears to be really useful when I want to pedal less fast, like on descents or in fast bits where I'm tucked into the draft very nicely. I hate it when I'm on descent, pedaling as fast as I comfortably can, and can't really accelerate the bike.

We can hang.

[fourflys]

Interesting reading the differences on what folks run for gearing and why.. I’ve never run a bigger chainset than a 50/34 as I never raced for anything but fun and my first bike (a cross bike) had a 50/34.. I have had a bike with a triple on it as well.. spent most of the time on that bike in the middle ring.. I think I’d do well with a sub-compact for the majority of how I ride.. as I mentioned above, I look at a 1:1 as a starting point for gearing for me.. I typically feel no need to pedal down hills..

Interesting reading on here for sure!

[nmrt]

I am actually in awe of people who run low gears and spin away on our local 16% grades while I struggle with my 32T out in the back. I do not think I can spin that fast! So more power to them!