How often do you shift?

[AngryScientist]

35 mile ride yesterday. 2700'.

i shifted the bike exactly once.

i too have years of fixed gear riding when you're always in the wrong gear, and just adapt.

[muz]

Same here, I don't shift a lot due to many miles of fixed gear riding. Still, I shift more when using di2, and a lot less when using down tube shifters.

My Saturday ride: 8:48 ride time, 98 miles, 12,500ft of climbing, 65 front shifts, 376 rear shifts. So that averages out to one shift every 1:15.

[Steve in SLO]

I know I don’t shift a lot. I’m still a product of the time when “elasticity” of the pedal stroke was highly regarded. That being said, I tend to shift when my cadence drops below 55 or 60 rpm and above about 110 to 115 rpm. If I know that I will be in a certain gear for a while, I’ll find the one that puts me at 70-80 rpm. That is the sweet spot.

[witcombusa]

This is a real question?

As required...

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by witcombusa

This is a real question?

As required...

I don't know that I always agree with you, but this is the only answer that makes sense to me...

I never thought about or counted my shifts.

[9tubes]

I never realized how much we shift until I got eTap and a Wahoo and they did the counting.

[tomato coupe]

I don't shift, I brift.

[Charles M]

yes.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by witcombusa

This is a real question?

As required...

I think its more like, "as desired."

I started riding with down tube friction shifters and 5spd and then 6spd freewheels, then moved to down tube indexed shifters with 7spd freewheels, then (indexed) brifters with 8spd cassettes, and and am now using brifters with 10spd & 11spd cassettes. I'm pretty sure I shifted less often when it took more pre-planning and effort to shift, and there were fewer gears to choose from.

[carpediemracing]

I shift a lot, consciously. For example, if I'm rolling along in the group in a race, I'll shift to see if another gear feels better, whether higher or lower. I'm always trying to optimize what I'm doing when racing so I shift frequently.

I also shift whenever I expect to make an effort. So if I'm entering a corner, I'm probably shifting into a lower gear, then as I exit I'll keep my rpm relatively constant and use gears to ramp up speed.

Approaching a sprint I'm shifting quite often. I'll shift up, shift back down, shift up again, shift back down - and that might be in a few seconds of riding. I'm shifting a lot just prior to launching my sprint, to try and jump at a good cadence. I often roll along at lower cadence but to sprint it's better for me to be higher.

On the trainer, not very much.

I don't have anything to count shifts but now I'm curious how much I actually shift.

[windsurfer]

Been riding fixed gear lately, so I never shift.