Cycling can be complicated. Let's simplify it. The Art of Cycling is here to make cycling as easy as making your morning toast. Come back often for cycling tips and tricks, training advice, as well as gear help and reviews.
The # of gears and speeds is confusing. You say your bike has 11 cog wheeels on the rear? What about 21 speed bike? I thought 21 meant 7 on the rear and 3 in the front. A speed corresponds to a combination of front and rear cog. So how come you are referring to only the cog count in the rear? Confusing..
So the Schwinn Super Sport I bought in 1973 with 5 gears on the cassette and two chain rings is a 5 speed? The Schwinn cruiser I bought a few years ago has 1 chain ring and also has a 5 gear cassette. So is that a 5 speed? That makes no sense.
A 50T big-wheel crankset is not compact. "Compact" begins with a ~40T big. Imagine an old-timey 3x but you just delete the biggest cog, THAT is a compact.
I have two bikes where both have three rings up front and one bike has 6 rings while the other one has seven rings. Wouldn't that constitute an 18 speed and a 21 speed bike? If so, which one is better?
I ride 50,34 11-30 on my road and TT bike. I get a lot closer cadence and just feel more efficient. TT,s might be around 23-24 mph with a lot of gears left at 90 RPM. I have to chuckle when I ride past riders nearly cross chaining their 53,39 ego gears 😂. that used to be me 😂
I used this video and others to decide on a compact for my look kg486 frame I built. I have a 11-23 cassette. I'm not a super strong cyclist, but after 3 years I find myself always wanting to cross chain the compact. The small chainring is too easy, so I always want to be on the smaller cassette or I'd want to be on the big ring on the bigger cogs. The 39 on the standard is exactly what I need. I went the other way and switched to standard. High cadence might be how you win races, but most avg cyclists probably prefer to bike at a lower cadence for sustained rides.
More is not always better. I just enjoy having more gears on the crank set because I can use the extra chain rings to keep a straight chain line through a wide range of gears with a relatively small set of back gears (3X6 speed for example). With added chain rings to the middle one, I would no longer have to cross gears to go to extremes. If my gear numbers were two on the right (2/6) and two on the left (2/3) and I wanted to go a little easier, I would downshift the left to first gear and upshift the right to third gear. That way, my gear ratio is similar to the extreme low gear in that middle range of gears and my chain line stays straight. If you have a 3X6 speed bike, you should only use low first to low fourth, medium second to medium fifth, and high third to high sixth gear. That gives you twelve gears that you can still use for some big range. NEVER use low sixth gear on a 3X6. That would be very bad for the life of your chain and the the life of your gears.
Spent about 500 miles on it and so far so good. ru-vid.comUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA Pros:1. Very light2. Solid quality build3. Fast delivery: It arrived 5 weeks earlier than expected.4. Easy assemblyJust a few cons but nothing major:1. Cheap tin tubes and had flat on first day... but not a big deal. I replaced the tubes.2. Seat is a bit uncomfortable but that's pretty much the same situation with most bikes.3. Seat post is a bit long/high for a smaller size 48 bike - had to saw 2 inch off to fit properly. The lowest setting is too high. The post locking system does not seem to hold well (perhaps because I saw 2 inch off).4. wheels are not tubeless compatible (from what I can tell)
FOR A MAJORITY OF CYCLISTS this is a great idea even changing my big ring for a 50T has made a big difference in my riding cadence and gear selection used AND l ve hit 55km hr on the flats using 50-12 its enough to make you feel like TDF sprint finish :)
Hello, I need help. My bicycle came with 3 crank rings front and 7 cater rings in rear. so can i upgrade it to 3x12 When i try to buy rear derailleur most of said its work 1x12. so is it make any deference ? If i use 1x12 for 3x12
This also explains why I had to spend such a high amount for a replacement chainring for my crankset. I was using a 52T but I replaced it with a 50T. $240 for a chainring? WTF. Cycling is getting too expensive. I think my next bike is going to be a single speed.
Understanding an engine’s speed/torque curve predetermines a vehicles gear qty and ratios. The human body produces far less than one horsepower! So the speed torque curve is extremely peaked within a very limited speed range, I.e., your optimum cadence between 80 and 95. That is all we need to know….
For me it‘s easier to rember when thinking about it this way: When the chain goes diagonally from lower left to upper right, then the gesr is hard because it resembles an uphill section. When the chain goes from upper left to lower right, the gear is easy, because it resembles a downhill section. I hope it makes sense. Just follow the chain position.
When they say a bike is a 21 speed bike, would they be referring to the front gear.... ..I'm planning on getting a bike. There's a huffy mountain with 18 speed and disc brakes and my second option is a scott bike with 21 speed and v brakes I'm cracking my head trying to find the right option, I'm planning on traveling at least 50km
Great job I just moved from my mountain bike to my new road bike. It's like moving from a bomber plane to a fighter jet. This really helped out a lot thank you! Cheers!
The only time I ever regret having a compact is if i'm going for a flat PR/CR on Strava. I also live in Washington State so having that 34 in the front is crucial for me lol lots of hills out here
a little correction, you meant to say the inside gears are easier and slower, right? always remember, easy and slow or hard and fast, logic of bicycling
I just purchased a BMC SLR01 that came with the Ultegra Di2 12sp with 52/36 crankset. I am coming from a BMC SLR01 Sram Red 10sp with a 50/34. I hate the 52/36. Why have 12sp if I am basically staying on the top 3-4 cogs when riding on the 52? I can’t use most of the cogs unless I drop to the smaller chainring. But I hate having to change chainrings so often. On my 10sp 50/34 I could stay on the 50 80% of the time and just switch to the 34 chainring on some uphills. Not the case here. I hate having to spend $ changing the chainrings or crankset but I will. I can go as fast as need to on the flats with the 50/11-16 gear ratio. I rather spend most of my time on the middle of the cassette and have the flexibility to go up and down without cross chaining a lot and not having to go down to the 34 chainring. In short, I agree with you. 50/34 FTW. Whenever I get stronger I may put the 52/36 back on it, but I’m 45 yo and I like higher cadences, so I don’t foresee that happening.
