I have just started riding, I bought a new comfort bike as a starter bike and have been getting some use out if it. I am riding about 10-12 miles each time I get out. Since I am just getting back into some kind of shape this hour ride has seemed good to me.
The one main question or issue I seem to have is hills, which gear should I be in..? Sometimes I feel that I down shift too quickly and my legs get tired of just spinning, rather than actually doing work.. is there a general rule of thumb when to change gears..?
Use a gear combo that keeps your cadence around 80 RPM. Here's a good article, with much more info than you could possibly need: kenkifer.comgears.htmOpen ↗
I have just started riding, I bought a new comfort bike as a starter bike and have been getting some use out if it. I am riding about 10-12 miles each time I get out. Since I am just getting back into some kind of shape this hour ride has seemed good to me.
The one main question or issue I seem to have is hills, which gear should I be in..? Sometimes I feel that I down shift too quickly and my legs get tired of just spinning, rather than actually doing work.. is there a general rule of thumb when to change gears..?
Thanks
Look at the three sprockets by your pedals. Think of those as being three gear ranges: the tiny one for riding uphill, the middle one for flat roads or trails, and the big one for riding downhill or for when you have a tailwind.
Once you get your bike into the proper "range" for where you're riding, use the rear shifter to fine tune your gearing. Shift into a lower numbered gear if it feels too hard to pedal and shift into a higher numbred gear if it feels like your feet are spinning too fast.
Use a gear combo that keeps your cadence around 80 RPM. Here's a good article, with much more info than you could possibly need: kenkifer.comgears.htmOpen ↗
I think for most 80 is really low. I like to average 95-100+. It's partly personal preference, though!
Hills, I would say gear down until the cadence gets too low at which point you may actually want to be in a higher gear because you're now out of the seat...so, if you find that you're in the lowest gear and your cadence has dropped, in my case it would be to about 80, I may upshift a couple of gears but get out of the seat, so now I'm going at the same speed but cadence is only 65-70.
You need to play around with it, but I believe the number one thing in new riders is to ride with a cadence too low. They think that they're "not doing any work" with a cadence of 100 or more but that's quite untrue, it feels like they're not working because it's a more efficient speed and this is evidenced by how many elites will be in high cadence ranges in most races. Some are not, though...try it out yourself some more, but don't be afraid to spin in a low gear.
