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gear choice and pedaling technique?
with regards to beanie's post about 1 x 9, i'm getting a little confused with which is the best gear to be getting more speed with i've only recently started using the big ring, because after sitting in middle ring and smallest cog after a while there's less resistance and i seem to spin the legs and feel no gain, so then switch to big ring and get a, or what seems like a slower rotation but more resistance to work against and then the other scenario is getting half way up the hill and then struggling to keep pedaling momentum by making a too complicated gear change half way up, so was just wondering if anybody had any advice on their gear choice technique?
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Searching the internet on cadence will bring up lots of opinions on the subject. Everyone is different, for example Lance has a faster cadence than usual yet goes pretty well. Others can slug it out in huge gears (gordo) and also go well.
Some believe that a higher cadence is more efficient and well let your legs last longer, but you need the cardio.
Lower cadence will be easier on your cardio but will stress your legs more.
You can start reading here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadence_(cycling)
http://www.cptips.com/climb.htm
Remember that there is a lot of info on cadence that specifically talks about road riding, it's not as important off road, certainly not in training anyway.
was a catch cry from former DH'er Eric Carter, I try to ride by it by using a smaller gear & spin it harder.
Front derailleurs don't like downshifting under load much at all, so you need to be in the chainring you need before you need it. Picking the right gear comes down to experience and practice, and brute strength - because sometimes you will still get it wrong. So it is probably better to err slightly on the side of picking the easier gear to pedal so that you can still torque over obstacles when you need to, without stalling.
I made that mistake the other weekend and picked the wrong gear for the line, and got stalled while trying to go around a couple of kids pushing bikes up a short pinch at the Dam. My shins are still healing from the results of that one!
Grind it!
and the rest will look after itself!