Gearing question

C3PO

This is probably a stupid question but I often wonder whether there is any advantage in cycling in a bigger or smaller front chain ring ie. does it make any difference whether you achieve the same gear ratio by using a bigger front/bigger back or smaller/smaller (if that makes sense)?

easygoing39

Makes no odds,its the cm's travelled per crank rev that count!

C3PO

easygoing39 wrote: »

Makes no odds,its the cm's travelled per crank rev that count!

I sorta assumed that was the case - thanks!

colm_gti

Think using the biggest chain ring and biggest cassette gear puts more stress on the chain though...

doozerie

The same cadence in either gear should yield the very same speed, but the wear and tear on your drivetrain could certainly be different. For one thing, if you have to cross the chain more in one gear than the other then that'll lead to more wear and tear on the chain, chainring, and cassette. Also, the rear derailleur is likely to be subject to more stress/wear and tear too when using the big chainring and biggest rear cog due to more strain on the cage spring. The amount of additional wear and tear depends on a number of factors and may or may not be significant.

And any extra stress on the drivetrain components potentially gets transmitted to your legs as extra resistance, so maybe there is an argument for saying that one gear is easier to push than the other. The difference in resistance is likely to be negligible in most cases I'd imagine, but if you were being entirely scientific (or just plain nerdy) in your comparison you probably should factor it in,

fletch

Mad but I was wondering this very thing this morning cycling in as I finally got around to sorting out my gears at the weekend and had access to more gears than I've been used to for a while. So even though I didn't ask...thanks for all the replies