application of gear shifting skills in cycling races

First, for the initial warm-up kilometers, you can use a slightly smaller gear ratio. This allows your blood vessels to expand and your muscles to get active. When you reach high speed, you can gradually increase the gear ratio, adjusting flexibly according to the terrain. During the final sprint, you should slightly reduce the gear ratio, but use techniques to avoid others noticing. This way, when your cadence adapts to the high speed, you can shift to a lighter gear for a sudden acceleration, sprinting at the highest frequency to exhaust all your remaining energy at the crucial moment.

Because amateur cyclists have different physical conditions and equipment weights vary significantly (a light bike and a heavy bike can differ by one or two gears at the same pedaling frequency), a light bike accelerates and climbs well but is more affected by wind resistance than a heavy bike. Therefore, using a light bike requires better shifting skills to maximize its advantages. The same principle applies to cyclists of different body weights in controlling their gear shifts.

However, using the largest or smallest gear ratios is not advisable. Many enthusiasts believe that using the largest front and smallest rear gears will achieve better speed at the lowest frequency, but this is incorrect. A large gear ratio requires more force per pedal stroke and lowers the cadence, slowing blood circulation and making muscles more prone to oxygen deprivation. Additionally, 11-tooth or 12-tooth cogs are the least durable in the drivetrain and are meant for high-frequency, high-speed downhill riding.

Beginners often shift gears immediately upon seeing a steep hill, using a smaller gear ratio. This sudden increase in cadence without muscle adaptation leads to immediate muscle fatigue. The overly light gear ratio also causes a rapid drop in speed. When other cyclists overtake, the already fatigued legs increase their cadence again, showing the disadvantage of a small gear ratio after just one or two hills. The correct way to shift gears while climbing is to wait until you're halfway up the hill, feel the pressure increase, and then shift gears, usually by two or three cogs, depending on the slope. This requires both strength and experience. Standing pedaling at the beginning of the climb can also provide more speed and delay the need to shift to a smaller gear, giving your legs more time to adapt to the cadence.

Additionally, when shifting gears halfway up a hill, the chain tension may be too high for the front derailleur to downshift. A small trick is to lighten the pedal pressure slightly when downshifting the front chainring, which reduces chain tension and makes it easier to shift to a smaller chainring.

The same technique applies to shifting the rear gears when the chain is tight and under high pressure halfway up a hill. This helps protect the entire system.

Due to the different types of bikes and the specific conditions of amateur cyclists, no specific reference standards are provided here. In summary, shifting gears is a crucial skill. Proper gear shifting can help you ride faster and more comfortably.

Using the large chainring with the large cog and the small chainring with the small cog are both incorrect shifting methods. The large chainring with the large cog causes excessive chain tension, which can damage the rear derailleur and increase friction due to the high chain tension.

Similarly, using the small chainring with the small cog is also incorrect because it makes the chain too slack, causing issues during intense bumps (such as the chain hitting the frame or wobbling and touching the tire edge). Additionally, the small chainring and small cog are the fastest-wearing parts of the drivetrain. Therefore, high speed should be achieved with the large chainring and small cog, and the lightest climbing gear should be the small chainring and large cog. This is the correct way to use the gears.

(Article sourced from 51 Cycling Network. Please notify us for removal if there is any infringement.)