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How many gears?

(53 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by bueller
  • Latest reply from i
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  1. bueller
    Member

    So, I have a bike already and I am a bit of an idiot when it comes to using gears, mine seems to have about a million that I never need, my husband usually yells at me to change up/down as we go along (doh)

    Thing is, I'd really like a hybrid, sit up and beg type 'vintage' style bike (I can hear all of you serious cyclists groan!) so I'd better not mention Pashley (hee! her!)

    My question is just how many gears do I really need? I'll mainly be pootling about town, I don't think I'll ever manage the dizzy heights of the mound, but most likely using a bike to pick up shopping or tootle around the bike paths.

    Any advice please? Ta

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. chdot
    Admin

    "My question is just how many gears do I really need?"

    1

    (There are people on here who will write 1,000 words on the joys of singlespeeding...)

    My advice generally is that bottom gear is the most important - ie it should be low enough for hills you are likely to come across - though some people don't mind pushing!

    Previous thread.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. SRD
    Moderator

    we're big fans of uprights around here.

    if/when you're looking for a new bike, i'd suggest hub gears (like old sturmey archer 3 spds but better)

    As others on here can explain better than me, it's really not about the number of gears, but their range.

    My tandem (hub gear) has 7 gears and my folder likewise has 7 or 8 (derailleur) and they're enough to get us up Craighouse, the Mound, and (usually) the Pleasance.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @bueller

    Ah, such a seemingly innocent question....with sooooo many answers. Derailleur gears (which your bike has by the sounds of things) have huge redundancy. My bike has a notional twenty four gears, but really nine allowing for redundancy. That allows me to haul a trailler up a 16% slope at walking pace or do 40mph down Commiston Road.

    On the flat, three gears is fine. Edinburgh isn't flat though, and once you've been cycling a while you will want to cycle up the Mound.

    Thing to do is to wait a while and see what happens. Don't change your bike until you are totally convinced both that you know how to work it and that it doesn't do something you want to do.

    Madame IWRATS has recently taken to cycling, and regularly tells me to keep my gear-related opinions to myself. It is a totally personal thing - some like to heave on a big front ring, some people like to spin it up a bit.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. fimm
    Member

    Well, some bikes have just one gear...

    I have two bikes I use regularly. My Brompton has 3 gears. That is fine for me to get around town with - but, I am reasonably fit, and I need to stand up on the pedals to get up somewhere like Market Street or Dundas Street. So someone else might find that the bottom gear isn't low (easy) enough for them. The Brompton's gears are all hidden inside the hub of the back wheel.

    My road bike has 9 little spikey wheels for the chain at the back (my apologies if I'm being over simplistic) - this is called a 9 speed cassette - and two bigger spikey wheels for the chain at the pedals (a double chainring). In theory that is 9 x 2 = 18 gears. However there's an overlap between some of the combinations of front and back, so in reality I don't have that many different gears. The easiest (lowest) gear is still reasonably high, so again I have to work quite hard on hills. However my top gear is much bigger than on the Brompton, so I can go a lot faster.

    Lots of bikes have three spikey wheels at the pedals, a triple chainring. This gives you gears that are easier to turn, so that while I'm having to stand on my pedals and work quite hard to get up a hill, someone with a triple can sit and turn the pedals with less effort. Mountain bikes and bikes for touring, which are designed to carry more weight, often have triples.

    The other difference between my road bike and Brompton gears is that there is quite a difference between the Brompton ones, so there's a bit of a jump in effort when you change. On the road bike the differences are much less (mostly - it is possible to get it wrong) so my pedalling effort should be much smoother. The other side to this is that I'll be tweaking at my gears a lot of the time, to get the best one, while with the Brompton I touch the gears much less.

    So the answer to "How many gears do I need?" is "It depends what you want to do"!

    Sorry, that turned into a bit of an essay... hope it helps.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. fimm
    Member

    Ah, others can type faster than I can...

    I meant to add, there's this thing called cadence, which is how quickly you turn the pedals round. If the pedals are going round quickly, that is a high cadence. (It is generally considered better to have a higher cadence; but 1) this is probably into roadie/fitness cyclists territory and 2) I believe it was popularised by some bloke called Armstrong, who may not be the flavour of the month any more...)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. Morningsider
    Member

    All sound advice above. I would add, if you are going to use the bike to pick up shopping then having suitably low (easy) gears is very useful. A heavily laden bike can be much harder to get up hill than when it is sans messages.

    The best way to judge what you find easy is to test ride the bike you are interested in - far easier than trying to decipher the mysteries of "gear inches" and the like.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. sallyhinch
    Member

    If your knees hurt, you need to use lower gears. Other than that, and if you're not racing and it doesn't matter how fast you're going, use the gear you like and don't let anyone tell you you're doing it wrong. If you're on a bike, you're automatically doing it right.

    The really good upright bikes will have hub gears which will mean they can have full chain cases, so there's nothing to catch on your trouser legs. That makes it easier to cycle around in normal clothes, saving the effort of changing at either end (or walking around with one trouser leg tucked into your sock).

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. Baldcyclist
    Member

    "Thing is, I'd really like a hybrid, sit up and beg type 'vintage' style bike (I can hear all of you serious cyclists groan!) so I'd better not mention Pashley (hee! her!)"

    My wife has a Pashley Little Black Bike, it has a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub. She loves it, and it does everything she needs it to do. I have a 5 speed Sturmey Archer hub on my Pashley and it has never been right since day one. The SA gear number of choice appears to be 3.

    It has to be said though, my Pashley doesn't do well on hills, can't stand up to get up them. Easier to dismount and walk, I've learned that the 'looking stupid' way.

    My road bike has 20 gears, I never use them all.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. Stickman
    Member

    "Thing is, I'd really like a hybrid, sit up and beg type 'vintage' style bike (I can hear all of you serious cyclists groan!) so I'd better not mention Pashley (hee! her!)"

    My wife recently got a Bobbin Birdie which she loves - I think it would meet your needs and is a bit cheaper than a Pashley. It's got hub gears but they also do a similar bike with derailleurs if you want more gears.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    In other threads...

    http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10334

    http://www.citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9748#post-105464

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. SRD
    Moderator

    This may be more than you want, but if I read it correctly (big if) an 8 speed shimano nexus has a much wider range than my old 10 speed - ie it makes it easier going up hills and would help you go faster on the flats.

    http://sheldonbrown.com/nexus.html

    (just waiting for someone to come along and correct me...)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  13. kaputnik
    Moderator

    On the flat, three gears is fine. Edinburgh isn't flat though

    3 gears are perfectly fine in Edinburgh if you set them low enough with a small chainring. You then find your legs spinning in thin air at anything over 15mph though!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  14. chdot
    Admin

    " if you set them low enough with a small chainring"

    Easier (and cheaper) to change the sprocket at the back.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  15. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    It's only a matter of time before someone suggests two gears, obtained via a flip-flop hub.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  16. crowriver
    Member

    Three gears are enough for most urban riding. If however you are regularly heading up steep hills or carrying heavy loads, then a few more is advisable. A 5-speed or 7-speed covers most eventualities.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  17. wingpig
    Member

    "(I can hear all of you serious cyclists groan!)"

    I think you mean "I can hear some snobby tutters on other cycling forums sniff". Serious != non-upright/fast/weightless-fairy-tears-and-carbon-fibre. It's much easier to twist a neck to look behind when the neck is perpendicular to the ground and easier to use a bike for hauling lots of stuff over cobbles if it has a degree of robustness.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  18. bueller
    Member

    wow - what great advice and thanks for all of your great contributions. Hubby is of the opinion that I should stick with what I have for the time being before I 'splash any cash on a Pash'

    I'll certainly bear all of your suggestions in mind - thanks again, what a great place I have found.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  19. bueller
    Member

    Although I might need a manual to understand some of the gear terminology ;-)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  20. Nelly
    Member

    I commute on single speed but there are times - and weather conditions when I wish I had a 3 speed hubgeared machine or one of my geared bikes.

    P.s. No bike snobbery here, in fact many (most?) have different bikes for different needs.

    Before I joined I didn't even know what those weird recumbent things were!

    I think i can say that with impunity, Laidback is on his hols :-)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  21. chdot
    Admin

    "Although I might need a manual to understand some of the gear terminology"

    All you'll ever need -

    http://sheldonbrown.com/gearing/index.html

    http://sheldonbrown.com/gears

    Posted 10 years ago #

  22. sallyhinch
    Member

    One piece of advice I saw was that every time you go out of the door to use your bike instead of the car or the bus, you should put a quid in a jar in the hall. It won't take long before you've earned yourself the deposit on an upgraded bike, and you'll know you'll actually use it.

    Or just spend the cash on cake, that's what I do.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  23. gembo
    Member

    I do the shopping using a Pashley like specialized that used to have a nexus eight hub gear but they are prone to breaking. Alfine hub gears which replaced the nexus are fine , as was the earlier nexus 7 (ingress from rain in Scotland did for the nexus 8). So now it has sturmey archer 3 spd in a twenty tooth sprocket on the back could go down to a 19 or up to a .21

    Pashley has a 5 speed Sturmey archer. These are I think also less reliable than the three speed.

    My three speed is a heavy bike so needs more gears. Think Pashley also heavy, I do like them. Chap in work bike park has modified his and it is lovely though I wonder about his clip in pedals as part of the overall look. Each however to their own. The famous rohloff 14 gear hub mech has a very very big range but. Not cheap and apparently takes a year to bed in but the company will come and fix it no matter where you are in the world according to some

    Posted 10 years ago #

  24. 559
    Member

    1 is sufficient, but it is actually 2, i.e. the GOaW (Get Off and Walk )gear, for town/city riding.

    Further afield 3 or 5 on bike, gears is fine.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  25. firedfromthecircus
    Member

    Derailleur gears are rubbish for the majority of applications, but because they are the best for racing that is what most adult bikes come with, even though they will never race!

    3, 5 or 8 speed hub gears will be ideal for you by the sound of things. If you want an upright I say get one. Having a bike you feel good about riding is important while you build the addiction to cycling.

    If you are looking at an upright the paper bicycle looks pretty good, and made in Scotland too. Get one at Laid Back.
    http://www.paper-bicycle.com/hustle/

    Posted 10 years ago #

  26. steveo
    Member

    How many gears? Usually just one lower than the one I'm currently dragging myself a steep hill on!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  27. cb
    Member

    'splash any cash on a Pash'

    Yes, that would be rash.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  28. gembo
    Member

    Derailleur also good for touring (e.g. Easier to fix them) and also hills. Hub gears require a heavier back wheel package generally. Commuting on canal towpath then three speed sturmey archer the bees knees.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  29. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Derailleur...great range of gears, but what lunatic exposes their gear box to the elements? Serviced my bike at the weekend, and both chain and rear casette have been destroyed by about 2,500 miles of Edinburgh commuting. If a component of a car lasted that long there would be uproar.

    I am seriously tempted to get a belt drive bike with hub gears for use around town. I have tried a friend's Focus Urban and been impressed, but I still get a bit of 'gear range anxiety' with hub gears. Need to actually find out what their range is...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  30. kaputnik
    Moderator

    1 is sufficient, but it is actually 2, i.e. the GOaW (Get Off and Walk )gear, for town/city riding.

    I've always imagined it was 3 - sitting, standing and pushing!

    Posted 10 years ago #

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