What is the most efficient way to shift the gears of road bike which has 18 gears?

Question

Is it better to shift down to the smallest cog using the large chain main before shifting to the smaller chain main or is it better to first shift to the small and then shift to the smaller gogs?

Answer 1

You should shift based on your cadence- your pedalling rpm.

Keep your pedals moving at the same speed, and shift to maintain the pedal speed.

The larger chainrings (on the crank) give you giant leaps in torque while the cassette (in the rear) fine tunes your efforts.

It really doesn't matter how you shift the bike, as long as you avoid using the two largest sprockets and two smallest sprockets whenever possible. In fact, I would recommend that you NEVER use the large/large combination, and use the small/small only as a starting point if necessary.

Make sure you are pedalling when you shift, and that you only shift the front or the rear at a time...don't shift front AND rear derailleur at the same time.

Answer 2

I think that it's a compromise. You shouldn't cross chain (largest rear cog-largest front cog, or smaller front cog-smaller rear cog). Or maybe even the second rear cog. So, rather than 18 speed, you actually use 12 or so.

It's not that crazy. On a mountain bike with 3 cogs front / 9 rear, you use like 12 or so.

You'll find that you can replace some combinations with another. I'm thinking that you have 2 front cogs and 9 rear ones, right?

Use the front cog to swith from easy to hard, and the rear ones to make adjustments.