A Question for Bicycle Experts?

Question

I have always wondered this: which statement, if any, is true?

1. Switching the gears frequently on a bike will help "loosen" the gears and provide a longer gear lifespan.
2. Not switching gears will prevent it from being "worn out" and will provide a longer gear lifespan.

Basically, I want some tips to keep my new bike in good shape. But I especially want to learn about the gears.

Thanks.

Answer 1

If you don't change gears, then the gear that you are in will wear out and the shifting mechanism will become stiff or frozen/rusted/corroded into just one position.

Change gears to keep your cadence or pedals per minute at or around 90 which is where people are most efficient in. You can deviate a little higher or lower as conditions change.

Answer 2

Use all your gears, and frequently. You will stretch your chain with time and miles. Keeping your bike, chain and gears clean and well lubricated is the best thing you can do to prolong the life of both, lube your chain every couple of rides no matter the mileage, and when not in use leave it on the smallest rear cog and the smallest chainring, this will re-leave pressure on the rear derailleur springs as well as the chain.
Never Replace your chain without replacing your gears, that is a must. if you have ridden your chain long enough to ware it out, you have done the same too your gears. If you replace your chain with a new one the ware patterns will not match those left by the old and you will have all types of shifting problems. It only makes sense.

Answer 3

Neither of the statements you mention is true- the first one in a literal sense, the second in a practical one. The gears are meant to be used, to propel you more efficiently forward given the terrain or your level of fitness. The best way to prevent your bike from not wearing out is to not use it, right? But then that defeats the entire purpose of having a bike in the first place! Use your bike the way it was intended, shift the gears when you need to. Keep the drivetrain (chain, chainrings, cogs and derailleurs) clean. You can do this yourself with Simple green degreaser and a rag and toothbrush (and time) or pay your local bike shop to do it. You'll need to relube with a lubricant appropriate to your riding conditions (some oils are better for dry and dusty conditions, some are better for wet muddy conditions). Do not over apply lube, as it will attract more dirt and grime, which is very abrasive on the drivetrain components and will wear them out sooner. Check your chain for wear with this tool:(http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=5&item=CC%2D3
and use these items to clean it:
http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=8&item=CG%2D2
The frequency of maintenance will depend entirely on how and where and how often you ride. Your best bet is to go to your local bike shop and ask the guys in the service department their opinions about your situation.
Hope this helps and happy riding!
Sean

Answer 4

Use your gears, all of them. You will stretch your chain with wear on the link pins over time. To check the stretch you need to measure over a foot length of chain as each link is half of an inch long the chain would need to be stretched about one eight of an inch over one foot to be getting to its limit. Keep your bike and gears clean and well lubricated, and when leaving it for a few days always leave it on the smallest rear cog and the smallest chainring as you will be pulling on the gear cables when you start your ride and not relying on the gear springs. I usually buy a new cassette and chain every year but that would depend on how many miles you do in a year.

Answer 5

You hit the nail on the head in your question when you stated that you want to "learn about the gears."

This is cycling's most important factor and it is overlooked by so many riders.

Let me first toss you some unwritten rule of thumb guidelines:

Shifting saves wear & tear on YOU my friend. Do it.

Change your chain every 2000 miles (I ride 200-250 a week, do the math).

Having you cables changed out and tweaking the tension ever so often is wise because over time the cables do stretch. I have found this generally occurs more in the first two weeks than during the rest of the cable's life.

Changing out a cassette/freewheel (rear cogs) or your chainrings (front gears), again is wise to depending on your mileage and material the cogs are made from. I have a rear cluster on a bike right now that has about 7,000 miles worth of riding on it. It still performs fine. This is not true in every instance.

Part 2 of your question is a tricky point. I will answer it the best I can. * Not switching gears WILL prevent it from wearing out the GEARS (PLURAL) This is literally TRUE. Just as not riding you bike preserves the condition of your tires, but if you are riding and you aren't switching gears, then you WILL be wearing out the one and only gear you ride in. Like having two elbows to lean on and for the rest of your life you lean on the left one 24/7. Not smart.

Derailluer issues: Keeping the bike in a solitary gear is not the wisest thing for you, as stated via the elbow example above, but before you listen to anyone's answer, you need to understand shifting.

Shifting is all about gear ratio. This may sound complicated, but it is not. I will try to simplify as I go.

Gearing is achieved by having chainrings on the front and cogs on the rear with various numbers of teeth. Let us suppose that you are riding a bike, and the chain is on a 30-tooth sprocket on the front and a 30-tooth cog on the rear. At this point you have a 1 to 1 drive. What gear size is it? The gear that you're in at this point is the same as the tire size on the rear wheel. If you have a 27-inch wheel or 700 C wheel, you are in 27-inch gear. If you have a 26-inch wheel, you are in 26-inch gear, and so on. Now let's shift gears until the sprocket in front is twice the size of the one in the rear, say a 52 chainring in the front and a 26 cog in the rear. What gear is that? Well, 52/26 X 27 = 54, so if you have 27-inch wheels, you are in 54 inch gear. This gear is the equivalent of having a direct drive bike (such as the old high wheeler) with wheels 54 inches in diameter. If you then change gears in the back, so that you are on a rear cog of 13 teeth (the equation is 52/13 x 27 = 108), you now have the equivalent of wheels 108 inches in diameter. Gear inches are proportional and are not an equal distance apart: thus a shift down from a 25 inch gear to a 20 inch gear is equivalent to a shift down from a 100 inch gear to an 80 inch gear, and the difference between an 11 inch gear and a 33 inch gear is the same as the difference between a 33 inch gear and a 99 inch gear. Two other terms are also used instead of gears or gear inches. Gear ratios refers to the ratio between the front sprockets and back cogs; this term is seldom used correctly. Development refers to the distance traveled when the cranks are rotated 360°; usually this is measured in meters because development is favored over gear inches in Europe, where the metric system is used.

Layman's terms: Each gear combination has a number assigned to it called a "gear ratio". The larger the number the more difficult it is to pedal from a stopped position and thusly the smaller the number the easier it is to pedal. Small numbers are great for up hills, large numbers for down hills and flat sections (after progressing to it from the smaller numbers)

To personally help you with your combination,
SEE THE GEAR RATIO CHART HERE: http://home.i1.net/~dwolfe/gerz/

Have you ever watched someone who doesn't know what they are doing in a manual transmission car make a bad shift? The same can happen in cycling, but that is why understanding all of your shift options, via gear ratios is key. You don't want to shift 49.3 to an 82.6 unless you found yourself on a steep down hill. In shifting you want to gradually step up (or down). THIS is what makes shifting important. Hence it makes you use your gears and thusly your chain & cables are used (which eventually stretches and wears both).

Ok, learning about the gears Class #001 is finished for today.

Good luck.

Best Regards,
-C-

Answer 6

Answers: No, and No.

Keeping your drivetrain clean and lubricated will extend its lifespan, and not changing gears under power will keep your chain from wearing out. Use a good lubricant on the chain, like Tri-Flow (wet) or White Lightning (dry) and wipe off the excess after each ride with a clean rag.

But the reality is that unlike cars, the drivetrain of a bicycle is constantly exposed to the elements with relatively little protection, and the parts WILL wear out eventually and will need to be replaced.

I get a new chain/cassette every two years, and replace my cables & housing every season. If you want to keep your bike in good shape, bring it back to the shop where you bought it for a tune-up on a regular basis (every good shop I know of gives at least a year of free tune-ups/adjustments), and to help identify if anything is starting to wear out.

Answer 7

Use your gears.

If you want to prolong the casset life, change your chain regularly. Measure from one link to the next. This should be 1 inch. As the chain stretches it will increace wear on your sprokets. When you measure 1 and 1/8 inch it's time to change the chain.

You might buy two chains and change them over once every couple of weeks (Power links are good for this).

Your gears will pop out of true, due to cable wear, so re-index regularly (Put into bike shop every couple of months for a small service).

Hope this helps

Luck

Answer 8

I can only speak for road bikes.....Cycling is all about keeping your cadence (physical output to pedal rotations), which means that if you're not changing gears regularly you're not cycling properly. Use the gears for what they are meant for and you will reach your potential in this (ace) sport. By the way, if you are servicing your bike regularly your gears will be fine, the frame will be the first to go (about 10 years or so).

Answer 9

The only way to get more life out of your gears is to keep them and your chain clean and lubed.

Answer 10

Basically, you should change the word "gear" with 'Knee" in your statements above.

then, it will all make sense. change your gears often, and you will help yourself ride better, longer and more effectively.