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Anticipation Shift

Rollin rollers into the sunset. Photo via @fabbricadellabici

I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn’t it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailleur? We are getting soft… As for me, give me a fixed gear!

– Henri Desgrange

Whenever I encounter a challenging thought or idea, I recoil instinctively. On impulse, I assume I’m an expert in the matter and proceed as usual, no worse for the wear. The secret to success is your ability to overcome adversity, after all. Another secret to success, if we are allowed two on the same day, is to always take the advice of people on the internet, so long as you sort through all the opinions and cherry-pick the ones you already agreed with.

While I’m not an expert on taking advice, I am a bit of a virtuosity when it comes to the matter of giving it – especially when it is unsolicited. Please note, however, that while I am not drunk, I have a bit of a nasty case of manflu, a fact which I am certain will make me even more trustworthy.

As any fool can see, poor old Henri – however brilliant he was – was completely bonkers (genius and insanity often occupy the same mind). Despite that, there is a thread of truth to his reasoning, which is to say that gears are often used as a psychological tool rather than a mechanical one in order to tackle the various gradients we encounter during our rides.

We typically encounter a hill from some distance off, rearing up as though some careless road engineer had forgotten to tack the other end down. And, more often than not, we respond with the impulse to deploy the Anticipation Shift: downshifting prematurely in response to the sight of a big climb. Click-click-click-click, right down the block to whatever gear you imagine you’ll need in order to ride to the top of a hill whose gradient you can’t accurately judge and whose summit you likely can’t see. And just like that, all your momentum is gone and you’re left to fulfill your own prophecy of laboring with the gear all the way to the tippy top top of the climb.

To be fair, shifting is a bit of a dark art and takes ages to master. When to shift and when to power through is something one should feel, never see. There is either a laboring or an ease in your stroke that informs whether you should change gear. Please consult the below list for some tips on how to avoid the Anticipation Shift.*

The point of shifting is to maintain your cadence and spare the guns from overheating and causing a meltdown in the Engine Room. With that in mind, never shift more than one gear at a time, unless you know something specific about the climb that merits a bigger jump. If you are changing front chain rings, do so together with a synchronized two-cog shift of the rear in the opposite direction. (If you have widely spaced gears, one cog in the back might be enough.) **
Shift whenever you sense you are losing the ability to smoothly turn the gear over, never before. Smoothly is the operative word here; if you fall behind the gear, you will heap coals on the fire, burn the guns, and overheat the engine room. If you get ahead of the gear, you risk upsetting your rhythm by spinning more thereby putting additional strain on your lungs, which you will experience as acute pain.
If you encounter a short uptick in gradient, you have the choice to power over or to downshift and spin up it. This decision will involve a quick assessment of how closely the Man with the Hammer is lurking. If you have the juice, power over. You can even jump out of the saddle for a little extra V. This will keep your speed up and keep you from having to accelerate again after the pitch.
Always hit a climb at full gas, as fast as you can go – especially if you are coming off a descent and especially – especially – when you are completely jacked. Use your momentum to carry you as far up the climb as you can, get out of the saddle and slowly downshift as the speed scrubs and the guns lose their ability to smoothly turn the gear over.
The fifth bullet is here more for symmetry than anything else, but I’ll use this opportunity to remind you that shifting is the Domain of the Sissy, so if you can avoid it, please do.

* While these points hold true for any kind of riding, they are focussed on climbing.

** Remember, you can’t boast about climbing in the big ring on a compact; it’s only a big ring if it has more than 50 teeth, in which case it’s an outer ring.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

chuckp says:

Nov 6 2015 at 5:43 am

@Al__S

there’s a short climb here that’s a favourite of club runs that unfortunately requires an anticipation shift. there’s no safe way to approach it at speed, as it’s a side road on a blind junction. To make matters worse, it’s usually taken as a right turn (UK, so we ride/drive on the left) and rears to 100% almost immediately.

In fact, the “club run” bit brings a whole further factor into play of group etiquette. Sometimes it’s fine to attack the group and ride at your own pace- but not always. There’s a time and place where one would be an arse to attack. Shift down, keep the cadence up and pace weaker riders up.

I have something similar one of my routes, but maybe actually "worse." The run in is a lengthy (a little over a km) barely perceptible uphill (maybe 1%) slog. Right turn and BAM! Short climb (less than a km), but you have no momentum, with an average grade of 6% but double digit at the top.
Teocalli says:

Nov 6 2015 at 5:58 am
@chuckp

Practice what I call “Contador intervals.” I actually do these on my spin bike over the winter. After warming up, I turn the resistance up and do out of the saddle “climbs” for 10 minutes with 3 minutes recovery inbetween. At least 3 reps, sometimes 4. Sometimes the same resistance each time. Sometimes increasing the resistance with each rep. Apparently, Contador likes to do 20 minutes out of the saddle when he’s working on his climbing.

I do something similar but my turbo is not great at shifting resistance being a) basic and b) fairly old. So my typical sequence is set resistance to a baseline for a session with the bike in big dog and mid cassette and use gearing to increase resistance per......
1. Warmup 2 mins shifting down (lower gear) 1 cog.
2. Shift to baseline for 3 mins and pick up fast cruise
3. Drop 1 cog (higher gear) 2 mins near max
4. Back to baseline 3 mins fast cruise (i.e. not as slow as recovery)
5. Drop 2 cogs 2 mins near max
6. Back to baseline 3 mins fast cruise
7. Drop 3 cogs 2 mins near max
8. continue depending on cog you start in till either a) you are in highest gear or b) you collapse
9. 5 mins on rowing machine x 2 cycles
10. End with 2-5 mins warm down back on turbo as step 1
I usually set up resistance such that step 6 is 50% standing and step 7 is all standing.

Repeat depending on age / fitness / ability to stay sane on a turbo.
Teocalli says:

Nov 6 2015 at 6:02 am

I forgot to add. It's surprising how a turbo session with some sort of interval structure somehow makes the time pass better than sitting there and grinding away in the same mode for the duration.
chuckp says:

Nov 6 2015 at 6:27 am

@Teocalli

I forgot to add. It’s surprising how a turbo session with some sort of interval structure somehow makes the time pass better than sitting there and grinding away in the same mode for the duration.

Agree. Some sort of intervals keeps you focused and makes the time pass. Music also helps. I also sometimes just put a movie on the TV. But in an hour or so, you can get a pretty good/beneficial workout. For me, it's essentially strength training without going to the gym.
chuckp says:

Nov 6 2015 at 6:48 am

An interesting take on this is when you have to do an all uphill mountain time trial (which I've had to do exactly once). Standing start on a grade (no fancy TT start house). Do you start in a small gear so you have leg speed and then shift to smaller cogs to get power? Or start in a bigger gear and try to power up from the get-go? Big ring knowing that you will absolutely have to shift down to the small ring?
RobSandy says:

Nov 6 2015 at 6:56 am

@chuckp

@Teocalli

I forgot to add. It’s surprising how a turbo session with some sort of interval structure somehow makes the time pass better than sitting there and grinding away in the same mode for the duration.

Agree. Some sort of intervals keeps you focused and makes the time pass. Music also helps. I also sometimes just put a movie on the TV. But in an hour or so, you can get a pretty good/beneficial workout. For me, it’s essentially strength training without going to the gym.

Agh, the thought of just getting on the turbo and riding makes me feel nauseous. I have a selection of 30-45 minute workouts on the turbo to achieve different things.Nearly all intervals of some kind. Any longer than that and it's just mental torture.
RobSandy says:

Nov 6 2015 at 7:00 am

@chuckp

An interesting take on this is when you have to do an all uphill mountain time trial (which I’ve had to do exactly once). Standing start on a grade (no fancy TT start house). Do you start in a small gear so you have leg speed and then shift to smaller cogs to get power? Or start in a bigger gear and try to power up from the get-go? Big ring knowing that you will absolutely have to shift down to the small ring?

I've recently done a hill TT, and the complete bastard thing about it was that the gradient constantly varied. It started with a false flat, where you needed to be in full on TT mode, then steepened a little, then went into double digit gradients for a bit...it was just the most horrible thing I've done on a bike. I just felt uncomfortable the whole time, no opportunity to get into any sort of rhythm.
wiscot says:

Nov 6 2015 at 7:57 am

@chuckp

An interesting take on this is when you have to do an all uphill mountain time trial (which I’ve had to do exactly once). Standing start on a grade (no fancy TT start house). Do you start in a small gear so you have leg speed and then shift to smaller cogs to get power? Or start in a bigger gear and try to power up from the get-go? Big ring knowing that you will absolutely have to shift down to the small ring?

Racing in Scotland in the 80s, hill climbs were an intrinsic part of the fall calendar. Two-up 'Gentleman's races" and a couple of hilly TTs were also part of the fall schedule. They always attracted good crowds to watch the riders suffering. Being historically unsuited to climbing, I rode a few (mostly club ones) just for the "fun" of it. Remember, this was before compact cranks and brifters so gearing was generally higher and shifting a bit more awkward as you couldn't shift while out of the saddle. If I remember, I'd start pretty low depending on the initial gradient and then shift accordingly. The biggest thing was getting really warmed up. None of the ones I rode could be done on a 52. A lot of guys rode fixed. Some climbs started easy, others were full on from the start. As this was also in the days of toe clips and straps, there was usually someone to catch the riders at the top so they wouldn't fall over. It was pure masochism. Good times.
universo says:

Nov 6 2015 at 8:17 am

@litvi

You can actually accelerate while you’re in a given gear instead of just maintaining it. (Or, at least you’ll slow down a little less than you would have.)

let the record show that litvi is a good name.

on the front, yes. good idea to give enough acceleration before shifting to another sprocket. seamless pedal strokes before the shift, whether shifting up or down, serve the rider and other riders. any other rider, hanging on your wheels every word, needs to see this. giving an evident moment shows riders closing in on a climb to prepare their "own shift" or accelerate right then and there. this also depends whether you are attempting to drop riders or pilot them to the next climb.
TheVid says:

Nov 6 2015 at 10:49 am

@Gianni

Shit. Does Campy make a 51 tooth chainring and can I afford it? In my mind I’m still crushing the big ring (50) and I refer to it as a big ring mostly to bug Frank.

If you do it to annoy Frank, and so long as its done in the spirit of Rule 43, then it gets a pass in my books.