Categories: TechniqueThe HardmenThe Rules

Changer de Braquet

The classic gear lever

Some people are supremely good at it, reducing complex situations into matters of simple black and white. This isn’t my particular area of expertise; I enjoy wading through the pools of ambiguity a bit too much to go about bludgeoning this beautiful world into absolutes. In fact, I would venture that delighting in nuance is part of what distinguishes La Vie Velominatus from the simple act of riding a bicycle.

I’ve spent the summer wrapping myself in the Rules handed down by the Apostle Museeuw during Keepers Tour 2012, with particular emphasis on Rule #90. Climbing Sur la Plaque is a cruel business, rising upwards under the crushing weight of physics as you fight to maintain your rhythm and momentum. At first, it’s a struggle to maintain speed on the smaller climbs as you learn how to change your pedaling action to compensate for changes in gradient. You focus on loading the pedals and forcing them around; the moment you lose the rhythm, gravity sinks her claws into your tires and tries to drag you back down the hill. On the other hand, if you maintain your cadence and power through the ramps, what is usually an intimidating slope will disappear under your wheels, making molehills of mountains.

If the Big Ring is a hammer, then not every climb is a nail. (I realize too late that referring to the road as a nail is sure to bring the Puncture Apocalypse on today’s ride.) The guns get more massive from the practice of Rule #90, but it comes at a hefty price: souplesse withers like a delicate flower as one seeks to conquer the art of mashing a huge gear. Indeed, one of the great pleasures in Cycling is to sense a certain fluidity of your stroke which belies the feeling of strength in your muscles as you continue to heap coals on the fire.

This requires an art altogether different from moving Sur la Plaque; it relies on turning the pedals at a higher cadence and shifting gear whenever the gradient changes. Rhythm holds court over everything else and is maintained at all costs. As the gradient steepens, the chain is slipped into the next smaller gear; as the gradient eases, it is droped back down. Not every climb suits this style of riding; the rear cluster must be matched perfectly to accomodate the changes in pitch such that maximum speed is maintained and the legs allowed to continue their relentless churn. When synchronized perfectly, it is the gateway to La Volupté; when not: disaster.

Such is the nuance of shifting gear, such is the nature of Cycling.

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

frank says:

Oct 8 2012 at 4:04 pm

@The Tashkent Error

I love competing against riders who have to mash every hill in the big ring, barely doing 50 rpm, because they confuse pride with idiocy and don't understand that bike racing is all about saving energy. Every time I see them out of their saddles, fighting with their pedals, I smile and know there is potentially one less racer to worry about in the finish.

Good for training, not so much for racing.

@ZachOlson

If only I wasn't such a little bitch, I could have ridden up that hill and lost the race in the last 400 meters instead.

Gold!

@snoov

It does confuse me a bit when folk smile after making it up a climb in the big ring but on their 27 tooth sprocket, they assure me they are not cross chaining?

I don't worry about cross chaining that much, though I try to stay at least a cog from the end.

On the other hand, I'm 100% sure you have a better mechanical advantage in the 53x26 than in the 39x19 or whatever the equivalent-sized gear ratio is in the 39.
frank says:

Oct 8 2012 at 4:06 pm

@G'rilla

@eightzero I was browsing the sites of custom framebuilders and found English Cycles in Oregon. They did a bike with Di2 where the battery is inside the seat tube (charging port exposed on the side) and the other connection is in the stem. It makes for a really clean bike without the usual messy rats nest of wires under the bars on Di2 bikes. http://www.englishcycles.com/custombikes/custom-di2-road-bike/

The quil stem choice has me baffled, but that is by far the best-looking setup I've seen for the Di2 concealment. Those rats nests are such a disappointment.

@Ron

I'm still pissed about three years ago when I shifted into the small ring.

Fixed your post.
frank says:

Oct 8 2012 at 4:10 pm

@the Engine

@eightzero

At the risk of (inappropriate) threadjack, this one (and the very appropriate picture) plays directly into a debate I've had with myself whilst focused on the V-Locus: if I could place gear change command inputs anywhere on the bike, where would they be?

Remember that downtube levers were a huge inprovement to derailleur set ups. And then STI levers became derigeur for all modern bikes. In the last few years,we've seen electronic shifting make its appearance, but oddly, electronic shifters have left the "buttons" at the same place as the STI lever. Yes, there are remotes available, and TT bar options as well.

But...if you could put that button anywhere on the bike, where would it be? And remember....it theoreticlly doesn't even need to have a wire leading there. Maybe on a glove? Or is the STI placement the ultimate refinement?

We now return you to our regularly scheduled thread.

I bed that somewhere someone is thinking, "What if we used the output from the power meter to make automatic gear changes to keep a constant cadence (obviously within load parameters) with a manual override - bit like a flappy paddle auto box on a car?"

I mean the computer power is already there and could easily be incorporated in the available space on any bike set up to run electronic shifting.

Wish I had some engineering ability because it would sell like hotcakes to time trialists - no need to move even a finger out of that perfect aero position.

I just died a little bit inside thinking of this. What a tragedy that would be for La Vie Velominatus!
snoov says:

Oct 8 2012 at 4:15 pm

@frank

@The Tashkent Error

I love competing against riders who have to mash every hill in the big ring, barely doing 50 rpm, because they confuse pride with idiocy and don't understand that bike racing is all about saving energy. Every time I see them out of their saddles, fighting with their pedals, I smile and know there is potentially one less racer to worry about in the finish.

Good for training, not so much for racing.

@ZachOlson

If only I wasn't such a little bitch, I could have ridden up that hill and lost the race in the last 400 meters instead.

@snoov

It does confuse me a bit when folk smile after making it up a climb in the big ring but on their 27 tooth sprocket, they assure me they are not cross chaining?

I don't worry about cross chaining that much, though I try to stay at least a cog from the end.

On the other hand, I'm 100% sure you have a better mechanical advantage in the 53Ã—26 than in the 39Ã—19 or whatever the equivalent-sized gear ratio is in the 39.

Interesting, I wonder if the large rings (less friction) balances out with the straighter chain, which I'm assuming also has less friction.
eightzero says:

Oct 8 2012 at 4:24 pm

In my mind, it all boils down to this: aesthetics. I'm all for tech to the extent it makes the ride more enjoyable. When the bike looks good; I look good. When I look good, the ride is that much more enjoyable. Mind you: the Principle of Silence is tantamount. a bike must be silent to look good.

Too many tech inventions skip the basic truisms of usability. If a bike is hard to maintain, that is more time fucking around getting it ready. It costs more in maintenance, meaning less dollars to be used in Looking Good, going for more rides, etc.

Case on point here is the fucking disc brakes. Oh, I'm sure they are great. But anyone who thinks hydraulic systems are easy to maintain has never worked with them. MTB, sure. Maybe 'cross. But a road bike? Not convinced...until...someone comes up with a compelling and pervasive change in wheel design that offers advantages to removing the braking surface away from dual-use tyre mounting function of the rim. We Shall See.

And if we are going to redesign wheels...maybe someone can re-engineer the hub internal coaster brake. Imagine...yes...remotely controlled electrically actuated internal brakes. No cables to maintain. But...it has to Work with no fucking around. And of course have a monitor system preventing failures at 50+ kph with no warning. You though lawyer tabs were bad.

Wish I had a lab to work on this shit. Or I could go for a fucking bike ride. Merckx help me.
eightzero says:

Oct 8 2012 at 4:27 pm

@frank

@the Engine

@eightzero

At the risk of (inappropriate) threadjack, this one (and the very appropriate picture) plays directly into a debate I've had with myself whilst focused on the V-Locus: if I could place gear change command inputs anywhere on the bike, where would they be?

Remember that downtube levers were a huge inprovement to derailleur set ups. And then STI levers became derigeur for all modern bikes. In the last few years,we've seen electronic shifting make its appearance, but oddly, electronic shifters have left the "buttons" at the same place as the STI lever. Yes, there are remotes available, and TT bar options as well.

But...if you could put that button anywhere on the bike, where would it be? And remember....it theoreticlly doesn't even need to have a wire leading there. Maybe on a glove? Or is the STI placement the ultimate refinement?

We now return you to our regularly scheduled thread.

I bed that somewhere someone is thinking, "What if we used the output from the power meter to make automatic gear changes to keep a constant cadence (obviously within load parameters) with a manual override - bit like a flappy paddle auto box on a car?"

I mean the computer power is already there and could easily be incorporated in the available space on any bike set up to run electronic shifting.

Wish I had some engineering ability because it would sell like hotcakes to time trialists - no need to move even a finger out of that perfect aero position.

I just died a little bit inside thinking of this. What a tragedy that would be for La Vie Velominatus!

Yeah, this is a bullshit idea for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the point of your article. The bike responds to my needs, not the other way around.
PeakInTwoYears says:

Oct 8 2012 at 4:47 pm

@eightzero

Too many tech inventions skip the basic truisms of usability. If a bike is hard to maintain, that is more time fucking around getting it ready. It costs more in maintenance, meaning less dollars to be used in Looking Good, going for more rides, etc.

Case on point here is the fucking disc brakes. Oh, I'm sure they are great. But anyone who thinks hydraulic systems are easy to maintain has never worked with them. MTB, sure. Maybe 'cross. But a road bike? Not convinced...

Yes. I'm willing to be convinced, at some point in the future. And if I were young and made my living on a bike, I'd likely think differently about a lot of things (like wet roads), but on 80 or 90km/hr descents in days of old I never felt like I needed more braking power. These days, on a mountain bike? Hell yeah.

But then I like fountain pens with italic nibs.
eightzero says:

Oct 8 2012 at 4:57 pm

If you were young, and made a living on a bike...likely you'd have someone to buy and maintain it for you too. They follow you in a car.
DerHoggz says:

Oct 8 2012 at 5:06 pm

@frank

@G'rilla

@eightzero I was browsing the sites of custom framebuilders and found English Cycles in Oregon. They did a bike with Di2 where the battery is inside the seat tube (charging port exposed on the side) and the other connection is in the stem. It makes for a really clean bike without the usual messy rats nest of wires under the bars on Di2 bikes. http://www.englishcycles.com/custombikes/custom-di2-road-bike/

The quil stem choice has be baffled, but that is by far the best-looking setup I've seen for the Di2 concealment. Those rats nests are such a disappointment.

It actually isn't a quill stem, but a custom made stem/steerer where the fork clamps on at the bottom. Mr. English makes some beautiful bikes.
DerHoggz says:

Oct 8 2012 at 5:09 pm

Here is his superlight race bike, 10.8lbs of mostly steel: