{"id":133778,"date":"2016-02-23T17:07:14","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T15:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/?p=133778"},"modified":"2017-12-04T08:58:37","modified_gmt":"2017-12-04T08:58:37","slug":"how-many-gears-do-i-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/02\/23\/how-many-gears-do-i-need\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Gears Do I Need?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a difficult question, and those in need turn to Sheldon Brown who, despite his passing in 2008, is still regarded as the greatest bike mechanic who ever lived.\u00a0 Sheldon gave us the definitive answer.<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a><\/h3>\n

You only need 1 gear<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Even a single speed bike will move you faster with less effort than walking – bicycles are efficient machines. Sheldon pointed out that if you come across a hill that\u2019s too steep you could get off and push. So you only need one gear, unless\u2026<\/p>\n

You need 2 gears<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You might find a single high gear annoying when you want to set off quickly down the shops, and a low gear isn\u2019t any fun when you want to go fast on a flat road. SRAM solved the problem with their Automatix hub range. It has a low gear for setting off which automatically changes to a higher gear when you hit a fast cadence \u2013 and because it\u2019s fixie, you get two gears and a brake with no cables.\u00a0 You only need two gears, unless\u2026<\/p>\n

[fb-msg-optin msg=”Subscribe”]<\/p>\n

You need 3 gears<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Internal hubs are a practical option for town bikes like Bromptons or the classic Burgers Dutch bike \u2013 maybe some of us don\u2019t want to spend our Sunday afternoons covered in grease, cleaning our mountain bike gears. Three gears work nicely \u2013 a pulling off gear, a low gear for hills, and a high gear for the flat. So you only need three gears, unless\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Sheldon<\/a><\/p>\n

You need 11 gears<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Maybe you live in Scotland, or similar environment where there are lots of very steep mountains and no one has bothered to build Alpine roads that zig-zag gradually up the side. If your only options are to take your Santa Cruz Bronson straight up the mountain, you\u2019ll be comfortable with 1×11 gears.\u00a0\u00a0 This gives you a choice of 11 very low gears to choose from, depending how steep any bit of that mountain happens to be when you get to it. Going down the mountain just let gravity and the Bronson do their job. You only need 11 gears, unless\u2026<\/p>\n

You need 22<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Forget off-roading \u2013 you\u2019re sticking to the asphalt. You\u2019re taking your Trek Emonda SLR on your bike club\u2019s 50 mile Sunday ride, so you opt for the compact 2 gears at the front, coupled with 11 gears at the back, offering high enough gear ratios that you won\u2019t embarrass yourself in the sprint. But your bike won\u2019t blow you any kisses when you\u2019re dancing on the pedals up a 15% incline.\u00a0 If you find yourself in crying on a climb\u2026<\/p>\n

You need 27<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re more concerned with enjoying the view from the saddle than the view from the podium, opt for a triple gear up front and nine gears on the back wheel. It\u2019s a more comfortable ride, but be prepared to spend more time covered in grease carefully cleaning your drive chain.\u00a0 Maybe you should have opted for that single speed after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a difficult question, and those in need turn to Sheldon Brown who, despite his passing in 2008, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":133781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328,334],"tags":[],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-133778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outdoor-mountain","category-socialising-and-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Many Gears Do I Need? - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is a difficult question, and those in need turn to Sheldon Brown who, despite his passing in 2008, is still regarded as the greatest bike mechanic...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/02\/23\/how-many-gears-do-i-need\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Many Gears Do I Need?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is a difficult question, and those in need turn to Sheldon Brown who, despite his passing in 2008, is still regarded as the greatest bike mechanic...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/02\/23\/how-many-gears-do-i-need\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-23T15:07:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-12-04T08:58:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/02\/profi13244224.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher Ashley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/02\/23\/how-many-gears-do-i-need\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/02\/23\/how-many-gears-do-i-need\/\",\"name\":\"How Many Gears Do I Need? 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