It pains me to do this, but the blogosphere has brought to my attention the fact that many, many, otherwise capable riders have some kind of issue with dropping their chains. Never mind that this is a design issue brought on by the component companies need to take the skill out of shifting your bike. I've ranted about 39/53 shifting poorly before too, so I'll let that go (especially since I've been running a 36/52 lately because I'm too lazy to find the 38 and put it back on, not that it's any better than the 39/53). WTF are you talking about solo?
Just
read saw
the latest Toddcast where the boy wonder laments about dropping his chain at the Blue Hills Classic and "having to get off his bike to put it back on." I can't believe I need to write this, but people, if you drop your chain (which usually happens during a careless, panic move from the big ring to the little), relax, keep pedalling, and just use your front shifter to push the chain back on to the big ring where it started, then downshift like you wanted to, just more carefully this time. If this doesn't work for you, then you were either going WAY too slow when you made the misshift in the first place, or you are just one unlucky bastard. Glad I could help, thanks for reading.
PS - do not confuse this issue with
what happened to me at the Gloucester cross race. That was overshifting when going into the big ring and throwing the chain overboard on the outside. Come to think of it, I still haven't adjusted that derailleur on the cross bike...
well put
ReplyDeleteThese kids don't know how to ride a bike.
ReplyDeleteThey can train like lab rats, program a watt meter, monitor organic intake and know their global position at all times (including altitude). But they can't shift a clicky-clicky bike.
The phreds in in the club are sad. Every year there are a host of twisted hangers from shifting into wheels. There are crashes when a monkey reaches for his bottle.
I tried for 5 years to tutor these people on cross-chaining. Riding a straight line. Not veering into traffic. No avail.
Hammer, hammer, blame the bike or energy drink, or weather if anything goes wrong.
Learn how to ride your bike and life is a lot easier.
Feh. Any by the way, stay off my lawn.
oh yeah... i remember...
ReplyDeleteoutside WAY easier if you had a proper chain pin...
But Bruce...
you ain't got much of a lawn... in fact...
IIRC you ain't got NO front lawn...
Golly gee, Solo. You're SO smart. I would NEVER thought to have tried that.
ReplyDeleteYeah - I don't know how to ride my bike.
Fuckers.
well you didn't know how to glue a tubular....
ReplyDeleteYeah - I let a BIKESHOP do that...
ReplyDeleteLOL...
ReplyDeleteRest my case...
Maybe ya need a better Shop Sponsor!
BWAHAHAHAHA
(stay off Il Bruce's non-existent lawn BTW)
Sorry. I forgot. I'm dealing with the most negative and disrespectful people on the planet.
ReplyDeleteStoopid me.
I like ponies!
ReplyDeleteKeep those damned ponies and Cat IVs off my measly strip of forlorn grass. Oh wait I'm a IV a gain.
ReplyDeleteOh SNAP... Il Bruce is a Cat 5?
ReplyDeleteNFW...
late to the party, per usual.
ReplyDeletebut, you know i love a good PSA.
after you've just swam 1.2 miles, are riding up a steep grade trying to stay below FT, in a 6 hour endurance event, all while riding a TT bike with bar-end shifters that's grinding and skipping, and don't throw your chain...
then, write another PSA
;)
btw, i think Nega-Coach should admit it when he guest-posts on your blog...
ReplyDeleteI'M JUST SAYIN'!
Well, I could go all Nega-Coach and say that in a 6 hour "race" where the competitors take the time for multiple bathroom stops, that saving a tenth of a second by rushing a shift is even less important than in a bike race when you're desperately trying to get into the correct gear so as not to get dropped on a climb. But I wouldn't do that... Yes, it can happen to anybody. As I've said, the currently fashionable 14+ tooth difference between from chainrings, along with the modern narrow chains, makes front shifting less reliable than ever. Bar ends, though, that's actually the preferred way to shift the front rings. When they're mounted as originally intended, on the ends of drop handlebars, not only do they provide the most precise control of the front changer, but they also work like a charm for pulling an errant chain back onto the big ring. When used tri style on the aerobars, I guess they're not so good. I really don't like that setup, as then you have to reach way out in order to shift on a climb, and in the case of the front shifter, its backwards. I like to put the bar ends on my bullhorns on the TT bike. They're easy enough to reach there when on the aerobars. This does make brake lever choice problematic, as you have to use old school levers in the reverse position. But I'm not one to follow the trends...
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, at least in a tri, when you drop your chain you're only messing up yourself. My ranting is more directed at those who do it in the middle of the back, forcing back of the bunch slackers like me to take evasive action and sprint around them in order to not get gapped. Not cool.
ReplyDelete