Rapid Rise Derailier

[tony R]

"Velvet" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
..........
> I'm still working on gear changes while the bike is under load (ie, up
> hills etc) - I find it very hard not to have it be a jerky and obviously
> stressful for the components (and my knees!) procedure - slacking off
> the power through the pedals instantly leads to a drop in cadence but
> worse a drop in speed, which is very hard to recover... I know there
> must be a knack to it, maybe one part of the pedal stroke is best - I'll
> get it one day!

I think it's precisely this scenario that RR is suposed to help. I'm not
sure there's really a knack - it's better to just not change down under load
unless you really have to. I generally try to select a gear at the bottom of
a hill that I'll still be able to use at the top - even if it's too low for
the bottom of the hill.
However using the bike with the RR derailleur if I get caught in the wrong
gear it's generally a little easier to deal with.

tony R.

 

[Jon Senior]

Velvet [email protected]in opined the following...
> I'm still working on gear changes while the bike is under load (ie, up
> hills etc) - I find it very hard not to have it be a jerky and obviously
> stressful for the components (and my knees!) procedure - slacking off
> the power through the pedals instantly leads to a drop in cadence but
> worse a drop in speed, which is very hard to recover... I know there
> must be a knack to it, maybe one part of the pedal stroke is best - I'll
> get it one day!

If you do have to drop a gear under load, due to the cadence drop, it's
sometimes better to drop two. That way when you recover the cadence
you're often in an appropriate gear. But as Tony said, it's better to
pick the right gear before you start. It doesn't _have_ to be as
extreme, just make sure that you change as you start to slow, not once
you've slowed.

Jon

 

[tony R]

"tony R" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Velvet" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> .........
> > I'm still working on gear changes while the bike is under load (ie, up
> > hills etc) - I find it very hard not to have it be a jerky and obviously
> > stressful for the components (and my knees!) procedure - slacking off
> > the power through the pedals instantly leads to a drop in cadence but
> > worse a drop in speed, which is very hard to recover... I know there
> > must be a knack to it, maybe one part of the pedal stroke is best - I'll
> > get it one day!
>
> I think it's precisely this scenario that RR is suposed to help. I'm not
> sure there's really a knack - it's better to just not change down under
load
> unless you really have to. I generally try to select a gear at the bottom
of
> a hill that I'll still be able to use at the top - even if it's too low
for
> the bottom of the hill.
> However using the bike with the RR derailleur if I get caught in the wrong
> gear it's generally a little easier to deal with.

Scratch all that. Thinking about it, I'm trying to generalise from the
specific situation of towing a heavy load up a steep hill. I use my other
bike (with regular derailleur) all the time in some very hilly country and
very often have to change gear half way up a hill. So maybe there is a knack
and I just haven't thought about it before. Sound advice from Jon about
changing down two or more gears at a time though.

tony R.

 

[Richard Goodman]

"Velvet" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Yeah, this is a single click and release to move up, to move up again
> you have to click and release repeatedly.
>
> Which is why I was a bit puzzled as to the actual gains made for
> downshifting fast with a RR setup, cos to downshift one gear might be
> faster, but to downshift 2 or three it *definitely* isn't!!!
>
> If I want to change up three, it's three sets of click-release movements
> of the little lever, which seems to take just as long, if not longer, as
> dropping three gears using the push waaay over and hold to be sure it's
> dropped the three..

I have RR derailleurs on both my road and mountain bikes (I have an mtb
derailleur on my road bike) and I really like them. Yes, I can shift 'up',
up to three cogs at a time by pushing the relevant lever far enough over or
across, or I can change 'down' one gear at a time by clicking the other
lever, or several by clicking rapidly several times in succession. But I
tell you I can click the lever that releases tension much more quickly than
I can push the other lever over far enough to shift three gears against the
spring tension. The 'click' action is much quicker than the 'puuuush'
action.

The reason why I put RR on my road bike was because I wanted a mtb
derailleur to wrap enough chain for the mtb cassette I intended to put on
for touring, and I didn't know then what RR was - I just bought the latest
XTR derailleur and it happened to be RR. But I find it useful for quick
downshifting approaching lights, and given that my road bike is used mainly
for commuting it seems quite practical in a city environment.

I put RR on my mtb after injuring my thumb - I couldn't downshift with my
thumb and there is much more need for rapid downshifting on the circuit I
ride than there is upshifting. Injury aside, I find that it really is much
quicker shifting down while stamping hard on the pedals on sudden sharp
inclines with an RR derailleur than it was without. It makes some slopes
doable that otherwise, without hitting the 'right' gear before reaching
them, would likely result in a stall and a fall. Or at least an off and
walk.

Rich