Useless Stats Dept.: Shifting gears

[jan_nienaber]

Gidday folks!

I live in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. My favourite training ride is a 20 kilometer loop from my house through the Derby Reach area next to the Fraser River towards Fort Langley and then back again. Not mountainous, but a helluva lot of (minor) uphills and downhills.... To me, a piece of level road is one where I did not shift for at least 2 minutes.

So out of sheer boredom and not to mention perversity I tried to count the number of shifts on my last ride (both front or rear counts as a gear change). I lost count after about 30 minutes riding at around 35 shifts. That's more than one shift per minute, and by implication an hour ride each day for 6 days a week equals 450 - 500 gear changes per month!

My bike is equipped with Shimano 105's and it has been performing flawlessly for the past 400 kilometers. No wonder a set of deraileurs / shift levers are rather costly items $$$ -wise (and I wonder how much better Ultegra or Dura-Ace, or the higher-priced Campy etc will perform). From my point of view, I reckon I am well getting my money's worth....

Some useless (personal) statistics as I said, but has anybody else ever thought about derailleurs in this way?

--Jan in BC, Canada

 

[melslur]

Gidday folks!

Some useless (personal) statistics as I said, but has anybody else ever thought about derailleurs in this way?

--Jan in BC, Canada

I have. I ride north of Toronto where there are some rolling hills, and think about the shifters wearing out sooner than riding in a flat area. I think I rarely shifted when I lived in Saskatchewan - just when I changed directions or got to the Qu'Appelle valley. But that is part of the fun of cycling (the varying terrain).

 

[Retro Grouch]

Reminds me of my very first ride on a bike that has STI shifters. About 20 miles into the ride I said to the guy riding next to me "A rear derailleur is only going to last half as long with this bike because I'm shifting twice as much."

Joking aside, you have to go some to actually wear out a derailleur. Even shifting once a minute, you're only moving the derailleur a tiny amount with each shift. Think of how many times you'd have to cycle the derailleur back and forth if you were trying to wear it out. Your shifters are going to die first.

 

[garage sale GT]

Maybe you could rig the derailleur to lift a weight when you shift. Think of how strong your fingers would get.

 

[Yojimbo_]

Meslur said:

I ride north of Toronto where there are some rolling hills, and think about the shifters wearing out sooner than riding in a flat area.

Hey Meslur

I ride north of Toronto as well. That's a long way to go though from St. Catherines.

 

[melslur]

Meslur said:

I ride north of Toronto where there are some rolling hills, and think about the shifters wearing out sooner than riding in a flat area.

Hey Meslur

I ride north of Toronto as well. That's a long way to go though from St. Catherines.

True, it's about 175 km away, but don't be too impressed. I have a decent 80's Bianchi with 6 speed Campagnolo in St. Catharines, and a 2005 Specialized with 9 speed Ultegra in Newmarket. Only problem is I have 1 pump and 1 pair of shoes, so I am always bringing those back and forth!

 

[oldbobcat]

Some useless (personal) statistics as I said, but has anybody else ever thought about derailleurs in this way?

--Jan in BC, Canada

You're obsessing, Jan. Let it go. You will wear out cassette cogs and chainrings before you will wear out a rear derailleur.

Of course, one way to shift less is to have fewer gears. A 5-speed freewheel should be the ticket.

 

[alienator]

Some useless (personal) statistics as I said, but has anybody else ever thought about derailleurs in this way?

Nope.

 

[jan_nienaber]

You're obsessing, Jan. Let it go. You will wear out cassette cogs and chainrings before you will wear out a rear derailleur.

Hey oldbobcat,

I'm more astounded about thhe sheer number of shifts than obsessing about it - never thought I'm using the gear shift that much. Makes sense for component companies to invest a lot of research into improving that interface.

-- Jan in BC, Canada