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Everything You Need To Know About Gear Ratios | Choosing Cassettes, Chainrings & Shifters Explained - YouTube
Channel: Global Triathlon Network
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now then the gears on our bike
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can seem like a tricky and complicated
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concept to understand
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and that is especially the case when we
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start to talk about gear ratios
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so what are they how do they work and
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what do they mean for us when we're
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riding
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[Music]
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so what exactly are the gears well
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the most simple terms we've got the
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front gears and the riggers and they're
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commonly referred to
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as the chain set and the cassette
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respectively so starting with the chain
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set
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that's comprised of chain rings crank
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set
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and normally a derailleur which will
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switch between the chain rings now
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on most bikes you'll find two chainrings
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and that's referred to as
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a double some bikes less common but you
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may find
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three chainrings and that's referred to
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as a triple and
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increasingly more popular with finding
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one chainring on some bikes or people
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are opting to modify their bikes to have
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one chainring which does away with that
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front derailleur all together
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and that is called one by now that has
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been actually quite common in mountain
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biking for some time now but it's still
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a relatively niche corner
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of the road cycling market okay so let's
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delve into the chamberings quickly so
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you will have likely noticed that
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they come in all different shapes and
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sizes
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including obviously the two or three
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that you currently have on your bike
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and they're differentiated by the number
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of teeth that they have so for instance
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on my bike
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i have a 52 tooth bigger ring and a 36
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tooth smaller ring i'll explain a little
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bit more
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on why that is very shortly onto the
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cassette
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at the back well that is made up of lots
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of individual
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cogs normally on most modern bikes
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you'll find that you have between 10
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or 11 cogs but it can be as little as
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eight cogs or as many as 12 on some
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bikes
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and whilst we're talking about the
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cassette you may have heard people
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referring to gear choices as
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the highest or the lowest and well
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it is very confusing i gotta be honest
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this had me scratching my head a little
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bit when i first started riding your
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bike so
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allow me to explain the largest cog
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on your cassette which is the one
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closest to the spokes
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is actually your easiest gear and is
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often regarded as
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the lowest gear opposite end of that the
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smallest cog which is on the outside
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closest to
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the frame is actually your hardest gear
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and is often regarded as
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your highest gear
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i know i did say it was confusing now as
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with
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the chain rings the cassette does come
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in all sorts of different shapes and
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sizes
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with different number of teeth on each
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of the individual
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cogs so typically on most bikes you'll
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find the smallest cog having maybe
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11 or 12 teeth on it a lot of modern
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bikes are actually coming with 10 teeth
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on there
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and then that largest cog the easiest
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gear may have something like 25 teeth on
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there
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it could be as much as 28 teeth though
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or even bigger
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than that and it's that ratio between
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the biggest and the smallest cog that is
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of real
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interest and people mull over a lot and
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changes
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how much it jumps up in gears between
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the individual so if we take an
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example
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an 11 25 cassette meaning 11 tooth
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smallest cog 25 biggest versus an 11
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28. the 1125 is going to have a far
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smaller and incremental change up
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through the gears
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versus the 28 which might have quite
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sudden changes
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however that 1128 is better prepped for
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those challenging
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and tougher courses right then i've
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established the basic mechanics of the
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gears up front and at the rear now let's
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drill down a little bit further and
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starting with the chain set
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up front so typically on a road or
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triathlon bike we have
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three options here for the double
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chainring setup that i mentioned earlier
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we've got the standard
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which is a 53 tooth outer and
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39 tooth inner which is quite well
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suited to sort the flat the rolling the
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faster kind of terrains but still giving
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you enough range
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to get up the hills then we've got the
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semi or the mid
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compact which is a 52 tooth outer
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and a 36 tooth inner which is just
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giving you a little bit more range for
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those hills and the steeper climbs
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but we go further again we've got the
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compact chain set which is a 50
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tooth outer and a 34 tooth
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inner which is really well suited to
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very steep hilly and mountainous areas
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which might be ideal if you live in
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those kind of areas
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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but of course it's not just limited to
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those three options there's a whole host
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of other options out there they just
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tend to be the most common and most
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popular there's also
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the option to personalize your chain
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sets so you can easily swap out your
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chain rings i
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used to have a 55 tooth outer on my
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triathlon race bike
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which is quite well suited towards those
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flatter faster triathlons and routes
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that just
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allowing me to have that extra and hard
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gear to really push on but if you are
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swapping any chainrings out
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just make sure that you're following the
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manufacturer's guidance and matching it
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with the suitable inner
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or outer equally there's ton
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of smaller chain rings too which is
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actually becoming increasingly more
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popular with
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there being more options for group sets
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you've got 11 12 and even 13 speed group
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sets coming in likewise we see a similar
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spread of gears on the back too with
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cassette now traditionally on 10 and 11
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speed gears
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we're used to seeing ratios such as
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11 23 meaning 11 teeth on that smallest
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cold than 23 on the largest or 11
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25 but this range has widened
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considerably over the years and more
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often now we're used to seeing things
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like 11 27
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11 28 even as much as 11 32
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and that's increased further yet again
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with the introduction of things like
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sram access to 12 speed
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13 speed group sets we're seeing as much
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as 10
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33 it's worth pointing out though as we
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go to these
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larger cogs in these bigger ranges it
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may require
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a slightly different derailleur hanger
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that's going to allow and accommodate
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those larger gears
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well by now you've probably heard me
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talking about gear ratios a few times in
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this video i'm wondering what
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an earth i'm talking about well simplify
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is the ratio between the chosen front
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gear
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and the chosen rear gear so in this
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instance i'm currently
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in my outer chain ring and the smallest
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and hardest gear at the rear so that's a
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52 tooth on the front
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and an 11 tooth on the rear and the
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ratio is
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52 divided by 11. that gives me 4.72 so
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for
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every revolution single revolution of
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the cranks
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the rear wheel will move 4.72 times
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which is quite a tough gear only really
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suited towards the
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flat and fast or sections of road maybe
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descent or maybe when you've got a
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really strong tail and
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on the opposite end of the spectrum if i
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went into my smallest chainring which is
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a 36 tooth and into my easiest and
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largest cog
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at the back which is a 28 tooth that
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would give me a ratio of
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1.29 so quite a significant difference
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to
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the previous but what that means is that
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i'm not
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traveling as far for every revolution of
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the cranks
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but it is giving me or offering me a
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higher cadence which is obviously much
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better suited towards
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very steep and hilly sorts of terrain so
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what are we learning from this
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well that gear ratios are inseparably
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linked to the cadences at which we
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cycle which to us i think you all knew
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already anyone will have felt that when
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riding a bike and changing through the
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gears but
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what we should take from this is just
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the importance of the gear ratios and
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that just
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grabbing any old bike with any old gear
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ratio may
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make a big difference on certain
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terrains if you're heading off in some
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mountainous terrain perhaps going on a
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training camp or a holiday
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maybe think twice about the selection of
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gears that you have on your bike
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or you're coming back to training after
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a long hiatus or you're
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kitting a bike out for a friend that is
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just starting out cycling
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you may want to be nice to them and give
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them a slightly easier
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gear ratio on their bike well i hope
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that
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has been insightful and interesting for
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you today if you've got any more
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questions please drop them
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in the comments section down below
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apologies for it being
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so geeky but i really hope it has helped
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you if you've enjoyed today's video
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please do give it a thumbs up give it a
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like don't forget to give us a follow
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