Bicycling question "cross chaining"

[bpgreen]

I went from being a complete couch potato a few years ago ro b trying to get into shape.

As part of that, I've stated riding a bike.

A neighbor told me today that I should avoid cross chaining.

As he described it, I would want to have the front gear on the smaller gear while the back gear was also on the smaller gear and vice versa. This seemed counterintuitive to me.

I watched a YouTube video that discussed cross chaining, and it seemed to align with the way I'm inclined to shift (for maximum speed, big gear in front and small gear in back).

Did my neighbor describe it incorrectly or am I off base in my thinking?

[John Sand]

I haven't ridden in years, but you definitely get the highest gear ratio with the big cog to the small, giving you the highest potential speed.

[mashani]

Cross chaining is a thing. It does ever so slightly cost you a bit of efficiency (friction on the bike, watts for you), and slightly increases the wear and tear on your chain and gears. There are some gear ratios that overlap on a 2x setup, and if you are in those gears it's best to be in the one that has the straightest line between the front and back if you want to be the absolutely most efficient and put the absolute least wear on your bikes components. That said, not cleaning them and re-lubing them all the time (like most people) puts way more wear and tear on them then if you rode around cross chained to the extreme 24x7.

So slightly is the word here. It is not as big of a deal as people make of it. I ride 1x setup, so I'm cross chaining a lot if I am pushing the extremes (but my bike is set up so that at my normal maintainable pace I'm in more of a straight line). On a well designed 2x setup you can do it less, but not using half of your gears is dumb so you are going to cross chain somewhat if you ride places where you can use all your gears and need them. You have gears for a reason, so use them when you need to and don't let some weenie tell you that you shouldn't.

Technically the same principle actually applies when it comes to the angle of your chain from front to back, straight line or not. The less of an sharp angle it makes on the small end/around turns, the more efficient it is friction wise and the less wear on your bike components as well. IE the same argument can be made on a fixed gear track bike when it comes to gear ratios... Some might ride say a 48x16, but something like a 56x19 might give a technically better chain line and only be slightly more spinny and gain you some free watts that can be put back into speed. This same principle is where there are also over sized derailleur/tension cogs available these days, to avoid sharp chain angles there as well.

So, ideally you do want to put a set of gears/cogs on your bike that lets you ride at your normal sustainable pace wherever you ride with minimal cross chaining and minimal chain angle also, but really we are talking about you wasting a few watts of power if your at the extremes. That's not going to be the difference between you winning or losing to someone unless you are elite and riding 50k+ time trial like courses or the like. As in these types of arguments are *elite cyclist* arguments, that couch potato cyclists somehow get all into a tizzy about, just like homebrewers have gotten into a tizzy about not doing things just like commercial brewers, even though it really doesn't matter at our "scale".

Make sense?

[bpgreen]

Thanks. That makes sense.

And your side comment reminds me that when it warms up, I'll need to clean and lubricate before I start riding again.