So one of the things that I noticed with super fast XC riders was this…they are on their big ring as much as they can. Heck I even saw a Pro-Racer at the Fullerton Loop not too long ago climbing a steep hill on his big ring (42T) and the granny gear in the back. I saw him fly up the hills with such speed you’d think he was sprinting.
I figured only pros do this kind of stuff. But then I saw it being practiced during last night’s group ride at the Loop by our very own Kim Finch. Kim was on her big ring pretty often and now it makes sense why she’s so fast.
Image Courtesy of Jenson USA
Now I’m not sure if crossing the chain line to that extreme is good for your drive train, but I know it works. How do I do know? Well, I tried it. I tried to stay on my big ring as much as I can and found there were some speed benefits to it. I even did it on some climbs and I got up quicker than I would have if I were on my middle ring or granny gear.
Big Ring-Big Cog, is one of the many benefits of the (FR) mountain compact drive train. As you may know I ride my 29er everywhere, it is set up with the 2×9. 22/36 x 11-34, the coolest thing (I think) is thatOn Road its a 1×9, using the 36t, Offroad its a 1×9 using the 22t. allthough I would only use that shifting with a compact crank, I too would worry about the Q-factor
pushing big gears = more speed. pushing big gears without fitness = blowup.
it all starts in winter during your base training. once you got enough glycogen tanks in your legs you can move on to strength training slowly building up torque and going up in gears uphills.
after straining my knee this winter i had to drop out of training and have recently returned to training. working mostly on moving to pushing bigger gears up the mountain.
couple days ago i rode with a friend that had trouble keeping up with my gear so i geared down to his gear. climbing in a smaller gear was just as hard.
you need to train cardio too, which i have not. but i am currently climbing hills in 36×22/20 gear and it feels fast. that would be close to your friends 44×34/28 gear.
good luck with the big gears, stand up and pedal before you hurt your knees in that big gear!!…..
Here’s another second from the peanut gallery on this one.
Sponsored racers can probably get away with more cross-chaining than we mortals…the pros can just get a new chain and rings when they wear the old ones out.
It’s a good tip, and it applies in road-racing situations, too.