always used to put it in a high gear and stomp madly up a slope whilst pulling on the bars but is their actually more torque/strain going through the drivetrain in lower gears even though they feel easier?
this came to mind as i snapped my chain whilst in the granny ring .
idiot proof explanation please…(I know it’s all about physics but have difficulty grasping the concept)
thanks
Bill

Small chainring gives you more leverage on the chain. Also smaller cog in cassette will have more chain tension for a given torque on the rear wheel than a larger one.*

So, small front and small back for max chain tension.

* So 34 tooth front and rear and 24 f/r will be same 1:1 gear but chain tension will be higher in 24 case.

If you want to see whats slipping then it’s that gear combo isn’t it?

true Mike but for a general test I like to stress all combinations except big big /small small. Also if testing freehub or front rings .

One of these has managed to get me out of the need for a lot of that 😉

I guess as you say your trying all combo’s anyway, whats a granny ring 😉 thought they had been phased out

One of those just costs you a lot in new chains and binning perfectly good ones 😉

Snapping, are you 2x / 3x as in my opinion front mechs put a lot more side stress on a chain when shifting. Also, what chain?

Since going 1x, KMC chain and narrow wide chainring it’s been years since I snapped a chain (though gone 11 speed now so will see how durable these are). I run chain and cassette to death. Chain checker sits in the drawer.

Out of interest, that was in granny on very steep pushing that last little bit. Think it was the missing link that split anyway. Just shove in another, job done.