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As title - does anyone leave their bike in the smallest cog so there is less strain on the spring in the derailleur? I wondered if it makes any difference. My thought was that if you are supposed to wind off a torque wrench to prevent straining the spring then the same might apply to other things wot are springy... I was in the habit of doing it on my MTB as it was easy enough to get going initially and then change up once moving when left in the smallest cog; my road bike is harder to pedal in 12th and is clipless so it's awkward when starting in 12th so I don't. Also the road bike is AXS so I'm not even sure it has a spring....
Anyway - does anyone else bother or is it just idiots like me that think/do these things?
Small ring , smallest sprocket for the reasons you mention. Always.
Common sense says to leave it in smallest with spring unstretched but experience suggests a lot leave it in big/big after a salty shitty ride and wonder why the mechs seize
I'm not consistent about it, but most often one of the middle ones because there it won't jump out of gear when spinning the cranks backwards to wipe the chain clean/dry or after applying lube.
never even thought about it. it's in whatever gear that was last used.
PS I live up a hill so that will throw it all out !
If only Fox made derailleurs.
sirromj
Full Member
If only Fox made derailleurs
Not sure I understand. Derailleurs that creak? Or that the coating falls off?
I leave it on my 32 up front and the 16 at the back.
I don't really have much choice on that.
Derailleurs aren't precision instruments that might need calibration like Torque wrenches.
Whatever gear I arrived home on.
I usually drop it down into something lowish to make it easier to get moving next time, but only when I think about it.
I first read the thread title as what gear do you leave on your bike!
Smallest ring, largest sprocket. Rapid rise rear derailleur.
this used to be a thing waaaay back in the day although i was told it was about taking the tension off the cable not the spring.
Whatever gear I left it in. Probably a low ish one as I got taught as a kid to leave it in a gear you could start in next time.
Largest sprocket for travelling back from a ride. Smallest sprocket if it's getting stored like that so that any stickiness gets pulled by the leaver rather than the spring. After a clean and relube, middle of the cassette for storage so I can either ride straight from the door.
If the bike is not getting used in the next week it goes in the smallest sprocket.
Commuter/ used in the next week it just gets put away
If I’ve been out for a pootle it’ll probably be in about 8, if I’ve been on a proper ride the back wheel will probably have been off to put it in the car so it’ll be left in 12 because that’s what it will have been in to put the wheel back in.
maybe I’ve got too much faith in mech springs, but I can’t see it having much of an effect
I used to, but that was because I had SRAM 9 speed and it'd just stop working properly sometimes if I didn't. Now I don't bother and never had any issue with anything from 10 speed on
As TJ says, this used to be a thing to protect great cables back in the day before compressiinless housing was invented.
I haven't bothered for about thirty years.
Springs return to their original shape unless you go past the elastic limit.
Not sure I understand
What the fox says accurately captures my thoughts on the matter.
I leave it in a middling gear as it's most resistant to derailing when backpedaling it for cleaning/oiling/rolling backwards into the bike rack.
Except for the main bike, it's only option is 30*19, and no, I don't bother slackening off the belt tension. Or the rebound on my forks 🙂
I will answer later once I’ve jacked the car up so there is less strain on the springs
Yeah but you miss the point. The point is whether or not they’ll last longer if not stretched (shock springs are compressed anyway but the effect is probably the same) and obv it’s not practical to do that on a car every night - however I wonder if the shocks would last longer if you did…
i suppose it begs the question who’s had to change a derailleur because of a knackered spring or experienced slow shifting or something… maybe no one. 🤷♂️
Smallest sprocket because then the derailleur just clears the big **** off garden planter trough of postcrete that the ground anchor is set into.
🙂
The point is
My car is ten years old and has covered 116,000 miles on the original springs. How much different do you think the characteristics of those springs are now compared to ten years ago?
How much different do you think the characteristics of those springs are now compared to ten years ago?
a lot. they will be shorter and have a lower spring rate than new
The one that I was in when I got back to the car or garage
Yes. Springs fatigue and get both shorter and softer spring rate as a result. Use your favourite search engine. Loads of papers on it.
Wow. Never thought about it. I’ve been doing it wrong for 45 years. I just leave it in whatever gear I was in when I hit my drive.
In other news, I still leave my turbo charged engine running on my car for a couple of minutes before I turn it off. Maybe……
I remove the spring after each ride, clean and blow dry and place in a humidity controlled environment.
Middle of the cassette, makes cleaning/oiling the chain easier when I get back and is in a decent gear for when I next set off on the bike. On one of my bikes it also lifts the chain above the chainstay enough so that it doesn't rattle against it when on the bike rack. Has a tube protector on it anyway but just a habit I have.
...however I wonder if the shocks would last longer if you did…
Shocks (or more correctly dampers) don't care what position they are in statically, they don't have any pressure in them. It's the movement of the oil and seals that causes wear.
Yes. Springs fatigue and get both shorter and softer spring rate as a result. Use your favourite search engine. Loads of papers on it.
Is correct. It's why torque wrenches need to be periodically calibrated and that in motorsport the suspension springs have a service life (based on use and time on the car) before they are checked.
It’s meant to be in the smallest cogs, however sometimes it goes away in the last gear it was left in 😂
Been using 1 X for years now so smallest cog on the cassette (highest gear). I think a friend years ago told me about told me the derailleur spring thing and as someone who is prone to bouts of OCD it just stuck.
Havnt read preceeding...
I know that when I next go out on the bike I ll be cold and going uphill,so make sure I leave it in an easier gear, 1x12 maybe 4/5 from the easiest, 2 x11 Road will be small front and middle of cassette. Once I'm rolling can adjust to comfort without f*cking my gears up
I have to say I have never bothered and never had an issue
joshvegas - ha, yes.
I'm also 32:16.
Big ring at the front. Simply as my bikes are hung up - and the chain provides a bit of protection from 52 spikey spikes when I end up leaning under the bike then smacking my head on the chainring when I stand back up.
Torque wrenches are defo backed off though- as per others, they are a precise device, dérailleurs aren't.
Same as most above, the gear I got home from the pub in.
Edit: just checked and it's the forth cog up from the bottom.
Neutral, of course...
I hope you leave the brakes on!
When I was young and gullible I used to put the bike in the small/small combination so as not to wear out the springs. However I realised that the springs are deforming elastically and since I don't store my bike in an autoclave, unlikely to suffer from creep. So now the bike gets put away in whatever gear it was in at the time.