0%. And I typically use a 11-25 cassette.

Actually, I'm lying. I raced a sprint in the Niagara region in Ontario last year that sent me up the Niagara Escarpment (120m elevation in 3.2km). I used the small ring there.

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Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.

I live in Indiana. There is no such thing as a hilly race. I didn't even know there was a small ring.

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/23685202

If you have Di2 or eTap, there is a cool website called di2stats that analyzes your ride data and shows you. Here is mine from a few recent rides and races...

56 mile HIM at Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast with 800' total ascent. 21.7 MPH

• 3% of time in small CR
• 6 FD shifts
• 291 RD shifts

60 mile ride on a rails-to-trails road with 1,700' total ascent. 20.8 MPH

• 16% of time in small CR
• 46 FD shifts
• 458 RD shifts

50 mile ride on a rails-to-trails road with 1,200' total ascent. 20 MPH

• 31% of time in small CR
• 65 FD shifts
• 495 RD shifts

84 mile Gran Fondo on my road bike with 6,700' total ascent. 17.8 MPH

• 50% of time in small CR
• 53 FD shifts
• 881 RD shifts

 

That's cool stuff but definitely data overload! What happened to the days of down-tube shifters and friction shifting:-) ?

Very little, but I've used it at IMLou (old out & back that is no longer part of the course), IM BSLT 70.3 and IM 70.3 WC in Chattanooga last year (Lookout Mtn climb).

Came in handy in St. Croix, wildflower and Embrunman. Also Ironman Muskoka. Flat courses doesn't get used at all.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Maybe a little just at the beginning/end in & out of transition area even on a flat course, depending on the road/traffic config. I've definitely done a few w/ bigger climbs though where I spent a decent chunk in the 39T before compact combos became commonplace. Typically I prefer a closer-range cassette for smaller jumps, so rather than cross-chaining a 53x21 or 23 it'd be easier to drop to a 39x16 or 17.

I shift the front all the time. I keep the chain in the middle of the cassette as much as practicable. If I'm going to be at either end of the cassette for only a short time I stay where I am, but if I'm going to be there a period of time I shift the front. I want as much fine adjustment as I can get under my right hand.

I'm running mechanical, by the way.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

What do you consider a hilly race?
What do you run for chainrings up front?
What cadence you prefer? i.e. what would you end up averaging for a 70.3 or an Olympic distance?

small rings are so last decade.

On average over all courses less than 5%. But when I need it, man I’m glad it’s there.

I do all training rides on indoor cycleops so never during training either. Take that into account and probably less than 1% overall.

Will he app tell if your in 53-14? As an example? Or is it not that detailed?

Depends on the profile of the race. Duh. Around here I don't think there's even a single race where you wouldn't use the small ring at some point.

Yes, it is pretty cool. It has several different pie charts, bar charts, tables, and timeline charts that show you everything you might ever want to know about each gear. Here's a screen shot from the top of the page. The bigger pie chart is time in gear. Then below that is a timeline chart that shows you when you were in each gear. And below that are detailed tables by gear. It scrolls down forever.

I live in Florida. It looks like this: _____________._________.________

Those little dots are speedbumps. Therefore I know one gear and one gear only. I call it "Mjolnir". Its heavy and I always drop it.




Full Disclosure in fine print: Im slow as sh*t

Hmmm....not much. Live in the flats (dallas), and have an 11-32 cassette. 53/39 front. Last Oly average was 20.6 mph (road bike with clip ons). I'm average about 88 rpm at my Oly TT power (200 watts).

Yep... like 0% minus that Lookout Mtn section.
Probably not the best move when downshifting rear and front in big and crossing the chain up = stretching it out = too much stress on the chain = be careful when shifting back not to throw the chain off.

I get from 85 to 90 rpm a race/ride.

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Ryan
http://www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com
http://www.TriathlonTrainingDaddy.com
I got plans - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/...dotcom#trainingplans

I run a 52-36 upfront and an 11-28 in the rear (standard configuration with my bike). My courses are pretty hilly and I find myself dropping down to the small chainring on big climbs pretty often.

Only problem is I can't figure out how to get my chain to stop dropping whenever I shift down to the small chainring - it's driving me crazy and always makes me very nervous to shift! I'm pretty sure I've set the limit screws correctly - I even had it tuned by the Race Day Service guys prior to St. George and my chain still dropped during the race, which was frustrating! Is there some obvious trick to shifting to the small CR that I'm missing? My bike (QR PR3) has friction shifters, if that makes any difference. Maybe I'm shifting too aggressively?

Ummm....I'm in it a lot. But, my rides are typically 80+ miles with about 5k-6k' of climbing. So....

Depends on what the longest climb on the ride is. Since the longest hill at an endurance pace around me is 4 minutes or so, I don't hardly ever use it.

Now, if in the mountains, I'd certainly use it with repeated climbs over 5min.

I think over 5min and 5% or greater gets into the small ring for even most decent riders. Now, cat 3 guys and fast triathletes might be able to push the time or the % grade further.

I live in Raleigh, I big ring all of it on rides under 3 hours.

So, total time all rides everywhere considered......maybe 90% of the time. I accumulated some hours in the small ring at Mt. Mitchell this year.

I live in New England so there is a lot of need for the small ring up here. My cadence usually works out to 86-93 for both training rides and races.


My tri bike has 50-34 up front, 11-28 in back (sometimes 11-25 on a flat course). I can only think of 3 races I've ever done in which I did not need that small ring: Eagleman 70.3, Patriot Half Iron and a little duathlon on Cape Cod. But for races like Rev Quassy (CT) I probably spend 30-35% of the race in the small ring

My road bike has 50-36 up front, same 11-28 in back. For everyday riding, I use the small ring a lot.

Ridden with some ex pro cyclists and lately a pro triathlete who has a top 5 in kona. If they see a hill, bump, slight gradient change up they're in the small ring. It was almost comical and against everything our coach had told us.

Why not use it if it's there. It's not a pissing match its riding a bike.