what exactly constitutes high gearing
Well, Jawine...I'd say you're there now in my book, and have just assumed godlike proportions in the echelon of cycling. I'm not sure even the legendary Beryl Burton or Jeannie Longo could stand against you, let alone a small fish like Lance Armstrong. Those are tremendous gears! My sister, who also occasionally reads posts on this Forum, is equally impressed.
By contrast, I tootle along in my 44/18 or 50/21 at a hummingbird-like 110-120 RPM all day and am happy as can be.
I know several "mashers" personally who do churn along in very high gears at about 35-40 RPM and are as unstoppable as steamrollers. Surely Jobst Brandt (a giant in stature as well as intellect and sheer ability) views low gearing as a substitute for fitness. Looking at his circuits of the great Alpine passes, I can see his point. I also know my knees would explode with enough shrapnel to injure any crowd of onlookers if I tried the same.
What I'm saying, I guess, is different people (and their knees) seem to tolerate different stresses, pressures, and pedaling cadences. What works for one won't for another, and unless they have a complaint, everyone seems happy to find their own path.
It is generally accepted, though, that touring bikes are a lot more fun when climbing with a load if you have low gears and can ease the strain on your knees. I'm running a 16" low and am glad of it (26x2.0 tires and 22/36; "second" gear is a 22/32, which is used more often). Most people seem happy with a low in the 19-20" range (with 700C wheels, this works out to 24/34 or 24x32; with a 26x2.0 wheel/tire combo, it would be 22/30 or 22/28). Conventional wisdom dictating lower gears for touring must have some general foundation in reality.
Kinda depends on the weight you're hauling and the terrain, too. In the good ol' NL, I never dropped below a 54" gear, except...in 48kph headwinds along the North Sea, and again grinding up the short but very steep road climbing The Vaalserberg ("Mount Vaals"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaalserberg ) a 322.7m/1,059 ft hill just west of Aachen, Germany. Going in and out of Spa and Francorchamps in BE, I needed every gear on the cassette and surely used the 19" low I had.
I always hear people say "high gearing is bad for your knees"...what makes it bad for your knees etc...isn't defined.
I can't tell you to lay off a bit, Jawine, but I really think it would be a good idea for the long-term. Most of my experience has been with others who suffered knee injuries and then found they couldn't/shouldn't pull high gears. Mostly out of comfort, but sometimes on doctors' orders. I started out that way, riding for physio/rehab. I don't have much experience with people who rode too-high gears and ground their knees to dust and osetoarthritis and knee surgeries. I once knew a very nice young woman at uni who planted her foot while playing tennis, then rotated around her knee to return a serve. She had three knee surgeries and was on crutches for two years.
That's a pretty clear cause-effect relationship. High gears and dead knees? Not so much, from studies I've seen, wondering the same thing. Sheldon Brown wrote, "Pedaling slower than your ideal cadence is wasteful of energy. You also run a higher risk of muscle strains and joint damage, particularly to the knees and hips" (
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears.html ). Sounds reasonable wrt injuries and avoiding same, but what if your ideal cadence happens to be slow, and in a high gear? Maybe this is just your natural rhythm, Jawine.
There's a lot that affects your natural cadence, too. Are you average height? Shorter? Taller? What kind of cadence are you pulling in those gear combos? I realize I'm a hummingbird-roadie, but there is a benefit to building
souplesse (flexibility) in a nice, round pedaling style. Do you ride Fixed much? Do you start out in lower gears and shift up, or stand on the pedals or while riding? Use the drops? All these are factors that help determine what gears you can manage. You mentioned tailwinds, but what about hills and headwinds? What kinds of loads are you carrying? Body position, saddle height, and the fore-aft placement of the saddle, and crank length all have an effect, too.
And...maybe your squats over body-weight have really paid off, and this is one of the dividends.
Your story inspired my knees and they have aspirations (better than having them aspirated, but still....!). Tell us more!
All the best,
Dan. (simply.in.awe)
