Crosscurrent S Learning Curve

[Bruce Arnold]

The learning curve with the CCS is not particularly steep, but there is one.

My wife and I were out for a nice long ride today. Beautiful day, but breezy; 15 mph wind, gusting 20. Not bad at all on the downwind segments, but no fun at all on some fairly long upwind stretches.

I usually ride in Eco or 1, as I'm getting back in shape and want the exercise. Today I bumped it up to 3 for riding into the wind on a busy road (wanted to get off it quickly and it ran upwind for 5 miles.) With a quartering wind, 2 kept me moving right along. Also, I could stay in 8th gear most of the time, instead of shifting up and down all the time to maintain cadence and/or speed.

Like I said, not a hard lesson to learn. Just discovering more all the time about how this bike fits into my lifestyle.

 

[AZ Roller]

The learning curve with the CCS is not particularly steep, but there is one.

My wife and I were out for a nice long ride today. Beautiful day, but breezy; 15 mph wind, gusting 20. Not bad at all on the downwind segments, but no fun at all on some fairly long upwind stretches.

I usually ride in Eco or 1, as I'm getting back in shape and want the exercise. Today I bumped it up to 3 for riding into the wind on a busy road (wanted to get off it quickly and it ran upwind for 5 miles.) With a quartering wind, 2 kept me moving right along. Also, I could stay in 8th gear most of the time, instead of shifting up and down all the time to maintain cadence and/or speed.

Like I said, not a hard lesson to learn. Just discovering more all the time about how this bike fits into my lifestyle.

Hi Bruce, I find that I draw less power by using lower gears and spinning faster when going into the wind. Another benefit is when a big gust comes along it is easier on the knees as you work to overcome it.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

Hi Bruce, I find that I draw less power by using lower gears and spinning faster when going into the wind. Another benefit is when a big gust comes along it is easier on the knees as you work to overcome it.

Thanks! Generally speaking I prefer a faster cadence to pushing harder. However, under the circumstances -- busy road and going upwind -- I wanted to make some speed and get onto a lesser-traveled road. So my cadence was actually pretty fast in 8th. Switching from PAS 2 to 3 as needed allowed me to maintain that cadence.