# Shifting while standing in a sprint



## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

Do elite cyclists shift in a full blown sprint?

I'm getting REALLY good on my group rides, as in the top 5 out of 30 to 50 people generally. We do these great 20 mile rides through the inner loop of Houston on Tues, Wed, and Thurs nights that consist of many sprints between stop lights.

While I win most of them, I'm curious if I can step up my game even further. When Robbie Mac, Tom Boonen, or even cat racers are standing up and sprinting, are they shifing gears?

My concern is that as you're stomping at 110% and something messes up in your drivetrain, from all the force, something serious could happen like loss of balance.

Its weird, after all these years, and I've never noticed anyone shift while standing in a sprint.

Thanks for your input.


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## SleeveleSS (Jun 3, 2007)

You just have to soft pedal at the right time. Once you have that timing right, it's just a small moment. I feel like most people learn to do this naturally, at least I did. When I first read about it online, I said to myself "Wow, that's interesting, I always do that and never really knew it." 

I have no idea about what the pro's do, though. I know they're pedaling a lot harder than me. I'm sure someone else will chime in.


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## RC28 (May 9, 2002)

SleeveleSS said:


> You just have to soft pedal at the right time. Once you have that timing right, it's just a small moment. I feel like most people learn to do this naturally, at least I did.


+1

Although I've had times where (due to my own fatigue or whatever) , I've either overshifted or not shifted at all because I couldn't position my fingers just right for the shift.

After switching to SRAM Force a couple of months ago, I've gotten used to the sprint trick (holding the shift lever against the bars at the beginning of the sprint and then just flicking the wrists to make the upshifts) and so far it has worked wonderfully.


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## kbiker3111 (Nov 7, 2006)

Shifting as little as possible and not at all if possible in the last couple hundred meters is ideal, but yeah, everybody shifts.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Dunno how to do it on Shimano, but on Campy it's just a quick motion with your thumb.

Whether you _should_ shift at any given point is a whole nother question. Most lower-cat guys I see are sprinting in waaaaay too big a gear.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

I shift while sprinting but I back off just a second to reduce the pounding on the drivetrain and chain stretch, but I'm not in a race so I care more about my bike than I do about winning the sprint.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

Also, when you have a down-time in your pedal stroke (top and bottom dead center on the crank arms), you can eventually learn to shift while never removing power.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

Great suggestion, I'll have to try that and start practicing that when I'm pedaling slow. I usually try to figure things out, this is something I've been wondering about for a while, how to improve it. Your suggestion may be the key.


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## mikeyp123 (Mar 9, 2007)

Here's how I practice sprints.

1) Get up to speed, I'm usually pedaling slightly faster than my "normal" cadence, 90-100rpm. You better be in your drops. In a race situation you won't have time to shift to the sweet-spot gear to begin your sprint.

2) Hammer it hard, out of the saddle. Spin-out the gear completely, I get up to the 130-140 rpm here. About 15 seconds.

3) Shift to one harder gear (I usually do this out of the saddle), continue hammering.. you can either continue out of the saddle or sit down, try to spin-out the gear. Another 15 seconds.

4) Cough up a lung.

Note, there is no shifting to an easier gear in a sprint. You should be in the correct gear to create acceleration by spinning up the legs.


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## iktome (Aug 29, 2003)

A lot of the time, you won't need to worry about shifting, especially if you're coming into the sprint pretty fast. If you're turning 80 or 90 rpm at 30mph before the sprint, you should be able to sprint to 40mph without shifting. After a hard race (or any race), that's probably fast enough to win most races any of us will enter (unless it's a downhill sprint).

If you're starting from a slower pace, you'll probably have to shift.You should start your sprint at no less than 80 rpm, maybe even higher, and spin to 110-120 or so before shifting. I'm not sure exactly the cadence I like to start my sprint, but it should feel like you are spinning it up faster rather than just pushing harder. That might require you shift more often during a sprint, but you'll still be faster.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

If you have to shift while sprinting, somethings' wrong.
(unless you start your sprint at 22 mph)


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## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. What I was referring to is going from zero mph at a red light to 32 mph which for me, consists of shifting about 6 times on my 50 tooth compact, upper chainring. I was just wondering if people stand up during some of these shifts and if so, perhaps they could shed a little light on the mechanics of it.


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## mikeyp123 (Mar 9, 2007)

MR_GRUMPY said:


> If you have to shift while sprinting, somethings' wrong.
> (unless you start your sprint at 22 mph)


I assumed we weren't talking hill sprints here .


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

MR_GRUMPY said:


> If you have to shift while sprinting, somethings' wrong.
> (unless you start your sprint at 22 mph)


You don't do enough races that have a 400m+ finishing straight out of a tight corner.


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## estone2 (Sep 25, 2005)

MR_GRUMPY said:


> If you have to shift while sprinting, somethings' wrong.
> (unless you start your sprint at 22 mph)


This is true to a point. But I find that my sprints start at 25mph and end at 36mph. That's a big range, especially since I'm starting at 100-110rpm.

-estone2


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Drag racing*



brentster said:


> I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. What I was referring to is going from zero mph at a red light to 32 mph which for me, consists of shifting about 6 times on my 50 tooth compact, upper chainring. I was just wondering if people stand up during some of these shifts and if so, perhaps they could shed a little light on the mechanics of it.


Is there some point to this exercise such that it would be important to be successful at shifting while standing up? That said, and assuming you start in the big ring, then you just need to ease up slightly each time you shift. The cassette has one "sweet spot" per revolution for the shift to occur, but since you are constantly changing from gear to gear, that won't consistently correlate with your pedal stroke. 

While modern shifting systems have greatly improved the ability to execute a shift under full power and/or when standing, it generally is something to be avoided. I can shift my car under full load too, but it's hard on the transmission and serves no real purpose.


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## fleck (Mar 25, 2005)

i tend to shift early. 
It just takes practice. you get good at it when you're doing your interval workouts. You're doing your interval workouts right? 

having a clean bike helps that shift happen fast. Do it enough, you'll know where in your pedal stroke to do it, just how much to ease off as it shifts. The toughest part is reading the racers around you. Work on doing that and listening for guys behind you shifting and winding up. 

hope to get a good sprint in on sunday...
we've got a good finish straight and a tough as nails curcuit that will weed the pack down in the dirt sections. Wicked winds. Last year i broke my chain. 
just hope i can man up for the bumpy dirt sections. Trashed my hands yesterday when i was stupid and layed it down in a dirty corner. No gloves :mad2: Perhaps i'll tape em up before hand.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

Kerry Irons said:


> Is there some point to this exercise such that it would be important to be successful at shifting while standing up? That said, and assuming you start in the big ring, then you just need to ease up slightly each time you shift. The cassette has one "sweet spot" per revolution for the shift to occur, but since you are constantly changing from gear to gear, that won't consistently correlate with your pedal stroke.
> 
> While modern shifting systems have greatly improved the ability to execute a shift under full power and/or when standing, it generally is something to be avoided. I can shift my car under full load too, but it's hard on the transmission and serves no real purpose.


That's the key. Practice it a couple times to get technique, but don't do it until you need to (ie, finishing spring in a race).


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

*A thought.*



brentster said:


> I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. What I was referring to is going from zero mph at a red light to 32 mph which for me, consists of shifting about 6 times on my 50 tooth compact, upper chainring. I was just wondering if people stand up during some of these shifts and if so, perhaps they could shed a little light on the mechanics of it.


It would be interesting to see if selecting a mid-to-high 80's gear and not shifting at all could actually decrease your elapsed time. Track match sprinters often roll out from less then 5 mph to very high speeds; elite track kilo riders start at a stand-still and cover 1 km in about one minute, which translates to about 37 mph _average_ speed. You'd get behind for the first 50 meters or so, but might pull past all the frantic shifters as you get closer the "finish line." IMO, worth a try.

/w


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