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I bought a Giant contend 1 for winter training. The specs can be best found here. It came pre-configured with 9 speeds only. This means that the bigger ring can only access the lower 4 cogs while the smaller ring can access the 5 upper cogs!
I don't think this is the right configuration. Am I right? If not, can someone explain what am I missing here?
In this excerpt from Page 55 of the Dealer's Manual (DM-GN0001) for Sora R3000, the groupset on the Giant Contend 1,
you see that the front derailleur doesn't just have the two extreme positions (v) and (w). It also has two intermediate trim positions (x) and (y).
The (x) position can only be reached from (v), by a gentle pull on lever (A).
The (y) position can only be reached from (w), by a single, also gentle, click on lever (B).
The (x) and (y) positions will stop the derailleur cage rub that you're experiencing.
It’s a 2x9 speed. You have 2 chainrings in the front and 9 cogs/sprockets in the rear. This allows for 18 different gear combinations but some of the ratios will be pretty close together (i.e. overlap) and some should be avoided because of bad chain angle.
You should be able to shift to all combinations.
You should avoid the small-small (small chainring, small rear sprocket) and large-large combinations because of the chain angle which will result in noise, losses and higher chain wear. But it’s not extremely bad, you can ride in them for a few minutes, just don’t do it all the time.
