How should I use the gears on my bike correctly?

In the past you only had 1, 3 or 5 gears to worry about but now 18 to 27 gears is not unusual.  Bikes generally have 1, 3, 18, 21, 24, or 27 speeds. (10- and 15-speeds are obsolete and you don't see them on new bikes any more.)  Lower numbers are the low gears, and higher numbers are the high gears. First gear is a low gear and Twenty-first gear is a high gear.

Even an entry level bike will have at least 18 gears so what do they do, how do I use them and how do I know which gear I should be in.  Glenn Coltman helps you understand all these questions.

So why do I need gears?

Gears help you to ride further and faster with less effort. Low gears enable you to spin the pedals easily. They are useful when you're pedalling uphill or for taking off from traffic lights. The very lowest gears help you get up steeper hills.  Higher gears feel harder to push against when you pedal. Once you start to get up some speed, you'll need to change to a higher gear so that you can increase the resistance that you are pedalling against to make you go even faster.

Learning to use your gears

When you start out, leave the left gear lever at 2, so the chain is on the middle chain ring. If you have only two front gears, have the chain on the easiest gear which is the smallest chain ring. Then practise changing the back gears, one gear at a time, using the right gear lever. You can make small adjustments to your pedalling speed using the back gears.

You should be pedalling to change gears, so that the chain can shift onto the new cog and wind into place completely. Sometimes it takes a couple of pedals for the chain to move into place. Don't pedal too hard, though, as this will make the chain too taut to shift easily onto the next cog. If you're having trouble changing gear, try easing the gear lever a bit past the next gear to move the chain onto the ring properly.

What gear should I be in?

You usually start off in a low gear and change to the higher gears as you build up speed. For much of the time you will use the middle gears. 

If you're coasting on the flat, travelling downhill on a gentle slope or if you have a tailwind, you should aim to keep your front gears high and then move your rear gears as high or as low as is comfortable.

If you're going uphill, change down before you have to push hard, this will help you to keep up your rhythm. Try shifting the front gears down first, and then moving your back gears down as you need.

How do I know whether to use my left or right gear shift?

If your bike has three speeds then telling the gears apart is easy, because there's only one gear shift and it's labelled 1-2-3. But if your bike has 10 or more speeds then you have two gear shifts. Let's say you have an 18-speed bike. Your left gear shift will be labelled 1-2-3, and your right gear shift will be labelled 1-2-3-4-5-6. This means that for each number on the left, you get six different speeds on the right, for a total of 18. Here's how it works:

Left shift gear #1	Left Shift gear #2	Left Shift gear #3
1 2 3 4 5 6 Right-Hand Shift gear (Rear Wheel Rings)	1 2 3 4 5 6 Right-Hand Shift gear (Rear Wheel Rings)	1 2 3 4 5 6 Right-Hand Shift gear (Rear Wheel Rings)

Moving the shift gear moves the chain onto a different ring.

The left gear shift changes the gear rings next to the pedals. The smallest ring is 1, the middle ring is 2, and the biggest ring is 3. When you change down with your left hand, you're moving onto a smaller ring.
The right gear shift changes the gear rings on the rear wheel. This is opposite of the front set; on the rear wheel the biggest ring is 1, and the smallest ring is 6.

• If you're going uphill and it's too difficult, shift down.
• If your legs are spinning the pedals way too fast then shift up.

Let's have another look at our gearing chart. The green boxes are the combinations you'll use, and the red ones are the combinations you should avoid.

 

Practice makes perfect

Changing gears is not like flicking the switch of an appliance. You need to be aware of what the chain is doing as it moves to a new position by listening and feeling what your bike is doing. The more experience you get riding at different speeds on different inclines, the easier it will become.

Pedalling speeds and gears

You need to be in a low enough gear so you can spin the pedals quickly. The ideal number of pedal strokes per minute, called 'rhythm', is around 60 to 90 strokes per minute. In other words, you should aim to turn each pedal at least once per second.

Try to keep your rhythm constant across all conditions. For example, if you start going uphill, you need to change down to a lower gear so that you can still spin the pedals comfortably and maintain your rhythm.

If you're used to pedalling slowly and pushing hard, pedalling at 60 strokes a minute may seem impossible at first. Just try to build up your speed gradually, and see what a difference it makes to your endurance.