How to shift gears on your bike like a pro/shifting gears explained (2021)/ An A to Z blog for beginners

HOW TO CHANGE GEARS ON YOUR BIKE FOR A BETTER RIDE /SHIFTING GEARS EXPLAINED

we all know that cycling is a great stress buster and gives us a joyful feeling. But we can increase the level of joyousness by knowing our machine more.

Which will increase our efficiency on bikes exponentially and make your strava recordings more awesome like never before. 

And if you are a budding cyclist then this blog will surely help you to reach your goals.

So today, we will be exploring about shifting of gears and I will solve all your questions related to how to change your gears correctly on your bicycle.

Before we dive in, we will see some basic terminology about gears and why do they exist in our bikes.

Now imagine you are on a ride and there are a lot of elevations and flat roads.

 chances are more that you will lose a large amount of energy on elevations and you can't even keep up your speed on a flat road due to repetitive climbs, thus it will make your ride more terrible and simply exhaustive. 

To counter this situation, we have gears on our bikes.

 which helps keep our ride smooth and efficient. By selecting the correct gear we maintain our speed and stamina in a proper ratio. 

So here I will be explaining how and when to change the gears correctly on your bike.

Firstly we shall understand how gears are classified and it's working so that our topic becomes easier to understand.

In a bike, Gears are classified into

1. chainrings 

2.cassette

3.derailleurs

we will see what is chainrings now;

1.chainrings

CHAINRINGS: These gears are attached to the crank. They are also known as the front gears of a bicycle.

chainrings are defined by the number of teeth present on them.

we have 3 types of chainrings

1.standard
2.semicompact
3.compact.

STANDARD: 

We have 53 teeth on the biggest ring and 39 teeth on the smaller ring in a standard chainring. 

SEMICOMPACT:

In a semicompact chainring, we have 52 teeth on the biggest ring and 36 teeth on the smallest ring. 

COMPACT: 

We have 50 teeth in the biggest ring and 34 teeth on the small ring in a compact chainring.

so now we know about chainrings and their types let us also explore CASSETTE.

CASSETTE :

cassette or rear cogs are also known as the rear gears which are used for fine-tuning. 

The no of cogs is also known as the no of speed. when you see that a bike is 7 speed or 8 speed it simply means the no of cogs present in the cassette.

Sometimes the speed is also represented as the product of the no of cogs and chainrings.

If a bike is said to have 21 speed, it means that the number of cogs is multiplied with no of chainrings. 

In our case, the number of cogs is 7, and the number of chainrings is 3 and their product is 21.

In most common cases there are 32 teeth on the biggest cog and 11 teeth on the smallest cog.

Next, we will see about derailleurs

DERAILLEURS

Derailleurs are responsible for the shifting of gears. Derailleurs are controlled by the right and left shifters. 

The left shifter activates the front derailleur which controls the shifting in the chainring 

and the right shifter activates the rear derailleurs which control the shifting in the cogs of a cassette. 

we now know the concepts and classification of gears in our bike, next I shall introduce you to our next important topic gear ratio which is really important to know for a cyclist and thus plays a major role in the shifting of gears. 

GEAR RATIO 

The gear ratio is very important to know for a cyclist because it helps to give a very clear technical idea for a cyclist to how and when to change gears correctly, so now let us explore about gear ratio.

gear ratio is simply explained as :

The number of teeth on the chainrings : The number of teeth on the cogs of the cassette =number of rotations of the wheel in one full pedal stroke.

If it is quite complicated to understand this don't worry, I will explain this to you with an example for a better understanding.

so let us take that you have 53 teeth on your chainring and 11 on your cog. 

Now if we want to know that in this combination of gears how many times the wheel is being rotated in one full pedal stroke, all we want to do is just divide the number of teeth in chainrings with the cogs. 

In our case, we have 53 teeth on the chainring and 11 teeth on the cog.

So the number of rotations of the wheel would be 4.8. 

This means that the wheel would rotate 4.8 times in one full pedal stroke with this gear combination.

Hope you had grabbed the knowledge behind the gear ratio. so as you saw now we have a clear explanation behind gears now with this clear vision we shall see how we can shift gears correctly

HOW TO SHIFT YOUR GEARS CORRECTLY  

Always remember that you should choose the gears in such a way that you should spend less energy to achieve the desired maximum speed.

In your bike, you have your right and left shifters. The numbers on the shifters indicate the chain's position on the cog and the chainring. 

For example, if you see that there is number 7 on your right shifter and 3 on your left it means that the chain is currently fixed on the 7th cog of your cassette to the 3rd chainring, it's that simple.

Now we will see how to use them correctly

so one may ask when do I shift up and down my gears and how do I know when to shift them.

So imagine your on a climb and you want to change the gear to make you're pedaling more efficient, all you want here now is the extra amount of torque.

For increasing the torque on the wheel choose the least number on your left shifter, your chain will drop to the smallest chainring 

And after shifting on the chainring, choose the least number on your right shifter which will move your chain into a larger cog.

 Now you will see that the chain is fixed on your largest cog and the smallest chainring and with this gear combination you will see that the pedaling is now so smooth and the strain on your knees and muscles is reduced to a great extent. 

This is because the larger gear provides more torque but delivers less speed and to finish a climb all we want is more torque from the wheel which can be delivered by only the large gear.

Now we will change the situation;

After changing into the largest gear you start to climb as if it's like a piece of cake to you. 

You enjoy the scenery and after some time you see a long flat road with a tailwind. 

Now our requirement has changed because we don't want extra torque anymore 

it's time for the extra speed.

Same as the previous situation now you want to shift gears but this time it's different.

Now choose the highest number on your left shifter and the right shifter, now you will notice a change that your chain is now fixed at the smallest cog of your cassette with the largest chainring. 

And soon as after changing you start to feel some strain on leg muscles and knees. But you also notice that your start to gain speed as you pedal, that is what we want on a flat road.

So to conclude and make it simple ;

Gear selection on a climb or facing a heavy headwind

choose the least number in both shifters for a climb or headwind which will give more torque but less speed 

Gear selection on a flat road or descent

choose the highest number in both shifters for descent or flat road. by this, you will gain more speed as you pedal but the level of torque would be less.


Okay, now you're clear with the shifting of gears but some may have doubt that now I understood what gear I should choose for the roads but while changing gears we notice the difference in speed and torque in the wheel and why is this changing and what makes to change it?

So the clear answer behind your question is the GEAR RATIO. I hope you remember it.

so when we climb we shift gears and make the climb easier. But our speed of climbing becomes very less. Now let us examine the gear combination closely to answer this question.

in this condition, we have our chain placed on the smallest chainring and the largest cog.

 The number of teeth on the chainring would be 39 and the number of teeth on the cog would be 32 now if we divide this we get 1.2 that's the no of rotations of the wheel in one full pedal stroke.

 So as the wheel is only being rotated 1.2 times in a full pedal stroke, the speed is too low but by losing speed we gain extra torque which is the real requirement in climbs

And when you're in the gear of descent or a flat road the no of teeth on the chainring and cog would be 53 and 11 and the no of rotations of the wheel in one full pedal stroke would be 4.8 which is 4 times higher than the previous case but the torque output would be less. 

Seems now you have got the answer.

OK, so you know how to shift gears now but you should avoid cross chaining while shifting your gears 

If you don't know what is it, A question will come to your mind now that what is cross chaining and why should I avoid it.

so let us also see about cross chaining now.

CROSS CHAINING WHILE SHIFTING

You now know for a climb you should select the lowest number on your both shifters and high for descent or a flat road. But what if you have the highest number on your right shifter and the least number on your left shifter or vice versa you are most likely to develop a condition called cross chaining.

In cross chaining, the alignment of the chain is not straight. When you select the highest number on your right shifter and the least number on your left shifter or vice versa you will observe that your chain will not have a straight alignment with the cogs to the chainring. 

For example, if you have your gears in such a manner that the chain is fixed in the largest chainring with the largest cog or smallest chainring to the smallest cog the chain will travel the entire drivetrain with a bent path, you can also hear some weird noises if you ride with such gear combination. 

Because in this condition the selected position of cog and chainring is deviated from the center axis which makes the chain bend and because of this bending the chain will tend to develop unnecessary resistance and friction which will damage the chain and other moving components in your drivetrain.

I hope that you will avoid cross chaining in your bike while riding as it will damage your bike components and in some cases, the chain may also break which can cause accidents too.

Although you now know how to shift the gears do you know when to shift them?

WHEN DO I SHIFT THE GEARS?

Having the correct knowledge of shifting gears is useless until you don't know when to shift them.

Now, you know which gear to shift according to the terrain, but you should be also aware of when to shift it.

If you see a climb coming on your way, try to shift your gears before the climb for a smooth-shifting.

Always change the gears before entering a climb or flat road. 

If you change the gears during a climb you are most probably to develop a hard shift in which the chain will start to grind the cogs or the chainring.

This grinding happens because you are already applying a lot of force and tension to the chain, cogs, and chainring as you're riding a climb or flat terrain. 

In such conditions, if you change the gears the force and tension developed by your legs will not give enough room for a smooth shifting instead the chain will grind and shift in which you may hear a loud and cracking sound while shifting.

So I recommend shifting your gears according to the roads before countering them, to avoid hard shifting and keep your pedaling smooth while shifting the gears for a smooth shifting.

 Here are some amazing tips which will increase your bike life, 

1. Always check that the chain is not rusted or cracked from anywhere.

2. while cleaning your bike rinse the cassette and chainring with soap water so that all the dirt and grease will break down.

3. Try to avoid excess lubrication in your drivetrain as it will reduce the risk of chain slipping or chain dropping.

4. Before you start for a ride check for the brakes and tire pressure on your bike and always carry a repair kit and bandages with you for a safe ride. if you're riding at night carry a bicycle headlight and reflectors with you.


So these were the concepts behind HOW TO CHANGE GEARS ON YOUR BIKE CORRECTLY in a nutshell.
    
 I hope you understood about shifting gears.

Now, it's your turn to do it practically.

The next time you go for a ride keep all these things in your mind and follow the traffic lanes and ride safe. And also let me know your opinion through the comment section and share this blog with your fellow cyclists. I will be waiting for replying to your lovely comments.

And also I have a question for you!
Q1.) which material is used for the manufacture of the cassette?

let me know the answer from you guys.

I will meet you guys on our next blog.

so when you ride for the next time keep all these things in your mind and Pedal like a pro. 

Thank you for visiting our blog and don't forget to share our blog.