Giant Mountain Bike Gears Explained

Mountain bikes this is where you go to get away from it all.

Giant mountain bike gears explained. Some bikes operate with grip shifters or a dial that is located to the inside of where you place your hands. All mountain since the introduction of the 11 speed cassette many of the newer mountain bikes that are hitting the market have a 1 11 drive train already set up. Each ring on the cassette is referred to as a cog. The difference between a freewheel and a cassette makes no difference in this article so don t worry about that for this article our example bicycle will be a modern mountain bike with three chainrings and an 8 speed.

Learn the sound your gears make when all is working well and tune your ears to notice chain chatter and other metal on metal noises when things aren t perfectly aligned. For most mountain and hybrid style bikes with flat bars you shift the gears by using set paddles that you operate with your thumb. Shifting explained for beginners if you haven t a clue how many gears your bike has how many you actually need or even how to use them properly don t worry you re not alone. Cycling gearing can be confusing.

Succeed at this and you ll avoid the wearing out of freewheel cassette cogs derailleur cages and even chain rings. Poorly indexed gears can be one of the most frustrating things on a bike but our step by step guide can show you how to adjust your bike gears to get them running smoothly. The wheel diameter varies based on bike size with 26 inch wheels on smaller frames and 27 5 on larger ones. This tailors the bike s handling to a rider s height.

This video simplifies all the terms and explains how your gears impact your riding. Listen to your bike. If your bike has eight to ten gears on the back it has a cassette.