Mountain Bike Gear Shifting Techniques
For a novice to the sport these gears might seem like complex mechanisms that you can t figure out.
Mountain bike gear shifting techniques. But once you learn how to shift gears on a mountain bike this process will become less intimidating and more intuitive. The lever on the left controls the three chainrings on your front derailleur and drastically change how easy or hard it is to pedal. Shifting explained for. Since most mountain biking involves at least some ups and downs it s good to know how to shift your gears properly.
Simple rules that make cycling easier 1. They are the mechanical wonders that will allow you to accelerate to wind whistling speed along flat smooth roads or power your way up a steep rocky climb without bursting a lung. Proper shifting habits not only save wear and tear on your bike especially your chain front cassette and rear cogs they enable you to power yourself more efficiently up and down hills. When to shift.
A bike with 30 or more gears is not an indication of a machine designed to break the land speed record any more than a bike with only a single gear. The gears on your bike are your friends when the gradient goes up and using them effectively will make all the difference to your climbing. You want to shift to an easier gear on hills climbs or when you re riding into the wind. For the basics on how to change up and down the gears we explained shifting on shimano sram and campagnolo gear systems here.
The gears on a mountain bike are intended to help the rider maintain a smooth and comfortable pedaling rhythm even in the most unpredictable terrains. Cyclists spend most of their time shifting the rear gears to find their cadence sweet spot. On the handlebars of a 21 speed bike the most typical you ll see a left side shift lever with the numbers 1 2 and 3 and a right side shift lever with 1 through 7.