Mountain Bike Gears 101

Maintaining a tight ship is important because loose or improperly tightened bike parts can lead to serious wear and tear cause poor performance and create a safety hazard.

Mountain bike gears 101. The global mountain bike network is the best mtb youtube channel with videos for everyone who loves dirt. How and when to use your gears. Along with your brakes shifting your gears is one of the fundamental mechanical functions of your bike. Bicycles are held together by dozens of nuts and bolts.

Learning how to shift may seem basic but gearing practice and shifting efficiently is something that even veteran riders can work on. 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. Unfortunately shifting bike gears isn t a terribly intuitive thing. Most mountain bike sizes vary from approximately 13 to 24.

Bikes generally have 1 3 18 21 24 or 27 speeds. Cycling gearing can be confusing. 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. The good news is once you get a bit of practice shifting becomes second nature something you don t have to think about at all.

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 assuming similar ratios. 10 and 15 speeds are obsolete and you don t see them on new bikes anymore lower numbers are the low gears and higher numbers are the high gears. The lever on the left controls the three chainrings on your front derailleur and drastically change how easy or hard it is to pedal. Simple rules that make cycling easier 1.

One option is to measure your leg inseam in centimeters and multiply it by 0 66 for example. This video simplifies all the terms and explains how your gears impact your riding. You can think of gears as the same thing as speeds a bike with 18 gears is an 18 speed bike. Listen to your bike.

There are many ways that you can find the correct size for you. From the full faced helmet downhill mountain biker to the lycra clad cross country rider. It takes a bit of time and thought to learn how to shift properly and efficiently. When tightening bike bolts consult your owner s manual for proper torque specs.