Proper Gear Shifting Road Bike

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.

Proper gear shifting road bike. To operate the shifters you push the lever sideways until you hear a click. If the left shifter is at 3 and the right is at 8 then you are in the hardest gear on the bike. For one revolution you count one foot doing a full revolution. The key thing to know for shifting a road bike is that you have to simultaneously turn the pedals with your feet and move the shift lever in order to change gears.

On road bikes or any bike with drop handlebars your shifters are the same levers you use to apply your brakes. So if both the gear indicators show 1 then you are in the easiest gear the bike offers. It s pedaling that allows the chain to climb onto and drop off the different sprockets on your bike as you change gears. It is best to count this at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

The gear changing mechanism on a bicycle has changed quite a bit over the past 30 years or so but these days all of your shifting is typically done from the same levers that control your braking. For most mountain and hybrid style bikes with flat bars you shift the gears by using set paddles that you operate with your thumb. On the left shifter you will see numbers to indicate which gear you are in 1 2 or 3.