How To Shift Your Gears
Learn how to use your full range of gears: applies to 21, 24, and 27 speed shift systems.
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- 02:14 - Never use either the large/large or small/small gear combination!
Most bikes these days come with ‘21 speeds’. However, this doesn’t mean you have 21 useable gears. Actually, on a 21 speed system it’s closer to 13. A lot of people get confused by all of the gear combinations available. I myself didn’t understand it when I first started using a multi-speed bike, so today we’ll learn how to use your gears most effectively.
It’s very important not to shift under pressure, as this will cause shift problems and damage your drivetrain. If you’re going uphill and you need a lower gear, keep pedaling, but ease off and pedal lightly while you shift.
Most systems have three gears on the front, which are controlled by your left shifter. The rear gear cluster usually has 7 gears, with some systems having 8 or 9. Not to worry, the concepts here are the same.
For most everday riding, you’ll want to keep your chain on the middle ring on the front, or number 2 on your left shifter. This allows you to use the full range of rear gears. Number 1 on your right shifter is the easiest gear for climbing hills, as it puts your chain on the largest rear sprocket. Number 7 on your right shifter is the hardest gear for going really fast, and it puts your chain on the smallest rear sprocket.
I find it helps to think of numbers 1 and 3 on your left shifter as options for extreme circumstances.
If you’re climbing a really tough hill and your left 2 and right 1 combination aren’t easy enough, you can shift your front derailleur to number 1 which drops the chain down to the smallest front chainring. While you’re in the smallest front gear you can shift the rear gears between 1 and 3 for a finer range adjustment, but you should always shift the front back to 2, or the middle chainring before using gears 4-7 on the rear.
If you’re going really fast and need a harder gear, and your left 2 and right 7 combination isn’t fast enough, you can shift your front derailleur to number 3 which pulls the chain up to the largest front chainring. While you’re in the largest front chainring you can shift the rear gears between 5 and 7 for a finer range adjustment, but always shift the front back to 2, or the middle chainring before using gears 1-4 on the rear.
Never use the full range of rear gears when you’re in either the small or large front sprockets (number 1 or 3 on the front shifter). This causes too great an angle in your chain line, which can cause noise and shifting problems.
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46 Responses to “How To Shift Your Gears”
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This series gets better and better every day. I was just riding my new road bike home yesterday thinking about these issues and wondering whether I was doing something wrong or the gears need to be tuned up again or what. Thanks for the tips. Makes perfect sense.
cool alex..tnx..
my bike has only 18 speed..
but i know it’ll works..
tnx a lot..
Very good.
Clear and to the point! With educational videos like this you are helping cyclists have a smoother and easier ride. I like watching these clips, they are awesome.
Thanks.
Great tutorial, I wish I could find it sooner. You have backed up every single conclusion to which I arrived after empirical tests.
Awesome! When from a BMX bike from when I was younger, to a geared bike for getting to work, and I just didn’t have the guts to ask anyone such “obvious” questions.
Thanks!
Sidenote: the video seems to cut off before it’s over.
Thanks Tony, glad to hear you found it useful. And thanks for letting me know about the playback problem, I’ve asked the support staff about it and they are working on a fix.
Sure thing! I’ve noticed several of them have that weird cut-off.
Again, thanks so much for this site. The productions values are pretty darn good for a free site (or even a pay site really) and that’s coming from a guy who works in the post industry. Thanks for being so willing to spend time and money to help out folks for free.
I want to comment on how helpful this video was. I just started cycling every day, and though I’ve been riding for years, I’ve never known this about gear shifting. It’s great to know!
I’m certainly checking out the rest of your site. Keep up the great work.
This was very helpful, I am getting a new bike and I want to maintain it much better then my old bike, knowing simple things like how to use my gears properly is something I’ve always wanted to know.
This was great! I just got a new bike with 21 speeds and had no clue what to use to go up hill….besides pushing it and walking along the side!
Thanks for the help!
Just exactly what I was looking for… thanks for such helpful info! Straight to the point.
So much better than the instruction book/sheet, keep up the good work.
Dear tutor, thanks for a great site – I’m re-discovering the bicycle and age 57….. and your site is a fantastic resource.
David Cox
What do I have to do when I have 2X8 system?
With a 2×8 system, you could probably use all of your rear sprockets when you’re in the smallest front chainring, and the smallest 4-5 rear sprockets when you’re in the largest front chainring.
Thank you so much! Your explanation was easy to understand and apply.
Holy cow! This tutorial was EXACTLY what I needed! Thanks for educating this beginner bicyclist.
Another great tutorial. Thanks a lot for the help.
Great site and tutorials. The front and rear derailleur have lost their “mysticism” and I understand the concept better.
Nice tutorial. Short and to the point. My wife just got a road bike and has been having issues making proper use of all her gears. I’ve tried to explain it to her, but I think you’re presentation is certainly better. I’m going to have her watch it. Thanks
Have rode bikes all my life on and off and how to properly use the gear combos always baffled me so I just switched around until it felt comfortable on whatever up/down slope terrain I was on. Thanks for demystifying! Will be watching this one more than once.
Great tutorial.
This was so helpful!!
I understand the left shifter is for the 3 front gears and the right shifter is for the 7 rear gears; however, when using american shifters the left has 2 shifters (a small and then big one to push) and the right has the same…. How do you know when to use which lever to shift??
Wow!
I wish I had been referred to this site sooner, I had no understanding of why there were so may gears or how to use them. I always felt better in chain ring 2, but used 1 and 3 constantly because i figured why not, what else are they for? Thank you so much for clarifying this for me as I didn’t want to look like an idiot in my local shop. Most of my friends ride fixed gears and single speeds, including myself, but I just moved to a really hilly area and it was killing my legs. I think with some practice my afternoon rides are going to be much more enjoyable!
Thank you! I had it all wrong!
Great, now I know why I was struggling uphills so bad, I was using (1-6/7). The manual didn’t even explain proper gear shifting for my bike at all.
Thanks! I was concerned about getting from 14th (2/7) to 15th(3/1) gear smoothly, but now I finally understand what folks in two different bike shops couldn’t make me understand – namely that I probably wouldn’t want to do that anyway.
At times, I really do need that 3rd level – especially out on the main street, where I’m wide-open, trying to keep from getting run over (no bike lane, unfortunately). Also, pedaling on 2/7 just gets pointless at a certain speed.
After getting nothing but confused about this down at the bike shop, I now understand better. I had been concerned with how to go from 14th to 15th (21-speed) smoothly, but now I see I really shouldn’t be doing that to begin with. Instead, I should switch from 2 & 7 to something more like 3 &5.
I really could use that boost when I’m wide-open on the main street near my place – I get going so fast, pedaling is almost useless, but I thought I needed to go from 14th to 15th, and wasn’t sure how to do that smoothly. This helps me understand a lot better.
Thanks!
Great advice – I am now returning to cycling after a long lay-off.
I used to have a 2 x 5 and would use just about all of the chainring combinations
With the new (to me) cassettes with 7 – 9 sprockets – this tutorial has given me very valuable advice on the way of “modern shifting”.
Nice little tutorial on gearing at this link:
http://www.sobjoy.com/gears.html
Can i just say thank you so so much, info is great
This entire series has been a huge help in just the past half hour when I discovered it. I’m 26 and haven’t even sat on a bike in well over a decade, and my bike as a kid was a dirt-cheap 1×1, so the gearing thing is entirely new to me. I did come to the realization that I should mostly stick with the middle front gear, but now I actually understand why. The terrain around where I ride is pretty flat and I don’t expect many hills, and most of the paths have a speed limit, so I suspect I won’t need to be switching gears a whole lot.
This entire series is not only very helpful but very nicely produced (there are a ton of bike-related videos out there but most of them are not the best quality which makes it harder to follow), I definitely hope you keep it up.
Thanks for the tutorial. It explained the different gear combinations really well for a 21-speed bike, but how about an older 14-speed bike with 2 main chain-rings in the front and 7 cassette gears in the rear?
Is it preferable to leave the bike in the large chain-ring in the front, and middle cassette gear in the back, or small chain-ring in the front, and middle cassette gear in the back when riding? I mostly travel on level terrain.
Also, when parking the bike, should the front and rear derailleur’s tension be fully released by leaving the bike in the small chain-ring up front and small cassette gear in the back, or leave the bike in the gear that was used last?
For your 14-speed, you could just pretend that your smallest chainring is the middle, where you can use the full range of rear gears. When parking it doesn’t matter which gear you leave it in, but I like to leave mine in an easy gear for a fast getaway!
I am just about to buy a multi-speed cycle and was a bit worried about operating the gears, but this tutorial has really helped me understand gears! I am now looking forward to my rides with gears! Thanks a lot!
Having been used (50+ years ago!) to a 78 fixed, and just returned to cycling with a roadie of 24 gears, I also fell into to trap of using the large chainring to mimic the high gear, and in turn fell foul on the hills. Local CC advice was exactly in line with yours, but absolutely great to find the tutorial, and the professional presentation. Will certainly recommend to the club. Many thanks.
Hi Alex
I have just replaced my cassette and chain (thanks to your site). I have been trying to set up my rear derailleur but I am noticing that when I shift the smaller lever (Shimano call it lever B) it moves my rear derailleur to the larger sprocket and visa versa. Shouldn’t this be the other way round? I would be very grateful for any advice you could offer.
Like many others here, I have found your website invaluable. Many thanks and keep up the good work.
Nick
Thanks Nick! It sounds like you may have a reverse pull derailleur. Some derailleur were made like that to make it easier to shift to a lower gear. If so, you’ll have to reverse these principles.
Thanks again Alex. I spent hours scratching my head the other day but finally realised this…before that I just couldn’t figure what on earth was going on!
Still, hopefully that’ll be it for now.
While I’m on here, what is your opinion of the Powerlink connectors? I know they’re not supposed to be used with anything other than SRAM chains but I’ve read of lots of people using them successfully with other chains such as Shimano etc.
Regards
Nick
Hi Nick,
I’ve always used the Powerlink only with Sram chains… never tried installing them on Shimano but I don’t think it is recommended. Especially with Shimano HG chains, which are meant to use a pin that gets snapped off after installation.
I’m an extreme novice rider who has been frustrated w my new 24 speed bike. This video made perfect sense and now I actually enjoy riding and my bike no longer makes horrific noises. I plan to frequent this site often. Thanks
Could please tell me how to adjust rear derailleur more slowly.
Hi Shashank,
We have a video just for that here:
http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-rear-derailleur/
Hope that helps!
The last time I owned a bike was approx 35yrs ago, and even then it had only 3 gears! I was overwhelmed by the gear system when I purchased a bike today, and was asking questions at the bike shop. The guy serving me was fantastic – and pointed me to this site! I now understand it easily as you have presented this information in such a simple way. Many many thanks!
hi alex, john again. I watched your other tutorial about adjusting the front derailleur and i think i might’ve actually fixed the problem! I’ll let you know when i test it tomorrow! Cheers Alex you’ve been a massive help. Why don’t you branch out into everything else! You could call your website “How to do absolutely anything because i explain things properly!”