Monday, June 6, 2011

Bike Gears Basics???

I bought a new bike today. It has two dials, One on the left, 1-3 and the other is 1-7. I allways rode on free style bikes and have no clue how to use it. The bike manual cinfused me even more.



Can you tell me:

1. how to use the gears?

2. when should I change gears(uphill...downhill... flat)?

3. how do I turn it to the higher gears because getting to on the right is impossible?



and



4.What is the difference betwwen the left gears and the right gears?



*Note: Please do not use any complex terms for I will not understand.*Bike Gears Basics???
a used ta have a mountain/gear bike too before i sold it but I still know how to work and ride the bike. Tha left is for tha big sprokets and tha right is for tha individual gears. I'm more of a racer however I'll help u as much as I can. I can't explain **** very well. If u ok with it I live in Chicago. Tha South Side. I live at 64th street. I can teach u personally if u come here and meet me on tha parking lot in Central and Archer. I will be by a Baskin Robbins and across tha street from a 7 eleven.Bike Gears Basics???
Not a professional, yet I start by knowing that usually a bike has 5 to 7 gears on the back, in combination with the two front gears it could be a fourteen or a ten speed bike. Consider the small gear on the back to be used in combination with any of the two front gears for flat surface or even downhill areas. The big gear on the back in combination with the two front gears to be used for uphill surfaces, an easier ride and even for speed depending on your strength I hope this information is helpful.
Wow, sounds like you forget to breathe on a regular basis.



You're going to have to put forth some EFFORT to understand a few things, but they're really not that difficult. Ready?



You have a Right hand and a Left hand, correct? You have a brake lever on each end of your handlebars, as well as a shifter, right?



You have a Front and a Rear brake, and a Front %26amp; Rear derailleur that shifts gears.



Your Right hand controls everything in the Rear, which are your rear brake and rear derailleur. The left hand is for the front.



When you go out for a ride, put your LEFT shifter in ';2'; and leave it there. Don't mess with it, or it'll just confuse you.



Now just concentrate on the Rear shifter. The lower gears (1, 2 %26amp; 3) will allow you to pedal easier up hills, but you will ';spin out'; when going down hill. The higher gears (5, 6 %26amp;7) will let you go faster, but may be too difficult to climb hills with.



Get the idea yet? You shift gears according to the terrain you are on. Lower gears for climbing, higher gears for speed.



Once you have the rear shifting down SOLID, then try adding the front derailleur in. With the front on ';1'; it will be VERY easy to pedal, and on ';3'; it will be very hard but you will go faster.



If that's just too much, try a singlespeed.
It is all about the difference between the size of two gears. Small gears up front combined with big gears in the back give you a lot of power but not much speed. That's good for going up hills. Big gears up front combined with small gears in the back give you a lot of speed but not much power. That's good for going down hills. You select which gears you want by moving the chain from one gear to another. The left shifter moves the chain from one front gear to another. The right shifter moves the chain from one back gear to another. To start, put everything in the middle. Move the chain from one back gear to another as the terrain changes. When you run out of back gears, change a front gear. This is a simplification, but it's enough to get you going.



HTH
Get out and ride it. You will catch on very quickly.



The left shifter is for the front crank mounted gears. The right shifter is for the rear wheel mounted gears.



Change the gears only while pedaling.



Rear gears: larger gear -- lower number on your shifter -- equal easier pedaling -- slower riding, climbing.



Front gears: larger gear -- larger number on your shifter -- equal harder pedaling -- faster riding, down hills.



Take your bike to an open area -- such as an empty parking lot or quiet street. Ride it and try each gear. Most of your flat riding will be in the middle or large gear in the front and the middle gear in the back.



NOW go out and have fun with it!



Edit: I was supposed to add this link for you and forgot.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
the basics is to make your pumping efforts effective in propelling the bike as in mph you need to find the gear that makes your legs move fluently and still have some resistance to make your pedaling productive......the small gears are usualy used for up hill and flat surfaces the larger makes your pumping productive in flat and downhill ride it and test how it feels to you this is the best way to learn you need to be one with the bike and get a fecal for the shift soon you will learn to shift slightly before the grade changes and you go with the flow happy biking see you on the tour de France I'm sorta in the end of the line
for i went by ';feel';when i went up Hill used the gears that would make it easier and on flats i used the same ';feel';,to use the the right gears that the rear derailleur move it one way or the other and look for a change in the position its in .the right is the back if the bike smaller gears are got for speed bigger ones are for going up hill left is for the front of the bike the smaller gear is for going up hill and the bigger is for speed if ya still have pr obs with the the bike go to the nearest bike shop advice is free and they can explain it allot better be kool
Ok, take a look at your bike. Where the pedals are, there are 3 chainrings (the name for the gears at the front). These are switched between with the left hand shifter (1-3). Bigger is harder to pedal (or faster).

On the back wheel is the cassette (the name for the bit with 7 different size gears). These are adjusted by the rear derailleur (the bit that the chain goes through and where the cable from the right gear shifter goes to). On here, smaller is harder, bigger easier.

Confused? If you think that the bigger the gap between sizes from front to rear the harder it is to pedal and the smaller the gap the easier it is, that might help.

To use the gears (they sound like gripshift from your description of a dial), rotate the part of the grip attached to the shifter unit. Do this while pedalling, but not pushing too hard on the pedals. Practise will show how much or little pressure is needed.

Changing gear. It is most efficient to pedal at 70-90 rpm (full turns of the pedals per minute). Count when your right foot reaches the bottom of the pedal stroke to try this. The idea of changing gear is to maintain this effort level, rather than exert yourself too much pushing the pedals round in too high a gear (pushing hard, pedals going round slowly). The pedals should just be spinning round without you pushing them hard. Try riding the bike with the chain on the middle of the 3 rings at the front and see how it feels to alter the gears at the back (dont forget, smaller harder, bigger easier). Once happy with this, experiment with the 3 gears at the front(smaller easier, bigger harder).

Without seeing the bike it is impossible to say which direction the gear shifters rotate in to make the gearing higher or lower, but if you go out and have a bit of a play as I've described above, you should be fine.

Enjoy.

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