Using gears

For the novice, the hardest thing about learning to ride other than getting the right balance, is using the gears and knowing what happens next. The best advice is to practise where the different gear lever positions are, so you automatically know where to shift them. Practise on a quiet street, bike path or empty car park. To better understand how the gears work, try this simple 60 second exercise. Stand beside your bike and ask a friend to lift your bike seat so that your rear wheel is just off the ground.

• With one hand rotate a pedal around, meanwhile use your other hand to move the gear levers on both handle bars one by one gently back and forwards and watch what happens to the chain.
• As you move the gears you will see that the chain shifts from the smaller to larger the front pedal sprockets and moves up and down across the rear hub sprocket.
  

This exercise also illustrates why you need to keep pedalling when you change gears.

Changing gears

Gear levers are usually mounted on the handlebars handy to each hand grip, but some older bikes have them located on the frame. Usually the left hand gear lever controls the larger front chain sprockets that the pedals drive, whilst the right hand gear lever moves the chain across the array of rear wheel hub sprockets.

Gears for going uphill

When you are about to begin climbing a hill or rise you need to change your gears “down” so it’s easier to pedal. To do this, move the left hand gear lever so that the chain moves down to a smaller front sprockets. Then move the right hand gear lever so that the chain moves to a larger sprocket on the hub at the rear, which will then gives you more power to climb the hill.

Going downhill

Travelling downhill or speeding up on the straight means you need to select higher gears, just like in a car, moving from 1st to 2nd to 3rd etc. To change into a higher gear, move your left hand lever so that the chain moves up to a larger pedal sprocket and then use your right hand gear changer to move the chain down to a smaller sprocket on the rear hub sprocket.

More power

To further increase your pedal power stand up from the saddle onto your pedals, so you use more of your body weight to deliver maximum power to the pedals. If you are wanting to go at top speed and lessen wind drag, drop your head and shoulders down over the handlebars and keep your elbows bent so as to absorb the road shock coming up through the handlebars.