How do you use bike gears properly?

Gears are the best thing ever added to a bicycle and the least understood. Plenty of people ride for years in one gear because the levers look complicated, and then wonder why hills feel like punishment. Here is the whole idea in plain words.

The basic idea

Gears let you choose how hard each turn of the pedals is.

• Easy (low) gears make each pedal stroke light. You pedal more turns to go the same distance. Perfect for hills, headwinds and pulling away.
• Hard gears make each pedal stroke heavier but move you further. Good for flat roads, downhills and tailwinds.

On most bikes, the right-hand shifter controls the gears at the back wheel (the cassette) and the left-hand shifter controls the gears at the pedals (the chainrings), if your bike has more than one. Many city and modern bikes have only one chainring at the front, which keeps things simple.

At the back: bigger cog means easier. At the front: smaller ring means easier.

Rhythm is everything

The real purpose of gears is to keep your legs turning at a pace that feels comfortable, whatever the road does. Cyclists call this pedalling rate cadence. You do not need numbers; you need a feel:

• If you are pushing hard and turning slowly, like climbing stairs two at a time, shift to an easier gear.
• If your legs are spinning madly and you are bouncing on the saddle, shift to a harder gear.
• The sweet spot is a steady, smooth turn that you could keep up for a long time, with the effort in your breathing rather than in your knees.

Shift before you need to

The most common gear mistake is waiting too long. If you change gear halfway up a steep hill, you are pushing hard on the pedals, the chain is under tension, and it may clunk, slip or refuse to move.

• Look ahead. See the hill coming, and shift to an easier gear just before it starts.
• One or two at a time as the slope steepens, rather than a panicked handful.
• Ease off for a moment. Keep pedalling, but lighten the pressure for half a pedal stroke while the chain moves. You will hear it settle.
• Keep pedalling while you shift. On derailleur gears, the chain only moves when the pedals are turning.

The same applies at traffic lights: change down to an easy gear before you stop, so pulling away is light and you are not wobbling out into a junction.

Avoid crossing the chain

If your bike has two or three chainrings at the front, some combinations make the chain run at a sharp angle across the bike: the big ring at the front with the biggest cogs at the back, or the small ring with the smallest cogs. This is called cross-chaining. It tends to be noisy, wears parts faster and can make the chain rub. In practice:

• Big ring at the front pairs well with the smaller half of the back cogs.
• Small ring at the front pairs well with the larger half.
• If you hear rubbing or grinding, shift so the chain runs straighter.

On single-chainring bikes this matters less, because the design accounts for it.

Hub gears

Some city bikes have gears hidden inside the rear hub, with a twist grip or a simple lever. These are lovely in town: you can change gear while stopped, they need little maintenance, and there is no cross-chaining to worry about. The rest of the advice still applies: shift early and keep a comfortable rhythm.

When the gears are not behaving

If the chain jumps, clicks constantly or will not move onto a cog, the gears may need adjusting, the cable may have stretched, or the chain may be dirty and dry. Many are quick fixes at a bike shop; our guide to basic bike maintenance covers cleaning and lubricating the chain.