I must sound like an idiot, but I seriously don’t know how to use the gears on my mountain bike.
I know how to ride it, I’ve been riding for my whole life almost, but I’ve never used the gears.
Can you explain to me simply the use of each gear?
My right handlebar has the numbers 1-7 and my left has 1-3 widely spaced.
It’s a new columbia mountain bike.
I don’t know the height, I think it’s around 15″ if that helps
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Mountain bike gears are continually becoming more and more complicated and intricate. Today’s bikes can come with up to 27 gear ratios. It is common for a mountain bike today to use nine gears in the back and three sprockets of different sizes in the front for gear ration production.
Why so many gears? The most common reason is that a large number of gears allow a rider to pedal at the same pace no matter what terrain that he/she is on. This can be understood better if you think about a bike that just has one gear. Every time you turn the pedals one full turn, then the rear wheel also turns one full turn, too (1:1 gear ratio).
For example, your back wheel is measured at 26 inches. If you pedal one full turn, then this would mean that your wheel moved 81.6 inches. If you are riding at 50 RPM, then you will be able to go 340 feet per minute. This means that you were going 3.8MPH, which is equivalent to walking speed. This speed is great for going up a hill that is steep, but it is not a good speed for flat ground or racing downhill.
If you want your bike to go quicker, then you will need a different ratio. If you want to reach a speed of 25 MPH downhill using a 50-RPM cadence, then you will need to have a 5.6:1 gear ration. If you have lots of gears on your bike, then you will be able to get that ratio so that you can continue your pedaling at a consistent pace, no matter what terrain you are on or what your speed is.
A typical mountain bike that has 27 gears will have six gears so incrementally close to the other that you will not be able to determine that there is any difference between the gears when you change them.
Most mountain bike riders decide to choose a gear system with a front socket that is suitable for the slope or terrain that they usually ride on and they stay with this choice, even though it may be more difficult under a heavy load to shift the gears. This is purely a personal decision, but it is simpler to shift between gears when the rear socket, rather than the front one. When you are pedaling uphill, then you will find that it is much better to choose a sprocket that is smaller on the front and then shift gears with the nine gears that are available on the rear. If you are more speeds on the rear sprocket, then you will find that it is much more efficient to ride.
Mountain biking needs gears so that you can keep an overall speed going. If you didn’t have gears, then you would find it difficult to build up any speed and you would find it nearly impossible to pound your pedals for extra control. Gears help to move the pedals and enable you to gain that speed.
The higher the numbers are the harder it is to push and the faster you can go. Fiddle around with it a bit and you’ll get used to the different settings. Just remember to always change gears while you’re riding it, not while the bike is still.
Read EVERYTHING from the late Sheldon Brown on the links below…
Basically, that 1st gear on the left side is for going up hills and/or rough terrain. The 3rd gear on the left side is downhill gear, or when you have a good tail wind at your back. Start in the 2nd gear on the left side & 1st on the right. NEVER change gears without turning the pedals. As you increase speed at a 70-90 rpm cadence – shift gears up.
Never be in 1st gear on the left shifter & 7th on the right. That puts too much lateral stress on the chain. Conversely, never be in 3rd gear on the left & 1st on the right.
Junkers
On flat land use only the two biggest gears in the front. Use the small gear only when going up the steep hills. The rear gears are used to maintain the ideal pedal pressure and cadence.
You should ride at a high cadence (pedal spin) of 70 or more rpm. You want to have the same spin and comfortable pedal pressure on on terrains. The objective is to use the gears to maintain a medium / comfortable pedal pressure AND the same pedal spin….. for hours at a time. As you go into a slight uphill grade you use the rear gears by shifting to a larger gear (easier) to allow you to keep the spin and pressure constant. As you have a slight down hill you shift the rear gears to a larger (harder gear) to maintain that same spin and pedal pressure.
Use the gears in front the two big one for big variations in gearing….. use the small gear ONY for going up steep hills!
Read up on bike technique and ’spinning’ on line. It make riding soooo much better!
Soccerref
You have 21 different gear combinations buy you only want to use 14.
Normal conditions use 2 left and 1-7 right.
Hills use 1 left and 1-4 on the right.
Going fast and down hills use 3 left and 5-7 on the right.
Using the largest and smallest gears at the same time is hard on the chain and gears.
http://bicycletutor.com/gear-shifting/
Making the explanation a little less complicated from Devan’s answer; His gear concept is correct: Just remember the following: The smaller rear sprockets means more resistance (if you find yourself too easy of a spin on the type of grade terrain level you are riding on; shift down to your HIGHER GEARS = more resistance for a more appropriate spin to your liking) The bigger rear sprocket gears mean less resistance: If you find yourself GRINDING or MASHING down to get speed and going movement, shift up to your lower gears (easier spin or pedaling due to steepness of terrain). The Right side of your MTB shifters (on the handle bars) takes care of your rear transmission. The left side your shifters on the handle bars takes care of your FRONT transmission (Crank Gears). The multitude of gear ratios, like Devan said, are for ease of riding various gradient terrain levels to also saving your knees and own human energy power when riding varied terrain grades; Steep hills to Flat terrain. One thing to keep in mind which a lot of beginner cyclists fail to understand is and if you happen to “hear” you chain making noise on the front derailleur (Just above Front Crank area) this means there is too much cross over from your front to rear gear ratios; My concept is (if you have a 9spd) 2nd chain ring is appropriate between the rear gears of 4-6) The Biggest or 3rd Front Chain ring is appropriate for rear gears of 7-9, and the Granny Gear (or the dinkiest front Chain ring) is appropriate for rear gears 1-3 (steep hills to “spinning”).