Embarrassed to admit this.... but ...

[NorfolkNewbie]

I don't really understand gears.

I am very new to cycling.. having not cycled since I was about 12 (now 29) and only really got back into it because I recenlty got made redundnant and got a new job working down the road from me and it made sense to cycle... So I got a trusty but rusty old £45 bike from my local bike shop.. and I have to admit I am hooked (albeit a bit nervous - have just ordered a copy of Cyclecraft after reading reviews on here).

However, I am looking at the shiny new bikes drooling wistfully and I notice they now have something like 27 gears

I don't even have one on my current bike and I have no idea how to use them .. or how to know which one for what if you see what I mean..

Would be interested to hear any advice!

Thanks in advance

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

carry on riding and take your time in choosing your bike to suit your style. you may spend a fortune, then realise you would like to be part of the single speed / fixie crowd, which is where you are now. you may even have accidently bought a classic worth restoring.

 

[NorfolkNewbie]

Hiya

Thanks for the reply... Well you never know I guess! - It's a Triumph, traditional womens old thing. I have no idea how old it is. There's a fair bit of rust to the metal in places but it goes, which is the main thing! I brought it from my local bike shop (or LBS as seems to be the lingo on the forum!)

I think I will take my time finding out about things.. I am fancying a road bike as most of my journey is by road and I have a desire to get out more on the roads and do some longer distance journeys... I don't think my Triumph is going to get me whizzing about..it's fairy heavy.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[MajorMantra]

Don't be intimidated, the principles of gearing are simple enough and with a bike you can generally see what's going on with the mechanics. (although possibly not if you have a chain guard)

Essentially if it's too hard, change to an easier gear (smaller chainring at the front or bigger cog at the back) and if your legs are whizzing around too fast then switch to a harder gear (bigger chainring at the front or smaller cog at the back).

In general you do most of your shifting on the cogs at the back and use the front shifter when there's a significant change in terrain or wind. If for example you have a triple (3 chainrings at the front) then you'd likely spend most of your time in the middle/big ring and use the smallest (granny) ring for climbing serious hills.

Shifting become quite intuitive for most people. The only other point worth noting is that to avoid excessive wear on your drivetrain you should avoid extreme chainring/cog combinations - running the chain from the big chainring to the biggest cog (or smallest/smallest) is unnecessary and unkind to your gears.

Matthew

 

[NorfolkNewbie]

Thanks - food for thought!!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

read here...

www.sheldonbrown.com

newbies and experienced always rely on this

 

[accountantpete]

Basically all gears do is make it easier to go up hills ( using a smaller chainring at the front and a larger sprocket at the back) and to pedal downhill (switching to a larger chainring at the front and smaller sprocket at the back).

Some cyclists like to maintain a reasonably constant amount of pressure on the pedals and having 9/10/or 11 sprockets at the back helps them to maintain this on different road gradients.

The 27 gears referred to is whats called a "triple" - it has 3 chainrings on the front
and 9 sprockets on the rear.Meaning that it will get you up any hill you encounter."Serious" roadies only use a double chainring at the front as they have well developed thigh muscles and the thought of being seen with a triple would be an embarrasment!

 

[marinyork]

I'm not sure how flat South Norfolk is, you might get on all right down there without gears, to a certain extent. Gears are basically to make things easier. A lot of bikes with many gears are to make smaller steps between gears and infact there is a lot overlap which I don't go into.

I would wait three or four months before buying something else, you'll just learn so much. I didn't have a bike when I bought mine but to a certain extent wish I'd bought it later as I would have bought different.

 

[jig-sore]

one thing to remember (something that my wife can't seem to do) is that you will need to start in a low gear, and as you can't change gears on a bike when your standing still, you need to change down before you stop.

also, on 90% of bikes these days, you need to keep pedaling as you changes gears.

remember these two things and the rest comes naturally.

as you pedal along your legs will start to spin too fast, so you change gear, go faster, change gear, come to hill, change down again, get to top, change up again, change down, stop. easy

generally speaking, the more gears you have the better. you may not use all of them very often but they will be there if you need them

or

you may want to go for a really low maintenance option and get a bike with hub gears. they usually have less gears but you don't have to worry about adjustments and stuff.

depends what kind of riding you will be doing and it's probable more important to worry about what type of bike you want first.

 

[NorfolkNewbie]

Great replies everyone, thank you so much - and thanks for the link I will check it out.

South Norfolk LOOKS fairly flat but I seem to have picked the one road which is on a fairly big hill so towards the end of my ride back from work I have to admit I hop off the bike and push it up the last bit...!

 

[wafflycat]

Greetings from the middle of Norfolk.

Gearing is easy really.

Low gears make it a bit easier to go up an incline
High gears make it a bit easier to speed along the flat.

Lowest gear = biggest sprocket at back + smallest chainring at front.
Highest gear = smallest sprocket at back + biggest chainring at front.

If you're starting to ride on a relatively flat bit of road, choose a mid-range gear. Then if you're cycling along on the flat, you have some gears to move up to and if you are going up a hill, you have gears to change down to.

Over time you'll find you have a range of available gears you use more than others. As you get fitter, you'll find the range of gears you use will gradually work towards the higher end of the available range.

Oh, and there's no shame in getting off and pushing when required

 

[Will1985]

Welcome! Whereabouts in South Norfolk and which LBS? I say Norwich as my location but really 10 miles south to the east of Long Stratton.

Gears - with some riding you'll find out what works best for you. Some will put it in a big gear and grind slowly while others will have a smaller gear and pedal faster. South Norfolk isn't flat but gently undulating, with the worst element being the wind. The small chainring can be useful here for when you find yourself riding for miles into a headwind but I wouldn't advocate a triple unless you plan to start riding a lot in hilly areas.

 

[Arch]

one thing to remember (something that my wife can't seem to do) is that you will need to start in a low gear, and as you can't change gears on a bike when your standing still, you need to change down before you stop.

Unless you have hub gears... but those won't be 27 speed, so ignore me.

Do you drive Norfolk Newbie? Think about the gears in a car. You start in a low gear, which allows you to pull away, but won't let you go very fast, and work up to a high gear, which lets you go fast, but is no good for pulling away in.

Basically, your gears are there to allow your legs (the engine) to 'rev' at a constant rate. When going slowly (starting, going up hill), a low gear means you can spin your feet round easily, but you will reach a maximum speed you can't go beyond, so you change up, so that your legs continue to spin at the same rate (called cadence), but the bike goes faster.

On a bike with a lot of gears like 27, you'll spend most of your time on the middle chainring, in the middle of the gear range, changing down to start off or go uphill, and changing up to go faster or downhill. The mechanics of changing to the best effect, what gear suits you fro what situation, you'll find out as you ride, and soon you'll know just which gear you're going to need at any time...

 

[wafflycat]

Welcome! Whereabouts in South Norfolk and which LBS? I say Norwich as my location but really 10 miles south to the east of Long Stratton.

Gears - with some riding you'll find out what works best for you. Some will put it in a big gear and grind slowly while others will have a smaller gear and pedal faster. South Norfolk isn't flat but gently undulating, with the worst element being the wind. The small chainring can be useful here for when you find yourself riding for miles into a headwind but I wouldn't advocate a triple unless you plan to start riding a lot in hilly areas.

Pah! Some of us need all the help we can get young man! I love my triple chainsets!

 

[ComedyPilot]

Don't worry, you're not alone. I ride a triple commute/tourer, and a double racer. I understand fully the effect of gears, but am blown into the weeds when people talk about inches of gears. I have no flippin idea what they are on about, and they might as well be speaking Norwegian.