Gears and things

[florencethnurse]

hello forum
I am waiting delivery of my trek fx3 women’s sky blue bike , have been doing a lot of reading and one thing that really confuses me is gears I really don’t understand any of the numbers or terminology and just want to know how to use them to make the most of my bike , when I had a mtb as a kid I never used the gears then but I know they are there to make it easier to ride
Any idiots guides or YouTube simple links be much appreciated.

Also have noticed a few people talking about weight limits I’m certainly weigh more than my bike allegedly holds but the guy in the shop never mentioned anything and it was fine when I took it for a test drive so do I need to worry that much .

 

[mjr]

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears.html is quite good about gears but he repeats the widespread misunderstanding about clips and can't spell derailleur.

 

[Jenkins]

At the VERY basic level, (assuming it's the one Evans are selling here)...

3 chain rings at the front, controlled by the lever on the left of the handlebars. Smallest ring, very easy pedalling, middle ring fairly easy pedalling, big ring harder pedalling.

9 cogs on the rear, controlled by the lever on the right of the handlebar. Ranges from biggest cog with most teeth = easy pedalling to smallest cog with least teeth = harder pedalling.

In general you can use the middle ring at the front and all 9 cogs at the back (which will do for most riding) but preferably only the 7 biggest cogs with the smaller ring at the front and the 7 cogs with the smallest teeth with the bigger ring at the front. When you get the bike, just go out and find a quiet piece of road, car park or similar and play around with the different combinations to get a feel for what suits your style of riding.

 

[Lozz360]

Welcome to the forum!

You are also worried about the weight limit of your bike but you don’t say how much you weigh? I know it’s rude to ask, but if you still want advice regarding the weight limit then it will help if you are able to give us some idea?

 

[swee'pea99]

Your weight is fine. They always cover themselves, but bikes are strong.

Gears are simple. Leave the one on the front in the middle, and change the ones on the back down if you're finding it hard going (eg if you're going uphill), and up if you want to go faster.

When you're comfortable with that, it's probably worth having a think and a google and a look around at other riders to get the idea of what they call cadence, which is how fast your legs go round. But that's down the road a bit. For now, just change down to make it easier, up to go faster.

One good saying to bear in mind through all this: spin don't grind. Which is to say, be in a gear that means you're finding it reasonably easy and your legs are going round quite fast. If you have to push hard, change down.

It'll all become very instinctive and obvious sooner than you might think.

Above all, enjoy your bike!

Happy pedalling.

 

[Vantage]

Again, welcome to the forum.
With gears, the best way to learn them is too basically mess about with them while riding. You'll soon figure out which gears are easy and hard and which way the gear shifter (the lever on the handlebars) works them. They're pretty hard to break and I've no doubt you'll get the idea way before any permanent damage is done.
The basic rule is don't use big rings at the front with big cogs at the back or small rings at the front with small rings at the back.
Regarding weight, as an example, my fiancee' weighs 18+ stone and her bike handles it just fine. It's no super heavy duty bike either.
If I'm not back on the forum soon it's because she saw I posted that and killed me.

 

[MichaelW2]

The point of gears is to enable you to pedal at your chosen work rate (breathing and heartrate) no matter what the terrain. If the terrain is harder (uphill, rougher path) you lower the gear and your speed drops but your workrate can remain the same.

Most newbies ride in gears that are too high and push too hard on the pedals. Ideally you should spin the pedals at about 60-80 rpm and be able to hold a conversation when you are cruising along.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

When you're comfortable with that, it's probably worth having a think and a google and a look around at other riders to get the idea of what they call cadence, which is how fast your legs go round.

Ignore this it's irrelevant

Ideally you should spin the pedals at about 60-80 rpm and be able to hold a conversation when you are cruising along.

Ignore this it's irrelevant

Above all, enjoy your bike!

Don't ignore this it's relevant

 

[swee'pea99]

Ignore this it's irrelevant

Ignore this it's irrelevant

Don't ignore this it's relevant

It isn't tho' - and the first two are key to #3. How many people do you see who are palpably failing to enjoy their bike because they're 'grinding'?

 

[T4tomo]

understand that gears overlap a lot. I.e you don't work sequentially through from 1.1 -1.11 > 2.1 - 2.11. Which is quite a common misunderstanding

 

[Vantage]

I think some people are forgetting the original post. The lady who asked for help is a (and no offence to her) newbie to cycling. as we all were at one time.
Spinning, cadence, gear ratios and all that other crap is as @Phaeton said, irrelevant.
Dunno about you lot, but when I learnt to ride, my dad never gave me a long lecture on the mechanics of cycling. He stuck me on the bike, gave me a push and told me to enjoy it. Simples.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

It isn't tho' - and the first two are key to #3. How many people do you see who are palpably failing to enjoy their bike because they're 'grinding'?

This is off subject but I could easily just say "How many people do you see who are palpably failing to enjoy their bike because they're 'spinning'?" I personally do not enjoy 'spinning' but am quite happy to 'grind' (@Fnaar one for you). Sorry also to add, spinning is more relevant/irrelevant to road bikes than MTB's

@florencethnurse when you first get the bike, with the help of somebody lift the rear wheel turning the pedals get the chain on the middle cog both front & back, set off riding & then play with the gears, it will soon be evident what they do.

 

[Alan O]

For what it's worth, I've been cycling (on and off) for more than 40 years, and I've still not much idea what my cadence is - I know it's a bit more to the 'spinning' than 'grinding' end of the scale, but that's about it.

I've read a lot about cadence, but though I find it interesting, it's really not been much help - my legs have always had a natural rate that they like to turn at, and that's that. I can consciously change the rate I pedal at, but as soon as I stop concentrating on it and pay attention to more important things (like the road ahead, or what a nice day I'm having), my legs go back to doing their own natural thing.

I'd suggest the only thing someone new to cycling really needs to think about on this subject is whether the turning rate of their legs feels comfortable for them - and that really is the secret to choosing the right gear.

 

[ianrauk]

I'd suggest the only thing someone new to cycling really needs to think about on this subject is whether the turning rate of their legs feels comfortable for them - and that really is the secret to choosing the right gear.

This in spades.
In essence, just get on your bike and ride. You will soon learn what is good and best for you.

 

[mikeymustard]

I would like to apologise for all the "man-splaining"