Gears and things

[florencethnurse]

Ah thanks everyone for being so kind and helpful , it’s a long time since I was called a lady @Vantage ...
My bike is hopefully delivered today or tomorrow and I’m quite excited ...

 

[florencethnurse]

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.

Thank you @Jenkins this is very well explained

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

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.

Essentially, that's what it's about. Not pedalling frantically and wearing yourself out, and not slogging so hard in a high gear that your legs feel like they are on fire. Every individual has their own natural work rate, which will depend on loads of factors, especially overall fitness. In the case of the OP, the middle chainring is going to have the right gearing for 99% of the time, probably pulling away in 3rd on a level road and working up through the gears as speed increases. The top gear available on the middle ring is 88 inches, and that is plenty high enough for a level road riding on a flat bar bike with an upright position. The 48T chainring is effectively superfluous if the OP is currently relatively unfit and/or overweight. No-one on a flat bar bike needs a 118 inch top gear unless they are Superman and they live at the top of a hill they want to bomb down at warp speed.

 

[florencethnurse]

Well @SkipdiverJohn inthink I understood most of your post lol

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Well @SkipdiverJohn inthink I understood most of your post lol

Go on YouTube and stick "cycling gear inches" into the search box. There are some useful videos on there that explain the concept of bicycle gearing and how to choose and use gears effectively.
I grew up in the pre-internet era, and read a copy of Richard's Bicycle Book from cover to cover in my early teens. Very informative book on many aspects of cycling, including DIY maintenance.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Forget all the crap about cadence, chain inches, spinning, grinding just get on the bike ideally on a flat area closed supermarket car parks are good & just enjoy yourself

 

[nickyboy]

Forget all the crap about cadence, chain inches, spinning, grinding just get on the bike ideally on a flat area closed supermarket car parks are good & just enjoy yourself

This in spades. For chrissakes, gear inches!!!!

Get on bike, ride bike. Have a twiddle about with the gear changing thingies until you find something that feels nice. Ride bike some more and enjoy it