Gears / Speeds 101

The most confusing subjects in mountain biking are gears and speeds. I want to clear this up early so you'll understand the articles to follow. EVERYTHING depends on gears / speeds, it's that important.

The Basics:

A gear is a metal ring that the chain tracks on. Mountain bikes typically have two sets of gears. Usually three gears / rings in the middle of the bike on the right crank arm and another set on the axle of the rear wheel composed of 6, 7, 8, or 9 gears / rings. In the front, a smaller diameter gear / ring means really easy pedaling and really slow velocities. A larger diameter gear / ring means more difficult pedaling and higher velocities. In the back it's just the opposite. Smaller diameter gears / rings mean harder pedaling and higher velocities while larger diameter gears / rings mean easier pedaling and lower velocities. It's all about gear ratios, and most mountain bikes offer a very wide range of ratios for just about any strength rider and any conditions.

** When I reference a 'gear' or 'ring' I mean the physical gear / ring on the rear axle. For instance, fifth gear would be the fifth gear / ring starting from the largest rear gear / ring and counting towards smaller. By the way, the words 'gear' and 'ring' can be considered the same thing and interchangeable.

Now, any gear in the rear of the bike can be applied to any of the three gears in the front. Meaning, you can be using fifth gear in the back while using the smallest, middle or largest gear in the front. This is where the confusion starts to come in. Many people like to refer to their gear combination with the word 'speeds'. Here is what it's all about. When riding in first gear and the smallest front ring, you are in first speed. Same goes for any other rear gear. The name of the gear is the name of the speed, as long as you are using the smallest front ring. If you have a bike with nine rear gears, you would have speeds 1 - 9 when using gears 1 - 9. When you switch to the middle ring, you keep adding onto the speeds. So, first rear gear and the front middle ring is tenth speed, ninth rear gear and the front middle ring is eighteenth speed. Switching to the largest front ring continues... first rear gear and the largest front ring is nineteenth gear and ninth rear gear is twenty-seventh speed.

(Really, you could consider the front rings to define 'speed ranges' or 'velocity ranges'. The smaller ring will give the lowest speeds for a bike, but offer a range of gear ratios that have a lot of power and torque for steep hills, deep sand or any tough terrain. The largest ring gives the highest speeds but it totally useless for most trail riding, and certainly wouldn't be used for climbing any steep hills or going through mud.)

I tend to avoid using the 'speeds' reference because different bikes and different riders have a different number of gears. For example, if you have a bike with sevens gears in the rear and you are riding in the second rear gear and the middle front gear, you would call out to a friend that you are riding in ninth speed. But your friend might have nine rear gears and ninth speed for that person would be a completely different gear ratio. The concept of speeds doesn't have much meaning except to tell someone that your bike has three front gears and seven rear gears, or 21 speeds. Or three front gears and nine rear gears or 27 speeds. I won't be using this concept at all except for this purpose, defining how many total gear ratios are possible from a combination of gears. I will always say, front middle ring (front middle gear) and fifth ring (fifth gear). This is a definite gear ratio that is largely similiar all most bikes and gives a great frame of reference.

I mentioned the wide variety of gear ratios. The greater the number of gears in the rear, the better the range of gear ratios. In fact, a typical mountain bike has a lot of over-lap between speed ranges. Small front ring and fifth gear could very easily be a faster and harder to pedal gear ratio than the middle front ring and first gear. This makes things a little more complicated but is actually a good idea for most riders. It means you can ride comfortably under different conditions because you can probably find a comfortable gear in any front ring despite riding at different speeds on different types of terrain or with riders of different ability levels. Much more on that later.

Okay, that's a lot of information about gears. Let's talk about using them. Most bikes are outfitted with rapid fire type shifters. The basic design is two levers slung under the handlebars. One is pressed towards the front of the bike by your thumb and other is pressed towards the back of the bike with your pointing finger. The left shifter levers control the front shifter (it's called a deraileur, that's de - rail - er). Pressing with the thumb requires force to move the chain, and it shifts into a larger gear. Pressing with your left pointing finger doesn't require hardly any force because it is spring-loaded, and this shifts into a smaller ring. The right shifter levers control the rear deraileur and operates the same way. Pressing with the thumb requires force and shifts into a larger gear. Pressing with the right pointing finger doesn't require much pressure because the action is spring-loaded. The difference is when you shift a front gear with your thumb, you are shifting into a more difficult gear. When you shift a rear gear with your thumb, you are shifting into an easier gear. That is because it takes force to shift into a larger ring, the chain has to be pushed. But it comes back easily with a spring-loaded action. So, it's always easier to shift into a smaller ring. We'll use this information later.

Finally, we get to the rules of shifting.

  • Only shift while pedaling, and pedaling forward.
  • Only shift one or two gears at a time in the rear. Only shift one gear at a time in the front.
  • Don't shift while putting a great amount of pressure on the pedals, or pedaling very slowly. Shifting goes much smoother if you are pedaling at a decent rate. At the end of a ride, it's a good idea to shift to an easier gear as you slow down so your bike is in a good gear for your next ride.
  • Learn to operate your shifter levers by touch, don't look down.
  • Keep your shifting system in good working order. Shifting should be smooth and quick.

That's it on gears for now. Get familiar with moving around in your gears. This is VERY important if you intend to become an Intermediate or higher rider. In the Beginner section you'll learn how to pinpoint the perfect gear ratio for different situations, and how to stay within a single speed range as much as possible.

Trail Safety and Trail Etiquette
Importance of Protective Gear
Gears and Speeds 101
Getting in Motion - Mount
Riding Position
Proper Use of Brakes
Pedaling
Stopping - Dismount

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