How To Use Bike Gears On Hills

Riding a bike doesn t need to be complicated you can jump on and enjoy yourself without formal coaching but there are a few simple skills that could help you to enjoy your early rides more.

How to use bike gears on hills. How to use your gears as this will help with hill climbing too. The number of gears a bike has is figured by multiplying the number of front chainrings by the number of gears in the rear cassette. By using a combination of easier gears along with adopting a high cadence pedaling technique i have discovered i can climb steep. They are the mechanical wonders that will allow you to accelerate to wind whistling speed along flat smooth roads or power your way up a steep rocky climb without bursting a lung.

You can think of gears as the same thing as speeds a bike with 18 gears is an 18 speed bike. Whether you ride a mountain bike a road bike or a commuter bike in fact pretty much any bike you ll have gears. Use the right gear shifter to change mechanical gears. Common gearing on bikes include 10 18 and 21 speeds.

When in doubt shift. Lead with changing electric assist levels. We ve put together some super quick beginners tips to help get you started. Use the gears as explained above but keep your weight as much as possible over the back of the rear wheel to maintain the bike s traction on the loose surface.

While principles of using gears are similar both for conventional bikes and for electric ones there are a few details that are not exactly the same. Use a harder gear on flats or if the wind is blowing from behind a tailwind. Most bicycles come equipped with gears to help riders tackle various terrains. Use the left gear shifter to change electric assist levels.

If you do have to stand on an especially steep part keep your weight back and your body low and barely leave the seat think hovering over it. If you are new to cycling learning how to climb hills is a key skill. Whatever you ride hills are a challenge that every cyclist faces. You want to shift to an easier gear on hills climbs or when you re riding into the wind.

Bikes generally have 1 3 18 21 24 or 27 speeds. Shifting explained for beginners if you haven t a clue how many gears your bike has how many you actually need or even how to use them properly don t worry you re not alone. Your bike gears are there to help you not to confuse you or make your life difficult. First let s get our terms straight so we re on the same page.

Make sure you also read our quick beginners cycling tips.