Mark Threlfall: Now, sometimes it is the simple things in life that can be easily
overlooked. Learning how to change gear properly and efficiently can
significantly change our cycling experience and performance. Today, I am going back to basics,
and I'm going to be running through our top tips on how to change gear.
[music] First off,
it's best we understand what the gears do and how they work. Firstly, with the front rings,
the biggest is your hardest, best suited to higher speeds, perhaps when you're descending,
and essentially you want to perhaps lower your cadence. The smallest ring is the easiest. Again,
conversely, best suited to when you are traveling at a slower speed, perhaps going
uphill and you want to increase your cadence. We go to the back, and obviously we've got
more options here. This is where it gets a little bit confusing because, actually,
the smallest sprocket is your hardest and then the largest is your easiest. In terms of gear ratios,
the easiest option would be to have in the smallest ring on the front and the
larger sprocket on the back, and then the hardest would be to be in the biggest ring on the front
and the smaller sprocket on the back. [music]
Now here, looking and thinking ahead a key to a smooth gear change when we're cycling,
and also for maintaining our momentum. Obviously, when we hit an incline,
we want to switch down into an easier gear to maintain our cadence. The opposite for
a downhill, we obviously want to switch into a harder gear to keep that pressure on, all of
which you probably think about and do without even realizing, but are you doing them in time?
If you're doing it too late, particularly on an incline, you could be putting undue pressure and
strain on your legs, you could well be putting a lot of strain on the drive chain and gears,
and also losing some valuable speed and momentum. The same for the descent, you could just be losing
that momentum by being able to put that pressure on straight away. When we do hit an incline,
make sure you're changing gear beforehand, changing into that smaller ring perhaps,
keeping that cadence up, and the opposite for a descent, maybe switching back up into that big
ring, keeping that pressure on. The key is thinking ahead
and keeping it nice and smooth. [music]
Well, that's all very well, but now let's talk through the actual action of changing gears. Now,
this is something I'm sure many of you have experienced before. You're going uphill or
you're pulling the power down through the pedals, you change gear and clunk, clunk, clunk. Your bike
isn't too happy with you. You may be thinking, "Yes, sure, but what's the problem with that?"
Well, there are a couple of problems with that. A, you're putting a lot of strain and pressure
through the drivetrain and could potentially be wearing out quicker, but B, you could end
up having your chain slipping and even potentially coming off. Of course, what we should be doing, if
you are going uphill and putting a lot of pressure down through your pedals, it's just easing off
a fraction as you change gear, and then as it slips into gear, cutting the power back down.
Again, you may be thinking, "Yes, I'm going to lose a bit of speed and momentum there." Sure, you
might do ever so slightly, but I tell you what, you'll lose far more if you actually drop a chain.
[music] Back for a little gears lesson. Now, if you have
a two-bike setup, in other words, a big ring and a small ring on your bike, then you need to be aware
of what gear choice you're in at the back on the cassette. Now, it's a very basic idea.
Having the chain in the middle of the cassette is the most efficient and smoothest place.
Now, as soon as you go into that smaller sprocket or the larger sprocket, either end,
you're starting to put that chain through quite a lot of strain. For instance, if you are in the
big ring up front and you start to go up a slight uphill, and you start going into that
larger sprocket, you're essentially doing what is known as cross chaining. You're putting that chain
through a serious amount of strain. Now, that is bad for a few reasons. One,
it could potentially start wearing out the drivetrain, the cassette, et cetera much quicker.
You could also find yourself dropping the chain, and then also because you are in quite an extreme
gear there, when you do finally decide you are going to drop down into the small ring,
you suddenly find yourself spinning out very, very suddenly. Now, of course, what you do want to be
doing is switching down into that smaller ring or changing those gears a lot sooner.
As you are starting to go uphill, for instance, and you find yourself going past that midpoint,
then start going down into that small ring to avoid that. Of course, if you do have something
like synchro shift, well, all of that thinking is taken out of the equation for you. It will start
to do that automatically, but it's worth just practicing with that so you're aware how it works.
[music] Next big question,
seated versus standing whilst you change gear. Now, you can probably guess the answer to this
based on my advice earlier of relieving the amount of pressure through the pedals
as you change gear. Therefore, the idea would be to be seated whilst you do that.
That said, I do appreciate sometimes you can't avoid having to change gear whilst being
out of the saddle. For instance, you may be going up a very steep incline
and you just desperately need to change gear. Now, in that instance, I just advise
coaxing your bike ever so gently through the change as you come off the pedals just
a little bit. Equally, another instance maybe pulling away from a junction or some stoplights,
and you just haven't quite anticipated how much you'd needed to have changed your gears.
Again, you could just coax your bike through that change whilst being at the saddle perhaps.
Obviously, the idea would have been to have preempted that junction or the stoplights
and changed before you stopped, or if you do find yourself being stopped for enough time,
you could always pick up that back wheel and change through the gears quickly whilst you're
stationary. [music]
Here's an interesting one for you with regards to the process of actually changing gear. Now, as I
mentioned before, there can be an ever, ever so slight loss of time, but more crucially,
rhythm, when we change gear. You've got to ask yourself the question,
"Do I always need to change gear?" Let's take an example, you're approaching the summit of a climb,
you're thinking about changing gear, but could you actually just press on over the top without
changing gear and losing that potential rhythm? Another example is when you're riding in a group
and maybe you've got people in front of you or someone directly behind on your wheel,
could you avoid changing gear? Or, again, a good argument for the smooth gear change
and preempting those changes. [music]
Well, I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but the smoother the better. Think ahead and you
will be great. I hope you have enjoyed today's video. If so, please do give it a like. Don't
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give us a subscribe just down below. [00:07:56] [END OF AUDIO]