HOW DO BIKE GEARS WORK?! | BIKOTIC

In this video I try to demystify and simplify how bicycle gears work. I then give some tips on how to most effectively use bike gears - it can be a confusing topic and a hard skill to learn for people new to cycling. Hopefully after watching this video you will at least feel more confident about the process of changing gear and being smooth and efficient on your bike, saving as much energy as possible.

00:00 Intro
00:27 Early running bike in a fancy suit!
00:39 First bike with pedals
00:50 One turn of the cranks demo
01:11 Have to pedal to fast!!
01:22 Penny Farthing
01:37 Taking a header - crashing a Penny Farthing
02:00 The safety bicycle
02:26 Cog!!
02:37 Gear ratio demo
05:00 Single speed bike
05:42 Hairy Monster is born
05:59 Multiple gear ration demo
06:19 The Derailleur!!
07:30 Gear live action demo
07:42 You're not a dummy!!
08:00 Shifters
09:09 What words to use talking about gears??
10:01 How to anticipate which gear to be in for the road ahead
11:20 Be in the right gear when you stop!
11:48 Be gentle when you change gears
12:27 When to change the dreaded front mech?
13:35 2x by gear over laps
15:17 Cadence - Are you a Grinder or a Spinner?
16:28 To crosschain or not to crosschain?
17:35 Jargon buster - GROUPSET
17:53 Jargon buster - DRIVE CHAIN
18:06 Jargon buster - 10, 11, 12 SPEED
18:31 Jargon buster - Crankset / Chainset / Compact / Semi compact
19:34 Jargon buster - Electric groupset
20:24 Gear ratio table
20:38 Changing your cassette for better suited gear ratios
21:01 Keep your bike gears clean!!
21:18 Gear lubricant

[benschram]

I feel smarter after watching this. Been almost 5 years since i've last been on a bike so I thought it was time for a refresher before my bike is back from the shop getting sorted.

[tomshad]

nailed it - made it super understandable, I think its worth doing a whole series on this sort of stuff if you have time. Thanks for the info.

[MiQ]

I've watched a couple of your videos and I have to say that your understanding and love of cycling clearly shows. The modeling and visuals are top notch and easy to understand. You earned yourself a sub!

[vishwendrasingh]

You sir might not be a mathematician or engineer but you did a far better job of explaining how gears work! Clear, accurate, precise and simple. Kudos to you!

[boyananakiev]

hands down the best video explaining how bike gears work and I think ive watched 10 videos already. You actually explain why hard or easy gears are hard or easy and the physically how they work, where as other videos dive straight in to details like how the gears make that happen without explaining why it actually works the way it does

[AdarshC]

Im just getting into cycling and have watched about 20 hours worth of introductory material, this might be the best video I have found thus far, even just the drivetrain description in itself is worth the subscribe. Thanks so much!

[brit-in-czech]

My first bike arrived today. I am digesting as many useful videos as I can find. This helped me no end. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[johnharkin]

really good - the right balance of science (the why) and the practical (the how) - thank you

[pentacleman]

Thank you. Very well done. My feedback would be to include some information about internally geared hubs. I’ve been riding an internal 8 speed for a long time and would not want to ever go back to a derailleur ever again! Sure, it’s only 8 speeds. I’ve found that to be enough, with my strength level and where I live, which is pretty flat. Lots of humans settle in flat places. But even when I moved to a place with significant rolling hills, the lowest gear was still adequate for most of them. One thing I like the most about an internal hub is shifting while coasting, or while stopped. To me that is more like the method of shifting used in a car, where you disengage, shift, and re-engage. It also eliminates the need to anticipate every change in terrain, like sudden stops. Instead of having to see a stop and downshift so that I can get across a road in an “easy” gear, I can just stop, shift down while stopped and waiting, and then go in my easy gear. Likewise with a sudden encounter with a hill, I don’t have to grind through gears because I am putting lots of stress on them trying to shift while climbing, I just have to have enough momentum coast for a split second and click into that easy gear. Internal hubs are also very low maintenance; no derailleur with tensioner and wheels that get gummed up, no dirty cassette, the chain doesn’t grind across gears, I just click and I’m in the next gear. Because the chain does not change its length, but just goes back to one external gear, some bikes have covers over the entire drive train, which again, makes for low maintenance, and safety.

I’ve had 10 speed bikes in my past, and 15 speed bikes with a front derailleur. Did I really use all 15 gears? No. Did I really ascend smoothly through those (duplicate) gears the way we ascend through gears in a car? No. Usually the front derailleur would not be used at all, and I would usually only use about 4 or 5 gears… should have bought a 5 speed! Seriously, 15 gears, 30 gears? In my experience/opinion all you really need is one good “easy” gear for climbing hills, a good “hard” gear for going fast, like downhill or when you have a good tailwind. A couple leisurely gears for strolling around town, and maybe another hard gear for medium speed. That’s 5… okay, add a couple more for good measure and varying strength levels and road conditions… 7. With my internal 8 speed, I actually move through the gears, up and down, as the terrain or my energy level changes. With 8 speeds, the jumps are not that drastic. I don’t need to split them into 16 gears. I’m not that athletic and rarely even get to the 8th gear! Really athletic people might, and might wish they had a 9th and 10th gear. If you are that strong, you could probably change the front chainring and still be strong enough to climb a hill in what would then be a harder easy gear.

I just bought a Brompton. Only six gears! Also… a derailleur, with a chain tensioner! Not happy about that. But… it’s only a tiny two speed, so that the internal 3 speed can be doubled. With 6 speeds, the jumps are a little more significant. The double modes of shifting is tricky too. But with the internal 3 speed, set in either of the 2 speeds, I can still stop on a dime, shift to an easy gear to cross a road quickly and resume shifting up and down through a set of gears that are adequate for most of my needs. The overall range of gearing is about the same as my 8 speed, it just does it in 6.

I’ve compared them using wheel size calculations. Some say that is not the best way, but it is easy enough, and interesting to compare different bikes and gearing that way. Maybe that should have been included here too, except… math.

Anyway, just wanted to plug internal hubs and how they solve some of the problems brought up here.

[HankMcMuk]

Great vid.
Front brake levers are on the right in most left-hand drive countries. This is so you can use your rear brake while signalling a right turn across oncoming traffic (the opposite applies in the US and otherright-hand drive countries). Hope that makes sense.

[BoneTone]

Bikotic You are certainty a teacher but I posit you may be a saint. There is so much real world insight and practicality in this video. Really grateful Sir

[jvargas]

I am a dummy when it comes to biking and gears and this video makes it so easy to understand it all. The history at the beginning is a big part of why gears on a bike now so I take my hat off to you. Wonderful job. I am subscribing now which I don’t do often.

[Tchairdjian]

Excellent job man. I try to explain this to so many novices and its amazing how much time it takes them to get it.

[psycholist]

This is one of the few videos on gear shifting that actually takes the time to explain counter-shifting, or what to do when changing chainrings. I figured out years ago (on a grip-shifter bike) that when you change chainrings you have to counter it with a rear cog shift in the opposite direction to account for the large change in gear ratio. I'd love to see a video that shows counter-shifting in action.

[StanEby]

Watched this with my 9 year old grandson. He loved it. Was very helpful. Thanks and all the best.

[Ami-lngw]

I guess what it takes is a non-engineer or non-mathematicians because this is the best video I've seen so far about gears. I think I'm almost there. Thank you!

[Mattytube]

Yes, would like to hear more about rear cassettes. I have a 1x 3T Strada with Di2 and a rear XT mech. Built it like this before campagnolo came out with their 13 spd

[pocopoco]

sir bikotic, just wanna say your voice radiates asmr vibe

[goretex]

One of the best explanations of how bicycle gears work hands down!!! Brilliant!!!

[James-juwb]

As a woodworker thinking about ways to improve a treadle lathe - you've nailed it! I totally reckon I could use gears and a chain to improve the flywheel design. Cheers from rural USA!