How To Change Gear On Your Bike | Road Bike Shifting Made Easy

Having up to 33 gears on your bike can be a complicated affair. Luckily Simon Richardson is here to let you know what to do with them.

Let us know your tips for making gear changing easy in the comment below 👇

Ex-Professional Cyclist Simon Richardson is here to explain the range of gears you have and some basic rules around using them.

The left hand brake/gear lever unit controls the front derailleur and choice of chainring at the front. The front derailleur pushes/pulls the chain from one chainring to another depending on the riders action from the gear lever.

The right hand controls the rear derailleur and essentially fine tunes your cadence.

A key tip is change gear before it's to late, e.g if you have to change from the big chainring to the small chainring when grinding to a halt on a climb, it can go horribly wrong and is to late.

Two gear ratios to avoid are the big chainring and the largest sprocket at the rear, and the opposite, the smallest chainring and the smallest sprocket. The reason being these extreme gear selections put extra strain on the chain and can cause premature failure.

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Music:
J. Solar - Motivation

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Leave us a comment below!

[gcn]

We want to know your tips and bits of advice for gear shifting.

[Flozeybear]

So for all the elitest jerks out there, Why have you clicked on a video titled "How to change gear" ? Some people are just so rude on here, some people may have just started riding and come across an updated video for something they have found confusing. It is people like you who ruin the cycling community and also make people who are just starting out suffer anxiety, nerves and are too shy to ask others questions that "apparently" everyone should know the answer to. Maybe they should do a video about how o be repectable to all cyclists regardless of your proficiency.

[Tenere_]

So much hate about the idea but i havent rode a bike in 6 years and i just bought a road bike and learned a lot of things that i never knew

[nicolaswilmus]

simple, short, to the point. even those who are new to the sport deserve their video and help ;)
not every video needs to be about the right force to tighten the screw on your tire valves

[paulblake]

Many thanks, as a beginner this is so simple that I do not want to ask anyone, but here you have covered it in all its simplicity. Great vid as always.

[raybradley]

I know many complain about the subject areas GCN produces but I find the videos very useful. Keep them coming. I have learned quite a bit from the videos.

[musclemurr]

This helps a ton. I just got my bike to commute, and I’ve been using brute force to get up incline and hills, can’t wait to actually try it for myself.

[Puck]

I haven’t ridden a bike in probably 25 years but wanted to start again. After a few other YT videos, this was the first to actually explain the main difference between the purpose of the left vs right shifters in plain english for a total beginner. Thanks!

[skillfulassassin]

Thank you so much! I am an absolute beginner and this video is actually very helpful. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed watching your videos as I just simply do not know much about biking, but this is my level of knowledge and I love it!

[Houseguy]

I just bought my first new road bike in 30 years. The brake lever shifting is so much butter than taking my hand off of the handlebars and reaching downing (while looking down) to change the gears. I tackled some significant hills the other day, and that made the ride so much more enjoyable.

[jimbojet]

An informative vid for the less experienced, me 6months ago! Comments made here by other subscribers are all recognisable and obvious to me now. There's no substitute for practice though is there? Time on the bike, that's the way to go. Thanks GCN.

[ethancheng]

I never took a class in cycling. When you were a kid you just buy a bike and figure it out by feel. I always thought I had a working knowledge of the gear system but not the textbook truth of how it works. This video actually confirmed that I figured it out correctly when I was a kid. Thanks so much.

[myshots]

I couldn't go up small inclines without dying until I learned to use the gears. Specially if you're out of shape, it makes a world of difference.

[EowynSoup]

I actually needed this because I'm completely new to it so thank you!

[somuchfortalent]

This channel has been an incredible tool for learning about cycling. Thanks.

[Graham]

Thankyou for this, for me it has helped. I am an older bloke, wanting to start, enjoy and learn about road cycling, but have no idea. The last road bike I had was 25 years ago when my gears were changed by two levers on the down tube. I have no one to ask about how to use and what to do with new technology. So I have watched this video on gears and will watch others on the basics of cycling from GCN. So if you see some old bloke trying to change his gears properly, or an old bloke falling off as I can't get my foot off the pedal, then don't laugh cos I am trying. Take care I am so looking forward to learning this cycling lark!

[katherinelangford]

Thank you. You explained that super easy to just get out and go. I've watched a few vids of yours and you've officially got a new subscriber.

[Samimi]

Best explanation I've seen. Looked at a lot of videos before landing on this, very simple and clear and concise

[gwendolyncheong]

This video is dope.i got my first bike that has gears and I was confused, but now it is clearer thanks to your videos. Those haters are just couch potatoes. Keep the videos coming

[marktindal]

Perfect for someone joining the cycling world again after 30 years. Much appreciated!