Embarassing but... gears?!

[Chatta25]

Got my first bike the weekend. A specialized allez elite 2016. Gdoupset is shimano tiagra.

So i ve been round the block a rew times however i just cant get too grips with these gears. Is the left hand lever for flat road or right for hills etc?

Any basic tips greatly apreciated as i dont want too mess the chain up already!.

 

[Saluki]

Hi
The left hand lever side changes the chain position on the front rings. Big lever shifts chain to big ring and little lever to little, or inner, ring.

The right hand lever shifts the chain onto the smaller cogs - the cassette - on the rear wheel. Again, big lever moves chain onto a bigger cog and the little lever shifts the chain on to a smaller cog.

Hope that helps happy riding

 

[Pat "5mph"]

A good way to get to know your gears is to experiment, of course, also you could get a friend to hold up you back wheel while you move the pedals with one hand and the gear lever with the other, you can get a feel for what the gears do.

 

[Saluki]

Also try not to have chain on big front ring and biggest rear cog or on small front ring and smallest rear cog. Chains don't like that.
I ride hills on small front ring and big rear cog because I cannot climb for toffee.

Just experiment with what is comfy, you will soon get the hang of it. The bike shop should have taken you through all this really. Tiagra gears are real workhorses and a great gear set. It should be just fine. Nice choice of bike too BTW

 

[KneesUp]

LEft hand - changes which chainwheel (the big cogs at the front) the chain is on.
Right hand - changes which cog of the cassette (the cluster in the back wheel) the chain is on.

The bigger the front one you are using, the higher the gear
The smaller the back one you are using, the higher the gear.

So bottom gear is smallest ring at the front, largest at the back
Top gear is biggest ring at the front, smallest at the back

If you drive you will be familiar with high gear being useful for going fast, and low gears for going slow.

You should avoid 'crossing' the chain if at all possible. This means you should not use the gears that make the chain go too far off straight - for example don't use the largest rear cog and the largest front.

Not sure if the technicalities will help but imagine (for ease of maths) that you have a weird bike with two chainrings at the front, but only two cogs at the back.

Front chainring 1 - 48 teeth
Front chainring 2 - 24 teeth

Back Cog A - 24 teeth
Back Cog B - 12 teeth

Because the teeth are spaced evenly (if they weren't the chain wouldn't fit) we can see that:

With the chain on 1(48 teeth) and A(24 teeth) each turn of 1 means A turns around twice - so each time you turn the pedals, the wheel will go around twice.
With the chain on 1 and B (48 and 12) each turn of the pedals will make the wheel turn 4 times - harder to press the pedals, but if you can do it as fast as with 1 and A, you will go twice as fast.
With the chain on 2 and A you will get one wheel rotation per pedal stroke - easy to pedal but you will need to pedal very fast indeed to get any speed. On the other hand, it would be good for going up hill, or into a strong wind, or if you were tired, or had lots of luggage, or whatever.
With the chain on 2 and B (24 and 12) you get 2 revolutions per pedal stroke - exactly the same as if you were on 1 and A (48/24 is the same as 24/12) You will find with real bikes some gears are pretty much the same too incidentally.

The gear you use depends on lots of things - how fast you want to go, how hilly it is, how windy it is, how fit you are ... but hopefuly some of this makes sone sense and you will have a bit more of an idea of what is happening when you move the levers.

 

[ColinJ]

Nope. [Damn - beaten to it by almost the entire membership of CycleChat, but I might as well post this anyway! ]

The left lever changes between chainrings (the big cogs attached to the cranks which the pedals attach to). That makes a very big difference to how hard or easy it is to pedal. The big ring is harder to pedal but you can go faster with that one than with the smaller one, for a given cadence (revs per minute of the cranks). The smaller ring would be used for going up anything more than a gentle hill, unless you are very fit and can climb on the big ring. The bigger ring for downhill. You might use either ring on the flat depending on how fast you want to go, whether there is a wind helping or hindering you, how tired you are, or how fit/unfit you are.

The right lever changes between sprockets/cogs/gears at the back of the bike on the rear wheel. This is for more subtle adjustments. You will find that sometimes you are struggling to get the cranks round so you can adjust to an easier gear. At other times, you may find that your are pedalling way too fast and your legs feel like they can't spin any faster, in which case you could try a harder gear. Confusingly, smaller cogs at the back are harder to pedal, and bigger ones are easier, the opposite to the situation with the chainrings. If you stop and think about it you can work out why that is so. Otherwise, just trust me on that one!

 

[Buck]

Good explanations above so only to add this simple tip

The left hand large lever moves the chain onto the large front ring (harder pedalling / faster speeds)
The left hand small lever moves the chain onto the small front ring (easier pedalling /slower speeds)

The right hand large lever moves the chain onto the large rear cog (easier/slower)
The right hand small lever moves the chain onto the small rear cog (harder/faster)

Remembering the above will help you change the gears in the right direction! The next step is in anticipating which gear you need and getting ready for it to keep your momentum and a smooth ride.

 

[growingvegetables]

Just guessing - your fingers haven't learned to respond by instinct? It'll come

Summat that worked for a friend learning to ride recently, and helped her get the "feel". Essential equipment - a large Asda car park on a Sunday afternoon!

Left hand gear shift on 2 (aye, the middle ring); we had her riding around several circuits, just using the right-hand shift, moving up and down the gears, getting the "feel" for the effect on her speed and pedalling. Probably half-an-hour?

And then a few circuits changing the left hand shift - up to 3, and down to 1.

Then out on to paths and ginnels - with bumps and hills.

 

[Kominic]

This takes me back (14 months) where I thought the bike shop hadn't fitted the gears because I couldn't work out how to change them. It took me a week figure out the shifters worked the brakes AND the gears (Shimano Sora). Never had a bike like that before.

So basically OP, don't be embarrassed. I started off far more derpy. This is a good question you're asking that will benefit other newbies using Tiagra/Sora/105 e.t.c

 

[Chatta25]

Hopefully i get used too it. I think its more me being paranoid thinking im going to damage the chain.

Theres some good advice here so if im out n get confused again i ll re read haha

 

[Elswick Cotterpin]

and... you need to be pedaling when you change gear...

.Practice somewhere quiet and flat where you can change up and down through the gears. It's a lot less complicated than it sounds. You won't break it; it might make some funny noises but it won't, shouldn't, break.

 

[annirak]

You're not going to damage the chain. Assuming that the derailleurs have been set up right, the worst that will happen is you'll change into a gear other than the one you intended. the little levers can't be pressed too many times. If a big one stops before clicking, don't keep pushing it. Don't try to change gears while the chain isn't moving.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Left is a high and low range
Right is fine adjustment within the range
But note that the ranges do overlap

 

[Firestorm]

Just to add. Little Lever means the next little cog
Big lever means the next big cog
Left little = easier
Right little = harder
And vice versa.....

 

[Bazzer]

Minor correction to @KneesUp post. Cross chaining would be to use the smallest front cog and smallest rear cog, or the largest front cog and largest rear cog.