| The joy of the mountain bike is that | | | | granny gear. The second chain ring is |
| they come with so many gears that, if | | | | for level, off road riding (2), and the |
| you shift into the lowest one, you can | | | | third, or largest chain ring, is good |
| ride up a mountain with no problem. It | | | | for riding on pavement. |
| may take you all day, but you can do it. | | | | So if you want to use just those three |
| It's been a long time since the | | | | gears, you can certainly do so. But, |
| "10-speed" bike was the ne plus ultra of | | | | using the right hand shifter, you can |
| biking sophistication when it came to | | | | take advantage of the increments of |
| gears. These days, especially in | | | | gears available to you. |
| mountain bikes, you can get anything up | | | | Rear Derailleur |
| to 27 speeds. | | | | The back chain ring is a cog set |
| What are all these gears in aid of? | | | | featuring seven, eight or nine cogs, |
| Quite simply, they allow you to pedal at | | | | depending on how many "speeds" you have |
| the same cadence - regardless of whether | | | | (21, 24 or 27). Each cog is of a |
| you're going uphill, downhill, or cross | | | | different size, and again, the smaller |
| country. | | | | size cogs will enable you to pedal very, |
| However, the main reason why mountain | | | | very easily - but not go very fast, |
| bikes have so many gears is to assist | | | | while the larger size cogs will allow |
| you in climbing up those mountains! | | | | you to go further with each downward |
| The main thing to remember when shifting | | | | stroke of the pedal. |
| is that you must always shift while | | | | The best thing to do is to practice, |
| pedaling, otherwise you'll strip the | | | | practice, practice. Take your bike to a |
| gears. | | | | parking lot or somewhere where you don't |
| Front Derailleur | | | | have to worry about people, and shift |
| The gears are divided into two parts. | | | | from one gear to another, getting used |
| There are three chain rings in the | | | | to each one and how easy or difficult it |
| front, which are controlled by the left | | | | is to pedal while in that gear. |
| hand gear shifter. That's why there are | | | | People new to biking might be rather |
| 3 numbers to choose from on that gear | | | | wary of shifting gears. Shifting always |
| shifter - to choose which of three front | | | | was a bit problematic during the "old |
| rings your chain will rest on. The | | | | days" - when one only had a pair of |
| "derailleur" attached to the gear | | | | center mounted levels to work with, but |
| shifter moves the chain from one ring to | | | | now gear shifters - the twist type - are |
| another. | | | | so easy to use that there is no reason |
| When the chain is on the smallest of | | | | to be afraid of shifting. Again, as long |
| these three chain rings (1), pedaling | | | | as you're pedaling while you shift, you |
| will be very easy. This is called the | | | | won't hurt the gears. |