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How & When To Change Gear On A Road Bike | GCN's Pro Tips - YouTube
Channel: Global Cycling Network
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- If you're new to
cycling, then using gears
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and gear selection can
be quite complicated.
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There's so many other
different things to think about
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that if it's not second nature to you,
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it can be very easy to get it wrong,
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or not to bother at all.
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- That's right.
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So, if that is you, then don't fear,
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because coming up is GCN's very own
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beginners' guide to using road bike gears.
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(modern techno music)
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- So first, let's have
a look at how they work.
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Now, most modern road bikes
have the gear shifters
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integrated into the brakes, so
brake on the left hand side,
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well this actually shifts the front mech,
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changing the big ring
down into the small ring.
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And on the right hand
side, the brake, here,
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that actually shifts the
rear mech, so changing
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from the big cog to the
small cog and vice versa.
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Now, the bigger the cog at
the back, the easier the gear,
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but the reverse can be said for the front.
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So, the bigger the
chain ring on the front,
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the harder it is to pedal.
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As clear as mud?
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We know.
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When you swing both of the levers inward,
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so the right and the left,
firstly on the right,
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the lever being swung inwards
changes you to a bigger
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cog at the back, which
actually makes it easier.
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Now on here, I've got electric gears,
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so I'm just using the paddles.
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Now, on the left hand side,
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when you swing the
mechanical lever inwards
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or tap the electric paddle, it makes it
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or turns onto a bigger cog
at the front or chain ring,
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which is actually harder, and then,
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when you've tapped the
paddles or the button
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on the mechanical system,
the opposite happens.
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(techno music)
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- So now you know what lever does what.
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When should you be using them?
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Well, for the vast majority of the time,
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you will be using your right hand
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to change gears at the back.
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The reason being that
the actual differences
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between the gears are
much smaller back here,
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so that when you do change gears,
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actually the rate at which you pedal,
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or your cadence, changes only slightly.
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Now, it's only when you
get to the extreme ends
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of those sprockets at the
back, so those really big ones
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or the really small ones,
that you then think about
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using your left hand to change
into a different chain ring,
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and therefore make a bigger jump.
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The only thing you need to
bear in mind with your gears
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is they are there to help you.
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They're there to help you
pedal at the right cadence.
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Now, what that might be does
very much depend on you,
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but we'd say generally
we want to be looking at
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about 80 revolutions per minute.
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That would be kinda normal.
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(techno music)
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- So, now you know how to change gear
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and when to change gear.
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Now, here's a few pointers of how to get
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the best out of your gears.
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- Yeah, firstly, you want
to avoid at all costs
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if you can, changing
gear when you're pressing
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really hard on the pedals, particularly
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from the big to the small
chain rings at the front.
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Now, ideally you want
to actually anticipate
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when you're gonna need to change gears.
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So, if you look ahead,
you'll be able to see
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when you're coming up to a climb
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or a sharp corner or a road junction,
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and in all those instances,
you're then gonna wanna go
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from that big chain
ring to the smaller one.
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- Yeah, anticipating what's up ahead
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and getting your gear
change nice and early
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is something that we'd really recommend.
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Otherwise, you risk getting bogged down
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in the gear that you're in.
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Now, there's nothing wrong at all
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in spinning a low gear momentarily
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a bit longer than you'd
like, but don't worry,
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'cause soon the gradient will kick in
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and you'll be in the right
gear at the right time.
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- Yeah, do bear in mind as well,
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for some more advanced technique,
for when you are changing
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between chain rings at the front,
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there's quite a big jump between the two.
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And so, to make that jump
seem slightly smaller,
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try changing gear at the back,
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just one or two gears at the same time.
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So, if you're going from
the small chain ring
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to the big chain ring, you then go
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up a couple of gears at the back.
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It's gonna make the
jump a little bit less.
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It doesn't come naturally, that,
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but it's definitely worth practicing .
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- That's a blooming top tip, though.
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- Top tip.
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- Now, one thing that
you should try and avoid,
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although, I must admit we've all done it
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from time to time, and I
am actually doing it now,
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just for effect, is cross-chaining.
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Now, cross-chaining is
when you have your chain
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on the big chain ring at the front
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and the big cog at the
back, or conversely,
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the small chain ring at the front
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and the smallest cog at the back.
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Now, that actually puts a lot of
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strain on your chain
and also your rear mech.
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I'm gonna change back, now.
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- Well, speak for yourself, Matt,
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but I'm actually allowed to cross-chain.
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- Are you?
- Yeah.
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Now, it's slightly confusing, I know,
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but there are different
manufacturers of gears
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with slightly subtle differences.
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I'm using some called SRAM,
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and I am in fact allowed to cross-chain.
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They're designed to do that.
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Now, those subtle differences
are actually something
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that we have explored in the past.
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We've got a video all about that
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that we'll link to just very shortly.
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Before we do that, I'm
just gonna remind you,
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do make sure you subscribe to GCN.
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It's completely free to do it,
you just click on the globe
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and you'll be there in the right place
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for all future content still to come.
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- Now, the video that
Simon so well referenced
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just a few moments ago,
Gear Shifters Explained,
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how about clicking just down here.
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And for how to index your
gears, click just down here.
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And don't forget to like
and share this video, too.
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- Oh, yeah.
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I'm just gonna cross-chain, am I?
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- Yeah, go for it.
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Well, you're allowed, I'm not.
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- Yep.
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- I know.
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