ItsKYRO

Hey all, i'm a new rider and my bike has a gearshift handle bar shifters. On the left side it moves from 1 - 2 -3 and the right handle is 1-2-3-4-5-6-7. So far my first few rides I kept the left side in 2 and moved it all the way from 3 - 7 depending on how slow or fast I wanted to ride.

Tonight I decided to experiment and moved the shifter on the left side to 3 once I was comfortable in 2 (left side) and 7 (right side). My guess was that the 1 on the left side means gears 1 thru 7, and that 2 would be 8 - 14, and 3 would be 15-21. However instead it seemed when I moved it to 3 it didn't necessarily get more difficult to pedal, it just felt weird like it threw my pedals / chains into wack for a minute, and I had to move the right side gears a bit to get it to feel normal again. I then moved it back to 2, and it threw it out of wack again making it feel weird to pedal, and I had to move the right side a couple gears before it felt normal again.

As of now i'm going to stay in 2 on the left side because i'm not understanding what the 1 and 3 are for on left side, or I am understanding that it's to move it from gears 1 all the way thru 21, and i'm just not shifting it correctly.


Any help on this? Thanks so much

Bill Kapaun

Using gears that put the chain at an extreme angle may result in noise etc.
Smallest ring (front) with the smallest cog (rear) or largest ring & cog.
Middle ring should be usable on all 7. Maybe not if you get up to 9 speed or more.
Smallest ring should be good for 1-5. Largest ring 3-7. (they may do another without noise. YMMV)

Put it on BIG: BIG or SMALL:SMALL and step behind the bike and look at the angle the chain makes from front to back.
That may give a very good visual explanation re: "noise".

ItsKYRO

Thanks for your reply. Is the 1 on the left handle the small ring on the front and the 2 the middle, and the 3 the big?

Andrew R Stewart 

I bought my first real bike (Huffy Mark 10) in 1968 and the shop told me a key bit of advice. "Pedal in one gear easier than you think you should be in". Developing a smooth and rapid cadence will help your bike and body in many ways. That and learning how to shift the front der well has served me for 65 years of riding.

Bill gives good advice too. Andy

Andrew R Stewart 

Generally, Yes. Your earlier comment of what cog/ring combo is what gear number isn't what the "serious cyclists" follow. Most will look at the gear ratios of the various ring/cog combos, sometimes described as how forward a bike will travel in a certain gear during one pedal revolution or how big the imaginal rear wheel would have to be if the cranks were linked to that wheel directly (gear inches). Back in the day we use to write up a small chart of the rings and cogs and their combo ratios to better understand the progression of shifts we would do get that other "best" gear and tape it to our stems. These days there are many online apps that you could use to emulate this info and display it on a screen. Andy

Bill Kapaun

Andy is spot on about the one gear easier.....
Here's a gear ratio calculator from Sheldon RIP.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html

I prefer "Gear Inches" which is basically the tire diameter * gear ratio.
Multiply that by PI (3.14) and that's the distance traveled in 1 revolution of the cranks.
I'll post a chart that would apply to a lot of entry level "bike shop" bikes.
Note the chain rings are 28-38-48. Yours may be different.
The largest cog of the freewheel is 28T, so gears 1 & 1 would result in a final drive ratio of 1.00 and your "Gear Inches" will equal tire diameter.
NOTE! there are several ratios with different chain rings that are very similar.
1-7 & 3-2 are both 54.0 GI.
1-6 & 2-3 & 3-1 are all very similar. You can find more.
You want to use the combinations that result in the straightest running chain.


You might better describe the bike. New/used, brand names-models etc.
A used bike may simply need a bunch of work through age, neglect or wannabe mechs.
IF it's been sitting for a long time it will likely need the cables cleaned & lubed. Indexed shifting doesn't work well with high friction in the cable/housing.

Kai Winters

3, 2, 1 is a term used by the shifting manufacturer just to distinguish the gear the shifter has been moved to. Some makers use 1, 2, 3. It doesn't really matter and only defines the gear inches each gear is in front and back.
Generally the front gears...it is called a crank or crank set...are called the "granny gear"/smallest/fewest teeth gear or inner ring, the middle gear is called just that "middle gear or ring" the outermost is called the "big ring".
These terms are far more useful than using a number as the number may not exactly relate.
Most recreational riders tend to use the "middle ring" and run the gears in the back as needed/wanted or most comfortable/efficient.
Ride in whatever gear you want just don't "cross chain"...using the big ring in the front and the largest gear in the back. It bends the chain quite a bit and causes undue friction on the moving parts. Same for the granny ring and the fewest teeth gear in the back.
The middle ring tends to cover all the gears in the back without much cross chaining.

andrewclaus

This is exactly the right way to do it if you ride on level terrain with no wind. You can save 1 and 3 on the left side for extreme conditions. If you have problems climbing a hill or are getting tired from struggling into a strong headwind, you can make the easy shift to 1 for lower speeds. Likewise, if you want to peddle faster downhill or downwind, you can shift into 3 for higher gears. That's often a more difficult shift to make, and may need a little practice with techniques like reducing your pedaling strength while you shift, and not cross-chaining.

To reiterate what's been said above, you don't really have 21 different speeds. It's more like 12 speeds. Just keep riding with seven in the middle and use a few lower and a few higher speeds when needed.

mdarnton

Rather than thinking of all of the gears as a semi-continuous set, think of the front gear as a range changer. as andrewclause implies. When it's really rough, move to a smaller one on front, when easy and fast, to the larger. Try to keep the chainline straight, so avoid 1 in front to 7 in back, for instance, or the opposite, except for just a momentary change. Generally I stay in 2 or 3 on the front and leave 1 for going up really steep situations where I run out of options on the middle ring.

Don't be too surprised if you never need the small front ring. If you're just out for fun in flattish terrain then mostly you'll find yourself riding in one or two gears except when something unusual is happening. That's how they can make one-speed bikes and people are happy with them. Since I ride a bit slower in the winter, I personally ride large ring on the front in the summer, medium in the winter, just to keep the wear from happening on one chainring.

Count on a chainring change being the equivalent of about two or two and a half back gear changes, more or less (maybe more going to the small ring in front), though you might want to experiment with that on your bike so you know exactly.

I'm sure that's not the only way to think of it, but that's my system.

Crankycrank

And be patient when learning what gear to be in. It takes some experience plus finding what is a comfortable cadence for you and will eventually become second nature.

cyccommute 

While Sheldon Brown’s gear calculator is useful, I prefer www.gear-calculator.com because it is easier to see how the gears work. Here’s a screen shot of the same gearing given by Bill Kaupan above




There are various pull down menus that allow for labeling the gearing with gear inches, meters developed (the amount of distance traveled per crank revolution), speed (shown), etc. You don’t need to print this out and refer to it as you ride but just be familiar with how the gearing works. If, for example, you are traveling along in the high range (gear 3…also called “chainwheels”… on the front) at 19 mph in the 18 tooth cog (gear 5 on the back) and you need to downshift, you can make a small adjustment by just shifting down to the 20 tooth cog (gear 4 on the back). At the same cadence (aka rpm of your feet), your speed will slow to 17 mph.

You could keep downshifting on the back until you are in 28 tooth gear (gear 1) but this is a bad strategy. You hit the lowest gear in the high range and when you change ranges you are in the lowest gear in that range. A better strategy would be to shift from the high range to the middle range on the front when you are in the 20 or 22 tooth gear on the back. This give you 3 to 4 more gears to adjust your gearing if needed. You can do the same thing in the middle range (chainwheel 2 on the front) to the small range (chainwheel 1 on the front).

The main point to know is that bicycle gears aren’t linear like car gears are. There really aren’t 21 gears on your bicycle. There are 21 combinations of gears but there is a lot of overlap with similar gears in the 3 ranges. Realistically, there are 11 unique gears on your bicycle. There are 10 gears that are similar to other gears but they can be difficult to get to easily.

alcjphil

All you have to do is shift the left lever to each position and look at the position of the chain on your crankset

TugaDude

Nobody seems to have mentioned checking to ensure the shifting components are dialed in properly. That can account for noise, "feeling weird" and shifting but not noticing any difference. Maybe because it didn't actually shift. The number on the dial doesn't mean anything if the chain doesn't behave properly.

70sSanO

To be honest, bicycle shifting, especially with numbers, is the most a-backwards setup for those who are not familiar with what happens when a shift is made. Basically you shift the left (front derailleur) and the right (rear derailleur) in opposite directions to pedal faster (harder) or slower (easier).

For people who have ridden a lot and understand gearing it makes perfect sense; and becomes second nature.

It also doesn’t help when manufacturers decide that they need to help a new rider and number the rear shifter in opposite ways.

In as simple terms as possible, the the larger the chainring, in front, the faster you go. The smaller the cog, in rear, the faster you go. Each chainring, in front, is independent of the others, and gives you a “range” of speeds when you shift the rear cogs to go faster or slower.

If you are in the middle front chainring, numbered as 2, and you can ride as fast or slow as you want, you never have to use the left shifter, you just use the range of rear cogs. You only need the other chainrings if you need to go faster or slower than you can when in 2.

Your job is to know if the numbers are slower or faster.

John

Edit added: Over time you will understand that there is overlap in each range of gears, so you won’t shift through all the rear cogs and then shift a front chainring.

This is where a gear inch chart can show you the overlap points.

rm -rf

Yes, like 70sSanO explained above.

~~~~~~~
It's quick and easy to shift the back 7 cogs. Shifting the front takes a bit more time and effort. So the three sets of gearing overlap to help minimize how often the front needs to be shifted.

I don't know your gear tooth counts. But here's a typical example for 3 front, 7 rear gears.
This example:
Front 24 small, 36 middle, 48 biggest.
Rear: 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 28.

This chart shows typical pedaling speeds for each front-rear gear combination when cruising along. "RPM" is the same as "cadence", the number of pedal revolutions per minute.
To understand this, see the black chainring bar labeled "15" as an example. That's the middle chainring with second to smallest cog in the back (a 15 tooth cog). At 70 rpm, it's about 13mph, at the faster pedaling 85 rpm, it's about 16 mph.

(some of the charts posted above are a bit more technical -- I like this visual style to make the gearing relationships quite obvious.)


Using the middle ring (in black), it's best at about 7-8 mph to about 15 mph. (It still could be used outside this range, but the rider would spinning really fast at higher mph, or at slow speeds "grinding" with heavy pedal pressures at a slow cadence.)

Just riding along, on flats or with easy grades: The middle chainring is good.
Want to go fast, or there's a slight downhill: The big chainring.
Moderate or steep hills ahead: get in the small chainring. This is great for strong headwinds too!

Look at the 15 rear cog with the middle chainring -- it's near the 15 mph range. Leaving it in the 15 rear and shifting the front to the smallest chainring, that's at a 10 mph range -- it's going to feel "way too easy, can't pedal that fast" if the bike is still going 15 mph. So riders usually shift the front and also shift 2 or 3 gears in the back to kind of match the same road speed. That takes a bit of practice -- so try it at moderate speeds on a flat, quiet road.

With experience, you'll know when you want to shift the front. Shift it before the base of the hill climb, for instance, it's way easier to shift the front when the rider is just easy pedaling. No strong forces on the chain then. And after a few weeks of riding, you'll start to just shift the correct direction, without having to think about it first -- it becomes automatic. "I'll be going slower ahead" -- click click and the correct gearing is ready.

KerryIrons

A simple way to better understand your gears is to shift into different combinations, stop and get off the bike, and look at where the chain is on the chain rings (the front) and the cogs (in the back). As Yogi Berra said: "You can observe a lot by watching."

ItsKYRO

Thanks everyone for your replies. 70sSanO, I think you put it in terms easiest for me to understand here. My only concern is the not crossing the chains, if i'm understanding that part correctly it would mean only keep the chainring in front in low with the cog on a low number (1 - 4ish?) and only take it up to the high chainring if i've got the cog in the back on a high number (5-7?), and if that's correct that means that 1 on front, and 1-4 on back would allow me to go slower than 2 on front, and 1-4 on back, and then the same with if i need to go faster than what 2 on front and 5-7 on back would allow me to go, i need to move the front chainring to 3, but only while ive got the back cog in 5-7, otherwise i risk crossing them. Is that correct?

70sSanO

Cross chaining is so overblown these days. Modern bushingless chains are more flexible than the older chains. Shimano “requires” cross chaining on all of their 1x11 setups. If you do the math it is nothing more than how far off chainline (chain angle) you can ride within manufacturers specifications. Shimano 11 road is 18.7mm off chainline and 11 mountain is 19.5mm. End of cross chaining rant.

As for your 3x7 setup, with a triple I ride the number of cogs minus 1. Once again it is simple math. If I can ride all 7 the cogs in the middle chainring, (shifter position 2), then when I move the chain over 5mm to a different chainring, I move the max cog over 5mm; which on a 7 speed is one cog. It is still about the chain angle.

Technically if your chain length is correct, and your rear derailleur cage is long enough, you can ride any combination for a short distance, but for everyday riding.

Large chainring: 1-6
Middle chainring: 1-7
Small chainring: 2-7

This is based on 1 is the smallest rear cog and 7 is the largest cog.

John

cyccommute 

While I avoid cross-chaining, it is less about wear and more about being able to have more choices. If you shift down to the largest cog (gear 1) on the cassette while in the largest chainring and then need to downshift, you only have one gear in the middle ring unless you upshift several cogs in the back. Downshifting on the chainwheel and then upshifting on the rear cogs is often difficult to orchestrate smoothly. It just awkward and not needed if you plan ahead a little.

Pictures make it easier to understand. Let’s say you are riding along in the big chainwheel/big cog combination (commonly called “big/big combinaion) at 12 mph (red arrow pointing up). You start up a hill and need to downshift. You drop down to the middle chainwheel/big cog and your speed drops to 10 mph (red arrow pointing down). You could upshift on the back to get one more gear (green arrow) but you are climbing a hill and may not have the momentum needed to make that shift. If you downshift on the front…which could also be a dicey situation due to the momentum again…you are at the very lowest gear and have no place to go. A wider range cogset would make these changes even larger and harder to make.


Now let’s say you are riding along in the 22 tooth gear and the large chainring at 16mph (red up arrow). You feel the hill coming up and downshift to the middle ring (red down arrow). You are at the same speed as the big/big combination but you have two more steps on the cassette before you hit the lowest gear in the middle range. You have more choices. In this combination, if the road gets steeper, you could even drop to the inner ring and not have too much of a jarring transition.



I’m not saying you need to memorize this chart. The chart just tells you what possible combinations are and how they overlap. It also shows you that you don’t need to ride the extremes to get the same gears. There is seldom any situation where it is necessary to use the big/big combination if you plan ahead a little.

This all seems confusing when it is new…and it is…but you get a feel for it fairly quickly.

Bike Gremlin

If it helps in addition to the above-provided charts, my take on explaining the basics (until I figure out how to create 3d animations):

ItsKYRO

Hey all, so I just went out for a ride and after shifting I would stop and look at my chains and get a better understanding. I feel confident now in what's going on when i'm shifting, my left handle is 1 - small chainring and 3 - big chainring, and right side my 1 - large cog and 7 - small cog. When I moved up to my big chainring and matched it with my small cog all was well. My only issue is that in my middle chainring (2) and small cogs (5 - 7) is the only time i'm getting a chanking noise. It literally sounds like chank chank chank chank in fast repitition. It's barely audible on 5, it's somewhat loud on 6, and it's very loud on 7. This is only when paired with my middle chainring (2) on left handlebar.

Any thoughts what can be causing this? It's a bit concerning because 2 (chainring) and 5-7 (cogs) are where i'm most comfortable pedaling the majority of the time.

70sSanO

Generally, but not always, with a 3x7 hybrid and running in the middle chainring you can run all 7 cogs without getting chain rub on the front derailleur cage. Worst case you can get 6 of the 7 cogs.

Hybrids typically run trigger shifters or twist shifters. Older ones also had thumb shifters. Thumb or twist shifters are friction and you can trim the front derailleur slightly to eliminate chain rub. You can't trim trigger shifters.

Regardless of the type of shifters, you should make adjustments to the front derailleur setup to eliminate as much of the chain rub as possible. This will probably help...

https://www.parktool.com/en-us/blog/...eur-adjustment

John

79pmooney

[QUOTE=ItsKYRO;22636901]Hey all, so I just went out for a ride and after shifting I would stop and look at my chains and get a better understanding. I feel confident now in what's going on when i'm shifting, my left handle is 1 - small chainring and 3 - big chainring, and right side my 1 - large cog and 7 - small cog. When I moved up to my big chainring and matched it with my small cog all was well. My only issue is that in my middle chainring (2) and small cogs (5 - 7) is the only time i'm getting a chanking noise. It literally sounds like chank chank chank chank in fast repitition. It's barely audible on 5, it's somewhat loud on 6, and it's very loud on 7. This is only when paired with my middle chainring (2) on left handlebar.

Any thoughts what can be causing this? It's a bit concerning because 2 (chainring) and 5-7 (cogs) are where i'm most comfortable pedaling the majority of the time.[/QUOT]
Look at the inside of your outer chainring (3). Do you see little pegs or ramps sticking out? Those are shift assists to make the shifting on to the biggest chainring and threrfore the hardest climb for the chain easier. But, if your chain is hitting those tings when it is bent to reach the outside small cogs in back, well it is thinking about changing gears. SHIft further to the right (smaller cogs) in back and the chain goes from thinking about changing gears to actually trying to do it.

Those pegs and ramps are modern inventions. Back in the old days, we shifted entirely by moving a simple lever. Without those shift assists, we had to over-shift the front derailleur a lot to get the chain to climb up, then quickly return to aligned with the chainring, It was a bit of an art, Now you simply just push a shifter to it's next index position. But without that over-shift, the chain would sit and make grinding noises and not shift. Pegs and ramps make that shift happen. And can cause noise and attempted shifts when not wanted. They are a mixed blessing most of the world now cannot live without.

There are tricks to minimized that issue. But for now, probably way more than you need on your plate. If it bugs you enough, take the bike to a mechanic. (I very much like full or nearly full use of the cassette in the middle chainring. But I also use the old way of shifting and know from decades of muscle memory how to shift with no assists at all.)

Welcome to Bike Forums! And the magic world of derailleur shifting. Before they came along, you could have 3 gears. Three choices decided at the factory. And before that, just one.

Edit: I just read 70sSanO 's post after yours and see that he sent you to a website I did not know about to address the issue. Good for him. Consider my post just a little bike history.