Shifting Gears

(This article was originally published in my sports page column Self-Propelled
in the Sept. 4 to 10, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle
--- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

IF you do not understand fully the shifting mechanism of your bicycle, you can either turn the bike upside down or hang it from a line attached to the seat so that you can turn the pedals with one hand and shift the gears while you watch.

There is some finesse involved in using gears well. Their function is to allow you to pedal at the most efficient cadence, regardless of the wind resistance and steepness of a hill.

Once you have learned your gear pattern well, you should be able to shift smoothly as the gradient of the road changes or as you come around a corner into a wind.

A cyclist does not have to be as quick at shifting as the racer. But it is a real help to know your gears well so that you don’t have to fumble or use trial-and-error to get into the right configuration. It is therefore essential to learn to shift when you need to, rather than pushing too high a gear as beginners often tend to do. Straining too hard at the pedals results in rapid muscle fatigue.

The ease in which you can turn the pedals and the distance that the bike travels each revolution of the pedals make depend on the ratio of the number of teeth on the front gear to the number of teeth of the rear one, as well as the size of your wheels. The different ratios that result depend on the number of teeth of each cog, and the pattern of shifting in order from the lowest to the highest gear depends on the particular combination of your bike.

Once you have a basic feel of your bicycle, it is worth spending some time learning the exact shifting sequence. Then, when you are riding along into the wind and feel yourself straining just a bit to keep up a good cadence, you can shift into the next lower gear easily without breaking you rhythm.

For the beginners, the most frequent mistake in riding up hills is to try to stay in a relatively high gear too long, allowing the legs to tire and perhaps even grinding to a halt in the middle of a belated effort to shift into a lower gear.

Shift down early and save energy until you have built up the conditioning and ability to budget your strength that is necessary to ride up hills at a faster pace.

Until then and have a safe ride all the time. Put on that cycling helmet each time you get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.* (SP13)