The Complete Guide to Shifting Gears on Your Road Bike
Shifting gears is one of the fundamental skills every road cyclist needs to master. Knowing when and how to shift can make the difference between an enjoyable ride and struggling up hills in the wrong gear. As an avid road biker myself, I've picked up a few tips and tricks over the years that have really helped improve my shifting technique. In this complete guide, I'll teach you everything you need to know about shifting your road bike gear for faster, smoother gear changes. How Do Bike Gears Work? Before we get into the nitty gritty of shifting technique, let's review the basics of how gears work on a road bike. Road bikes have two sets of gears - the front derailleur controls the chainrings (the large gears up front), while the rear derailleur moves the chain between the sprockets on the rear cassette. Shifting the front derailleur moves the chain between your small, middle, and large chainrings. This makes bigger "leaps" between gear ratios. The rear derail