Am I the only one who forgets gears?

[cream*caffeine]

Please tell me I'm not. I'm a biking noob. (just like my message says!) My friend, Lauren, infiltrated my mind, and now I have come to bike for fun. GAH! Living in the NW, one has lots of hills to overcome - so, you go down (3-2-1) in gears to go up steeper hills, and when you're on the level (haha) about 3, and going down, lower (4-5-6), right?

(all of those are coming from the point of view of a 6-speed.)

And btw, hello to ya'll! I'm rather excited to be part of this community!

[Grog]

Why not just do what feels best? Nothing can really get broken if you go wrong... If it feels too hard, change gear until it feels easier... If it feels too easy, change until it feels just right. No?

All systems are a bit different, and some don't have gear numbers or indicators at all.

Good luck! And welcome to TE!

[Zen]

I have no idea what gear I'm in. Never. Ever.

[Yen]

Please tell me I'm not. I'm a biking noob. (just like my message says!) My friend, Lauren, infiltrated my mind, and now I have come to bike for fun. GAH! Living in the NW, one has lots of hills to overcome - so, you go down (3-2-1) in gears to go up steeper hills, and when you're on the level (haha) about 3, and going down, lower (4-5-6), right?

Did you mean higher? Gears 4, 5, 6 would be higher gears than 3, 2, 1. On flat ground, you'd usually ride somewhere in the middle. When you see a hill coming, prepare to down-shift to a lower gear as you get to it, making it easier to climb the hill. When you get to the top and level out (or start going back down) then you can shift back up to a higher gear. The idea is to maintain your cadence (the rhythm of turning the crank) so that you're not spinning too much (pedaling too fast all the time) or too hard, but somewhere in between, as much as possible.

(all of those are coming from the point of view of a 6-speed.)

And btw, hello to ya'll! I'm rather excited to be part of this community!

Welcome! I'm relatively new here too, and somewhat new to cycling (just returned a year ago) so if someone wants to set me straight, I'd appreciate that.

[kat_h]

When I got my new bike I was really happy to finally be getting up hills without walking, then I couldn't make it up one and was quite disappointed. I got off and walked the rest of the way, then when I was getting back on I noticed I was still on the middle chainring. D'oh!

[SouthernBelle]

The only time I have a real idea of what gear I'm in is when I'm climbing, it's getting hard, and I'll look down hoping to see many more to shift down to.

[cream*caffeine]

So just kinda go by ear? (or legs, in this case!)

Did you mean higher? Gears 4, 5, 6 would be higher gears than 3, 2, 1. On flat ground, you'd usually ride somewhere in the middle. When you see a hill coming, prepare to down-shift to a lower gear as you get to it, making it easier to climb the hill. When you get to the top and level out (or start going back down) then you can shift back up to a higher gear. The idea is to maintain your cadence (the rhythm of turning the crank) so that you're not spinning too much (pedaling too fast all the time) or too hard, but somewhere in between, as much as possible.

Yes, I meant higher. I knew that. I know I did.

[salsabike]

Yeah, by ear. I never know or look either. The only thing I always try to remember is to make sure that if I'm going to shift out of the middle ring, that I'm vaguely in the middle in back, so that I don't crosschain, which would be SO annoying. Otherwise, I do everything by feel.

[MM_QFC!]

Yeah, by ear. I never know or look either. The only thing I always try to remember is to make sure that if I'm going to shift out of the middle ring, that I'm vaguely in the middle in back, so that I don't crosschain, which would be SO annoying. Otherwise, I do everything by feel.

Exacto, Ms Salsa! Same here...by feel and sound...and soon, you learn which gears you prefer, and which hills bring your gratitude quotient for your low gears waaaaay up and when you are in the wrong one, etc...

welcome to TE and you're in the NW? Question, do you carry that equation thing around with you?

[SouthernBelle]

I'm curious as to what you exactly mean by 6 gears. Do you have 2x3? i.e. 2 rings on the front and 3 on the back. Or maybe 1x6?

Or something else. Just checking to get us all on the same page here.

[uforgot]

I have no idea what gear I'm in. Never. Ever.

Me either!

[uforgot]

I'm curious as to what you exactly mean by 6 gears. Do you have 2x3? i.e. 2 rings on the front and 3 on the back. Or maybe 1x6?

Or something else. Just checking to get us all on the same page here.

Twice I have seen bikes advertised on Craigslist that claim to be 13 speeds. Not sure how they calculated that!

[mimitabby]

i often discover i am on the big chain ring right before i have to climb up a hill.
i look. a lot.
and sometimes I throw my chain because i did NOT look.

welcome to TE, i'm a Seattle girl too. (well, not really a girl...i was one half a century ago)

[Yen]

Twice I have seen bikes advertised on Craigslist that claim to be 13 speeds. Not sure how they calculated that!

LOL, good point!

[Melalvai]

Twice I have seen bikes advertised on Craigslist that claim to be 13 speeds. Not sure how they calculated that!

Maybe it's 15 speed, but you don't want to cross-chain, so you don't use the extreme smalls together or the extreme bigs together. Then you've got 4+5+4 = 13.