The joy of the mountain bike is that they come with so many gears that, if you shift into the lowest one, you can ride up a mountain with no problem. It may take you all day, but you can do it.
It’s been a long time since the “10-speed” bike was the ne plus ultra of biking sophistication when it came to gears. These days, especially in mountain bikes, you can get anything up to 27 speeds.
What are all these gears in aid of? Quite simply, they allow you to pedal at the same cadence – regardless of whether you’re going uphill, downhill, or cross country.
However, the main reason why mountain bikes have so many gears is to assist you in climbing up those mountains!
The main thing to remember when shifting is that you must always shift while pedaling, otherwise you’ll strip the gears.
Front Derailleur
The gears are divided into two parts. There are three chain rings in the front, which are controlled by the left hand gear shifter. That’s why there are 3 numbers to choose from on that gear shifter – to choose which of three front rings your chain will rest on. The “derailleur”...