| Remember when you didn't think about the gears on | | | | front and rear derailleur. Without the derailleur you |
| your bike? Your bike had a bike sprocket connected | | | | wouldn't be able to shift gears. The derailleur consists |
| to the pedals and a small sprocket connected to the | | | | of pulleys and the cage, which is the part which |
| back wheel an that's all you needed. Then you got a | | | | actually comes into contact with the chain. The |
| little older and got your first 10-speed. That bike had | | | | pulleys are attached to the gear cables. There are |
| two sprockets up front and five on the back. In all | | | | separate cables for the front and rear derailleurs. The |
| likelihood, the shifters were a pair of levers | | | | gear cables connect to the gear shifters.There are a |
| connected to your bike frame near the handlebars. | | | | variety of gear shifters available today and they |
| As time went on the shifters moved to the | | | | cover a wide price range. The gear shifter is what |
| handlebars themselves and then became | | | | allows you to change gears. The first type of shifters |
| advanced-looking dials right beside the grips. And next | | | | were levers known as friction shifters. These worked |
| thing you knew, instead of a paltry ten speeds on | | | | simply by pulling the cables attached to the |
| your bike, you were riding a 27-speed mountain | | | | derailleurs.Friction shifters can be troubling because |
| climbing machine!Why all these gears? To make riding | | | | the way they're designed you can easily get caught |
| faster and easier, of course. Whatever the number | | | | between gears and accidentally damage your gears |
| of gears your bike has, if it has 2 or more then | | | | or even wreck. The more advanced variety of |
| there's a basic set-up which almost every bike | | | | shifter is known as the index shifter.Index shifters |
| employs.First of all you have your front and rear | | | | have specific stopping points and are calibrated to |
| sprockets. These, along with the chain, form the | | | | perfectly shift from gear to gear. They remedy the |
| most basic components of the gearing system. To | | | | drawbacks of the older friction shifters. Gear shifters |
| determine your gear ratio you compare the number | | | | may be placed anywhere from the frame to the |
| of teeth on the front sprocket to the number of | | | | handlebar base to the grips to models which seem to |
| teeth on the rear sprocket.If your front sprocket has | | | | be part of the brake levers.Mountain bikes have |
| 52 teeth, and your rear sprocket has 20 teeth, then | | | | multiple gears to make it easier for you to negotiate |
| you're looking at a ratio of 2.6. The higher the ratio | | | | difficult terrain. Higher gears are there to help you |
| the faster the gear. Typically the gears on the front, | | | | speed downhill or across the flats, and lower gears |
| starting from the inside, get larger as you move out. | | | | are there to help you surmount those difficult inclines. |
| On the back wheel, though, the largest gear is | | | | Remember, it's best to shift gears when you're not |
| typically the farthest inside and they get smaller as | | | | putting a lot of stress on your pedals. Shifting when |
| you move out.The next key component for your | | | | there's heavy pressure on the pedals can damage |
| mountain bikes gears is the derailleur, or derailer. The | | | | your shifting system.Gregg Hall is an author living in |
| derailleur is what moves the bicycle chain from gear | | | | Navarre Beach, Florida. |
| to gear. A typical shifting system employs both a | | | | |