When Should you Change Gear?

Swagat R Pyakurel has asked us a question about what gear he should use for different road conditions, uphill’s, downhills and over bad roads. This is something you learn with experience over time, but we push him in the right direction

Question: I have got a Palomar GT with 21(3 x 7) gears. I am new to MTB. Can you please suggest me the proper gear combinations for different terrain (plain roads, uphills, rugged terrain etc).

Hi Swagat,
What you are asking will come to you with practice, the more you ride the more you will realize when to change gear and which gear to use, the road conditions will tell you what gear to use and you will learn when to change the gear for the best.

OK the best way to explain is by telling you about how the front and then how the rear derailleur makes a difference to your pedaling.

At the front you have the three chain rings, the small one is for very hard climbs or muddy conditions or if you are struggling with the ride. The middle chain ring you will probably use most of the time and the large chain ring is for flat roads and down hills.

The rear gears starts with the small sprockets, they are for down hills, and the middle ones are for flat and not to steep hills and the big sprockets are for up hill and bad conditions.

Now this is where you need to practice because you need to know when to combine the front chain rings and the rear sprockets, for most fairly flat roads you will use the middle chain ring and the middle sprockets then when you need to make it easier you can either drop it down to the small chain ring or take it up to a bigger sprocket at the back. If you are on the middle chain ring and you are finding it too easy then you change onto the big chain ring or onto a smaller sprocket to make it harder to pedal.

Now when the track is rough you need to use a smaller gear as you need to have the momentum to carry you over the bumps, or if you are riding on wet mud or grass then you will find you need a smaller gear to pedal through the conditions. When you are coming to a hill its best to change before you start climbing, then you are ready for it and not changing when the hill gets too hard and the same at the top, change to a bigger gear before you go down.

This is a tricky subject to explain and experienced riders get it wrong sometimes, get out there and practice, that’s the best thing to do.