Tip of the WEEK –
Shift more!!

You probably have more gears than you know what to do with. New mountain bikes give you a 30 speed drivetrain. Road bikes are now coming equipped with 11-speed cassettes. Many of us learned to ride on a 10 speed and some of you probably wonder why there are so many speeds now.

The answer is that no matter what terrain you encounter, you have a gear to get over it, up it, down it or around it. With more gears, your body can find a comfortable rhythm without a drastic change in your physical exertion. This means you can ride longer without burning out your leg muscles. Keep a higher cadence and teach your legs to spin faster.

Another benefit of more gears is quicker shifting. As the engineers at Shimano, Campagnola and SRAM develop more gearing combinations, the gears themselves get closer together. The chain is narrower so the distance the chain has to move is shorter. This means that the shift from gear to gear is a lot quicker than it was on your old 10 speed.

Do not be afraid of the gears. There is definitely some technique involved in proper shifting. If you need some help in this area, please attend our free shifting clinic at 6pm on the 3rd Thursday of every month.