How do I shift my bike? When should I shift? What are the ways I can shift more efficiently? This article will dive into the world of shifting your bike and what you can do to avoid broken chains.
Broken Chains
Improved tolerances and manufacturing techniques have made a broken chain, even on lower-end bikes, very rare. If you clean and lube your chain regularly, and replace it when worn, around every 2500 miles, you have nothing to worry about.
Mountain bikers used to break their chains by shifting the front derailleur under load. Most modern mountain bikes have 1x drivetrains, which eliminates this problem and simplifies the shifting experience. Today, broken chains on the road or mountain are very infrequent.
In a test, most bicycle chains withstood over 9,000 Nms of torque, which is the same force as a 1,250Lbs Kodiak bear pushing down with all his weight. Unless you are a Kodiak Bear cycling in Alaska, you should be fine.
What’s the point of gears?
Gears allow a cyclist to maintain a comfortable cadence at different speeds over varied terrain. A rider cycling up a steep hill uses a lower gear to spin the pedals at a higher and more comfortable rate with less leg force to arrive at the summit. On a downhill, higher gears permit a rider to continue pedaling under load, usually at a lower cadence.
How do I shift my bike?
The chain needs to be in motion (aka pedaling) for the drivetrain to move between gears. The chain can drop if pedaling stops before the change has been successful.
Avoid accelerating or putting a lot of tension on the chain at the same time as you shift. The chain pins and chainring ramps will not work as designed and the chain can drop or get jammed on the teeth or stuck between the crank’s two chainrings (if it has two), or worse, between the cranks and the chainstay. Cyclists know this last disaster as “chain suck” and it can damage your frame.
What is a groupset?
A bicycle’s groupset is the collection, or group, of the mechanical components mounted on the frame to make the rider move forward and stop. This boils down to everything except a bicycle’s saddle, seatpost, handlebars, wheels, frame and fork.
Different bicycle component manufacturers
Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo are the three major bicycle component brands.Their products dominate the bicycle sale and post-sale service market. (These three brands also make wheels).
Their products do the same job, but it’s how they shift that sets them apart. Each brand produces a family of “groupsets” in each cycling niche (gravel, road, mtn) in a hierarchy of price and performance. They are direct competitors, which is why you see bicycles in the same niche at a similar price point but with different component brands.
Let’s look at each and see how they shift, focusing on road bike components only.
Shimano
Shimano, who produced the first freewheel in 1921, is the oldest of the three brands. With over a century of experience, skill and innovation in cycling, it has carved itself a prominent place, accounting for at least half of the components produced in the bicycle industry.
Shimano products just work, and because of that, they have a reputation of high reliability. They were the first to revolutionize the road shifting market by introducing SIS technology (Shimano Indexing System) in 1984 on its Dura Ace downtube shifters. Changing gears became almost automatic, no more searching for the sweet spot.
Shimano innovation struck again in 1990 with STI (Shimano Total Integration) which eliminated the downtube shifter and integrated the gear changing mechanism into the brake lever on the handlebar. Cyclists could now brake and shift without taking their hands off the bars.
This type of shifter is still used today, and SRAM and Campagnolo were forced to design similar products to remain competitive with Shimano. This is how current road bike shifting systems became what cyclists know today.
All of Shimano’s road groups shift the same way. The levers on the handlebars serve two functions, shifting and braking. The right lever controls the rear cassette and rear brake, and the left the front derailleur and left brake.
Cyclists pull the levers toward them to brake. To shift, there are smaller levers tucked behind larger ones. To shift up the cassette to an easier gear, you rock the entire right brake-lever assembly toward the inside of the handlebar. To shift down to a harder gear, you push the smaller lever tucked behind the larger one in the same direction, the interior.
Shimano Di2 electronic shifting
Shimano Di2 electronic shifters are almost visually identical to their conventional mechanical shifters. Instead of having a separate second, smaller lever behind the primary lever, there is a longer, raised tactile surface along its edge with a smooth secondary paddle-like switch next to it. From a distance, it looks like one single lever.
Di2 shifting is performed in almost the same manner as the mechanical Shimano method, except instead of moving any levers, you only need to lightly push on one of two switches to shift up or down. For the rear derailleur, touch the longer, raised tactile surface along the length of the right-hand lever to shift up, or search for an easier gear. To shift down the cassette to a harder gear, push the smooth second switch that is shorter and has no raised surface features.
To shift the front derailleur up into the big ring, which makes it harder to pedal, press on the longer, raised tactile surface along the length of the left-hand lever. Drop the chain into the small chainring and make it easier to pedal by pressing on the smooth second switch that is shorter and has no raised surface features.
SRAM
SRAM road shifters benefit from proprietary DoubleTap technology. Again, the right side controls the rear cassette and rear brake, and the left the front derailleur and left brake. Like Shimano, there is a larger primary lever with a second smaller lever tucked behind it.
For SRAM, the larger lever serves for braking only and does not move when shifting.
The smaller lever serves to shift up and down. To shift up to an easier gear, you would press the smaller lever toward the interior for a long pull. (There will be a slight double click sound). To shift down, press again on the smaller lever, but this time, not as long. It should be a quick tap to bring the gear down.
SRAM eTap AXS electronic shifting
SRAM eTap AXS electronic shifters are almost visually identical to their conventional mechanical shifters. Instead of having a separate secondary lever behind the primary lever, there is a paddle-like switch next to it. From a distance, it looks like one single lever.
eTap shifting is performed in almost the same manner as the mechanical SRAM method, except instead of moving any secondary levers, you only need to lightly push on the paddles. To shift the rear derailleur up to an easier gear, press the paddle on the left-hand shifter. Press the paddle on the right-hand shifter to shift down into a harder gear.
To shift the front derailleur either up into the big ring or down to the smaller ring, the action is the same. You only need to press both shifter paddles at the same time, meaning the right and left-hand shifter paddles simultaneously.
Campagnolo
The right side controls the rear cassette and rear brake, and the left the front derailleur and left brake. Campagnolo road shifters are like those from SRAM, meaning the larger lever serves to brake only and does not move when shifting. The second smaller lever right behind it shifts the chain up to an easier gear by moving it toward the inside of the handlebar.
To shift down to a higher, or harder, gear, there is a small thumb lever on the inside of the hoods near the handlebar. It should be behind where you normally set your hands when riding in the hoods. Reach back with the thumb and press the lever to shift down.
Campagnolo EPS electronic shifting
Campagnolo electronic shifters are almost visually identical to their conventional mechanical shifters. But instead of having a second, smaller lever behind the primary lever, there is a small paddle-like switch with a hollow surface next to it. From a distance, it looks like one single lever.
EPS shifting is performed in almost the same manner as the mechanical Campy method, except instead of moving any levers, you only need to push on the hollow-surface switches or the thumb levers to shift.
To shift the rear derailleur up into an easier gear, touch the hollow-surface switch on the right-hand shifter. Press on the thumb lever located on the inside of the hood of the right-hand lever to shift down into a harder gear.
For the front derailleur, shift up into the big ring, which makes it harder to pedal, by pressing the hollow-surface switch on the left-hand side shifter. Drop down to an easier gear in the smaller chainring by pressing the thumb lever on the inside of the hood of the left-hand shifter.
When should I shift my bike?
Most riders spin between 80 to 90 rpm (rotations per minute). Your speed, the speed of the other cyclists in your group, a change in terrain (hills or descents), and your cycling fitness determine which direction you need to shift to speed up or slow down your cadence to a comfortable pace you can maintain (and stay with the group).
Remember, you need to be pedaling to shift gears.
What is cross chaining?
A bicycle drivetrain has a centerline. Cross chaining causes the chain to run at an angle across this imaginary line. It occurs when the chain is on the large front chainring and the largest cog on the cassette, or on the small front chainring and the smallest cassette cog. If you look at the chain in either of these two positions, you’ll see the awkward angle it takes. That is cross chaining.
Should I avoid it?
By using these combinations, your drivetrain components receive additional friction, stress and premature wearing. Riders also lose pedaling efficiency, and are more likely to drop their chain when cross chaining. If you hear the chain rubbing against the front derailleur as you pedal, you are probably cross chaining.
How do I avoid it?
Even professional riders cross chain sometimes. The best way to avoid it is to learn to shift properly. When the chain is in toward the top of the rear cassette, it is normally time to shift the front derailleur.
Front derailleur shifts produce large changes in resistance, and you may need to shift the rear cassette to fine tune how it feels. A rule of thumb is if you need to shift 4 gears in either direction, it is time for a front derailleur shift.
Over geared when stopped
All cyclists have experienced stopping and being in too big a gear when it is time to move again. To avoid this, plan ahead and shift down to an easier gear before you stop.
What about an emergency stop or I forgot to shift down?
If you forget to shift down and you are at a complete stop, dismount from the bike. If alone, shift to a smaller gear before picking up the rear wheel and turning the pedal to drop it into gear. Yes, riders should be pedaling when they shift gears, but this technique works in a pinch. If you are two, have one person turn the cranks while the other makes the shift.
Final tips
SHIFT often! Use the entire range of your cassette. Professional riders shift constantly. If the gradient increases by 1%, shift to an easier gear to maintain a fast cadence. If you want to accelerate, shift two gears and stand up on the pedal and go!