HOW DO BIKE GEARS WORK?! | BIKOTIC
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2024
- In this video I try to demystify and simplify how bicycle gears work. I then give some tips on how to most effectively use bike gears - it can be a confusing topic and a hard skill to learn for people new to cycling. Hopefully after watching this video you will at least feel more confident about the process of changing gear and being smooth and efficient on your bike, saving as much energy as possible.
Feel free to message me at: / bikotic
00:00 Intro
00:27 Early running bike in a fancy suit!
00:39 First bike with pedals
00:50 One turn of the cranks demo
01:11 Have to pedal to fast!!
01:22 Penny Farthing
01:37 Taking a header - crashing a Penny Farthing
02:00 The safety bicycle
02:26 Cog!!
02:37 Gear ratio demo
05:00 Single speed bike
05:42 Hairy Monster is born
05:59 Multiple gear ration demo
06:19 The Derailleur!!
07:30 Gear live action demo
07:42 You're not a dummy!!
08:00 Shifters
09:09 What words to use talking about gears??
10:01 How to anticipate which gear to be in for the road ahead
11:20 Be in the right gear when you stop!
11:48 Be gentle when you change gears
12:27 When to change the dreaded front mech?
13:35 2x by gear over laps
15:17 Cadence - Are you a Grinder or a Spinner?
16:28 To crosschain or not to crosschain?
17:35 Jargon buster - GROUPSET
17:53 Jargon buster - DRIVE CHAIN
18:06 Jargon buster - 10, 11, 12 SPEED
18:31 Jargon buster - Crankset / Chainset / Compact / Semi compact
19:34 Jargon buster - Electric groupset
20:24 Gear ratio table
20:38 Changing your cassette for better suited gear ratios
21:01 Keep your bike gears clean!!
21:18 Gear lubricant - Sport
![[柴犬ASMR]曼玉Manyu&小白Bai 毛发护理Spa asmr](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0TsXQ7z2Dh4/mqdefault.jpg)
nailed it - made it super understandable, I think its worth doing a whole series on this sort of stuff if you have time. Thanks for the info.
My first bike arrived today. I am digesting as many useful videos as I can find. This helped me no end. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I've watched a couple of your videos and I have to say that your understanding and love of cycling clearly shows. The modeling and visuals are top notch and easy to understand. You earned yourself a sub!
I feel smarter after watching this. Been almost 5 years since i've last been on a bike so I thought it was time for a refresher before my bike is back from the shop getting sorted.
You sir might not be a mathematician or engineer but you did a far better job of explaining how gears work! Clear, accurate, precise and simple. Kudos to you!
Thank you. Very well done. My feedback would be to include some information about internally geared hubs. I’ve been riding an internal 8 speed for a long time and would not want to ever go back to a derailleur ever again! Sure, it’s only 8 speeds. I’ve found that to be enough, with my strength level and where I live, which is pretty flat. Lots of humans settle in flat places. But even when I moved to a place with significant rolling hills, the lowest gear was still adequate for most of them. One thing I like the most about an internal hub is shifting while coasting, or while stopped. To me that is more like the method of shifting used in a car, where you disengage, shift, and re-engage. It also eliminates the need to anticipate every change in terrain, like sudden stops. Instead of having to see a stop and downshift so that I can get across a road in an “easy” gear, I can just stop, shift down while stopped and waiting, and then go in my easy gear. Likewise with a sudden encounter with a hill, I don’t have to grind through gears because I am putting lots of stress on them trying to shift while climbing, I just have to have enough momentum coast for a split second and click into that easy gear. Internal hubs are also very low maintenance; no derailleur with tensioner and wheels that get gummed up, no dirty cassette, the chain doesn’t grind across gears, I just click and I’m in the next gear. Because the chain does not change its length, but just goes back to one external gear, some bikes have covers over the entire drive train, which again, makes for low maintenance, and safety.
I’ve had 10 speed bikes in my past, and 15 speed bikes with a front derailleur. Did I really use all 15 gears? No. Did I really ascend smoothly through those (duplicate) gears the way we ascend through gears in a car? No. Usually the front derailleur would not be used at all, and I would usually only use about 4 or 5 gears… should have bought a 5 speed! Seriously, 15 gears, 30 gears? In my experience/opinion all you really need is one good “easy” gear for climbing hills, a good “hard” gear for going fast, like downhill or when you have a good tailwind. A couple leisurely gears for strolling around town, and maybe another hard gear for medium speed. That’s 5… okay, add a couple more for good measure and varying strength levels and road conditions… 7. With my internal 8 speed, I actually move through the gears, up and down, as the terrain or my energy level changes. With 8 speeds, the jumps are not that drastic. I don’t need to split them into 16 gears. I’m not that athletic and rarely even get to the 8th gear! Really athletic people might, and might wish they had a 9th and 10th gear. If you are that strong, you could probably change the front chainring and still be strong enough to climb a hill in what would then be a harder easy gear.
I just bought a Brompton. Only six gears! Also… a derailleur, with a chain tensioner! Not happy about that. But… it’s only a tiny two speed, so that the internal 3 speed can be doubled. With 6 speeds, the jumps are a little more significant. The double modes of shifting is tricky too. But with the internal 3 speed, set in either of the 2 speeds, I can still stop on a dime, shift to an easy gear to cross a road quickly and resume shifting up and down through a set of gears that are adequate for most of my needs. The overall range of gearing is about the same as my 8 speed, it just does it in 6.
I’ve compared them using wheel size calculations. Some say that is not the best way, but it is easy enough, and interesting to compare different bikes and gearing that way. Maybe that should have been included here too, except… math.
Anyway, just wanted to plug internal hubs and how they solve some of the problems brought up here.
really good - the right balance of science (the why) and the practical (the how) - thank you
Great vid.
Front brake levers are on the right in most left-hand drive countries. This is so you can use your rear brake while signalling a right turn across oncoming traffic (the opposite applies in the US and otherright-hand drive countries). Hope that makes sense.
I had no idea that the smallest sprocket is on opposite sides.(inverse) on the front (crank set)& rear (cassette). But that's how you cross chain, which is bad. Or biggest sprocket in front & biggest sprocket in the rear also causes cross chain. Learned a valuable lesson. Thank you. The short history lesson was also interesting & relevant. Your visual graphics are sooo helpful.
8:21 i swear i had no idea that bikes were different too,I thought that the disparities only existed in cars & driving side🤣.It actually never made intuitive sense to me, especially when explaining it to novices.I was so sure it worked the same everywhere in the world,thanks for that.
Im just getting into cycling and have watched about 20 hours worth of introductory material, this might be the best video I have found thus far, even just the drivetrain description in itself is worth the subscribe. Thanks so much!
This is one of the few videos on gear shifting that actually takes the time to explain counter-shifting, or what to do when changing chainrings. I figured out years ago (on a grip-shifter bike) that when you change chainrings you have to counter it with a rear cog shift in the opposite direction to account for the large change in gear ratio. I'd love to see a video that shows counter-shifting in action.
Excellent job man. I try to explain this to so many novices and its amazing how much time it takes them to get it.
Watched this with my 9 year old grandson. He loved it. Was very helpful. Thanks and all the best.
Best explanation ever. Not too technical but just enuf. Clear voice is an added benefit. But I still laugh when u said big n small cogs.
Outstanding!!!!
Yes, would like to hear more about rear cassettes. I have a 1x 3T Strada with Di2 and a rear XT mech. Built it like this before campagnolo came out with their 13 spd
sir bikotic, just wanna say your voice radiates asmr vibe
Wow, I think I've got it! Love this, I've been confused for so many years-thank you!
I am a dummy when it comes to biking and gears and this video makes it so easy to understand it all. The history at the beginning is a big part of why gears on a bike now so I take my hat off to you. Wonderful job. I am subscribing now which I don’t do often.
Great vid! Cheers!
Top notch video - thanks
Fantastic as always !
Thanks
this channel is super informative. thanks for all the effort!
Bikotic You are certainty a teacher but I posit you may be a saint. There is so much real world insight and practicality in this video. Really grateful Sir
Thanks for making videos again!
Well done, great video!
Brilliant video and very well explained. Always learning!
I guess what it takes is a non-engineer or non-mathematicians because this is the best video I've seen so far about gears. I think I'm almost there. Thank you!
great video, thanks
2:27, fixie riders still find this super relevant to them
Very good video, bravo! 🎉
Thanks for making this!
Thank you SO MUCH !! I appreciate your video!
Great video, explained everything very clearly.
Brilliant!
Absolutely loved the video! :) Subscribed
Great video 👍🏾. Funny and informative. Great work. 👍🏾
This is one of the best videos I've seen on cycle gears. Great work buddy 👍
Thanks for the detailed explanation. Easy to understand and covered a very complex topic very well. Look forward to more 👍🏽🙏🏽
Really great explanation 👍
Great video !!!!
best video on explaining gears 💯 nailed it man 💯
Brilliant tutorial.Informative to the point with great slides and graphics.
This really is an amazing explanation. Thanks for posting.
Great stuff, very well put together..thanks very much..👍
Agreed. Good video. So many questions. Hope to learn more
so good!
Thanks, I'll be watching this video a few times, very well explained.
One of the best explanations of how bicycle gears work hands down!!! Brilliant!!!
Excellent instruction with a historical background.
I just wanna say that this video is extraordinarily well mada and helpful. Especially compared to most other explanations elsewhere.
Thank you!
You explain this so well. 🤯
What a fantastic tutorial, complimented by some super-clear graphics, clear and precise explanation and a really professional teaching style👌 This has enabled me to actually understand what’s happening when I’m out cycling and not just accept it as a ‘given’. Well done - just subscribed to your channel😜
Great video, thanks :)
Good job
Thanks a lot......very clever...
Superb explanation of all. I’ve been out of the bicycle arena for quite a while. Been on Motorcycles. I’m looking at a new “Me” power bike now. Thanks!
Thank you so much for making this video. I had watched a few random videos on youtube but left me just as confused as I started, but your video with the Blender animations made perfect sense. I finally know what the purpose of gears is!
Excellent video. Finally understood gears. The ratio maths at the beginning was very informative.
For bikes without a front mech, for hard uphill riding with a ratio of < 1:1 i.e. 0.9 : 1 or 0.8 : 1, you'd need a sprocket at the rear mech which is larger than the front / pedal sprocket.
Either that or have just a second small sprocket at the front so that ratios like 0.5 : 1 - 1:1 can be obtained with that sprocket when used with the existing array of sprockets on the rear mech.
I'm going to use this to teach kids how bike gears work. Great video.
Fantastic!
The illustration and explanation at 9:10 in your video is the BEST thing I have ever seen for explaining what kids should do to make it easier or harder to pedal. Brilliant!!!
Great explanations. Somewhat technical, but overall a very good job. I especially like the diagram showing the penny farthing rider taking a header. 😎😜 Thanks.
Great video and CZcams channel.
Re front derailleur- I like the idea of knowing at which points cross chaining is bleeding your power output , eg for my bike - going down to slower gears when on the front big chain ring , when you get to the 4th biggest ring on the back - it’s time to move to the small front chainring.
Thankyou so much
Shimano have a good diagram of the different shifting rings saying
To avoid the last 3 small gears on the rear when in the smallest front chain ring to stop chaintwist
Thanks a lot
Thank you sir
I wish I can like this video 100x very interesting
"I'm not a scientist, I'm not an engineer, and I'm not a mathematician"
(procedes to do a lot of science, lots of engineering and lots of maths)
But does it superbly. IE he is all those roles but with excellent communications skills
Regarding bikes in the UK having their font brake on the right and rear on he left is to do with the fact that the UK as well as other countries, vehicles drive on the left hand side of the road. Therefore when doing a right hand turn across on coming traffic you signal with your right arm and cover the rear brake with your left as it is safer.
GREAT VIDEO EXPLAINING IT ALL THANKS !! l ll use it to explain to others. l like that you pointed try to change gear prior to the terrain ahead LIKE we did on DOWNTUBE last for ever SHIFTERS :) lt s funny l run a 50/39 with 11-32 on my OCLV trek and 46/30 with 12-32 on my OLD steel miyata l use for gravel n touring :)
I always wondered why the smallest cog made the pedals more harder to pedal but resulted in a faster speed until I realized with this video how a smaller cog does spin faster but with the front ring being bigger making one pedal have the wheel spin much more
I love how his models also upgrades as we go 😆
Thank you for a very well produced explanation. I have a 44t front chain ring and a 11-34t 8 speed rear cassette. I want to know if I can change the cassette to a 11-41, I want a lower bottom gear. In addition to changing the cassette, (Shimarno do have this component), I probably need a longer chain, but will I need a different chain tensioning arm? (I assume that what it is called.)
this is awesome ! thanks for making this .. could you share the software you used for illustrations?
Sure, I use Blender 3D
I very much enjoyed the video. Only one thing stood out to me: the "granny gear" nomenclature. It seems to me that on mountain bikes (and possibly other types), the granny is the - on my bike - 3rd chainring reserved for getting up the steepest inclines. But on a road bike, granny gear seems to be the smallest gear ratio on the bike, and especially so if you've fitted a lower than normal sprocket on the rear cluster: say you have an 11-28 Shimano cassette but live in a hilly area. You might swap out the 28 tooth sprocket for a 30 or 32, and then that becomes the "granny gear", i.e. the one reserved for the special circumstance of getting up the steep inclines that one normally would have difficulty with, if not have to admit defeat entirely! Of course you can't just swap out one gear for one where the gap is too large to the previous gear or you will have difficulties changing into and out of that gear (although gravel clusters and derailleurs seem to manage this OK).
So, more like this please, but don't stop doing the comparisons either. It did strike me while watching the recent Ribble Ultra one that you do put an awful lot of effort into these videos and it would be gratifying if you had a lot more subscribers! 10x would do for a start.
Finally, I'd like to know what the software is that you use - it looks like a 3D CAD package? (Maybe you've said what it is in a previous video that I've not watched, in which case, apologies). From a tech perspective, seeing how you create videos, especially your Photoshop - and I'm assuming it's a 3D drawing package - would be very interesting!
Great video!
I think calling hard or easy would be a little bit confusing.
I personally would call hard 1/1 or left/left(smallest front : biggest back) slow or the least gear ratio, because it would be reserved for hardest and the most amount of effort (clime + declining or zero speed) but it's personal preference :D
Why also hardest? If I didn't have any gears It would hardest and slowest to pedal uphill (hard gears) and it's too easy to pedal when you ride downhill and have to shift to continue to gain speed (easy gears).
I usually call them high or low gears from how they numbered on my bike
1/1 steepest gear and 3/7 fastest downwhill gear.
Please make a video on lubing :)
You’re the BEST SIR ☝️
8:27 I have a theory for this…
Is because for for right shifter, we use it more often as is front brake more power and change back derailleur…plus more people are right handed
For left shifter, use less often as back brake and front derailleur
This is just my theory
This is good lol
Great! What CAD package did you use ?
Blender
I usually use front gears only when I encounter steep hills or I want to go downhill and gain speed :)
8:23 When I purchase a bike I always put the rear brake on the right hand side (I'm right handed) and do not want to fly out over the handlebars
It's scary to think we had some of these earlier derailleur systems on our bikes im 39 next month and I had this cheap rubbish on my apollo from halfords when I was 10 changed days I just bought a new embt ebike just a 1x12 not been on it yet but setting things up is crazy different from even what I raced back in 04 and yeah I have just started calling it a derailleur I've always known it as front and rear mech aswell
When to use dry lube and when wet lube please ?
Awesome content - nailed it. Now please do brakes Rim - Disc (mechanical/hydraulic) and Wheels (Hooked, hookless, tubular, tubeless what the fak)
New knowledge derailleur is a french word. Got it
Would have liked a gravel bike compare video better, but nice that you switch it up..
is this bike 7 or 8 speed
Australia has front brake on the right.
My mountain bike only has 6 rear gears and I'm still confused
"Some day they invent (greats) that stay clean" ... um .. try internally geared hubs. Invented in 1895, 10 years before the derailleur.
Everything functions properly czcams.com/users/postUgkxHL1v1R3NE5x4KiYfyt8dnQmyNYz7qi5L Nothing was damaged in the box aside from a decal on the fork. The decal was missing a piece of a corner but I ended up peeling them off anyways. Assembly is easy BUT make sure you tune up the derailleurs. Both the front and rear need adjusting. I'd advise going to a bike shop but I opted out and put in 10+ hours with the help of CZcams. Ended up fraying a shifter cable but all in all I learned from the experience. The Brakes work well but the front caliper needs adjusting or at least mine did because the rotor was rubbing against the pads. Make sure you swap out the seat, grips, and pedals. For the short run you'll be fine though. I've read that this bike isn't built yet for hard trails but I just need it for the city. PA has some of the worst roads and being in a mountain this was a great choice. Worth the investment!
10:11 when to change gear
as of recently I found the bike of my dreams as of recently, the Canyon Roadlite 6 . It's a fitness road bike with a 1X drivetrain (1x12): it has a 46T chainring and a 10-51 cassette. It's my dream bike 'cos I have a 50-34T 11-34T Decathlon road bike with flat bars, and a MTB with a 40-30-22T 11-34T drivetrain (3x9) and I always wanted a 1X bike with the nimbleness of a road bike and the easy gears of my MTB. The easiest answer seemed to be a gravel bike, but they don't make the cut. Many of them are 1X, but not very flexible nor fast for flat terrain and descents. So my question is... with my calculations a 30-34T (gear ratio the middle chainring and the easiest cog, a ratio witch which I can climb almost everything) would be equivalent to 46-51T of the Roadlite 6, and I'd have a spare tooth in the Roadlite, which would be easier to climb right? 30-34 compared to 46-51 would be 16 more teeth in the chainring (harder) but 17 more teeth than the easiest sprocket (easier), so 46-51 would easier than 30-34, am I getting it right? Just curious.... Congrats again for videos like this, super stuff. New subscriber
Thanks. If you goto bikotic.com on a desktop there is a gear readout below each bike, the roadlite 6 is in the data base, you can compare it to loads of other bikes and styles of bikes
@@bikotic many thanks to you
Your video is amazing
It helped me to understand how gears work better than any other video I found. I performed a search looking for videos on the subject and yours was like the 7th I watched or so, and then finally I found what I was looking for. I had written that in the original reply but for some reason it got lost. As for the Roadlite 6, I found it although it is the 2022 version. The one that I want is the 2023 version
@@xosece here you go, I added the 2023 version: bikotic.com?NTDA7TkR look on a desktop for the gear comparison
@@bikotic gosh, your app is amazing. You are full of surprises.... articulate, a cyclist and an excellent programmer.
I tested the app and I noticed something I never knew, that a 46/10 gear is faster than a 50/11! wtf?, and discovered it when moving your app's comparison slider! It's amazing how much of a difference a single tooth can make.
Until watching your video and browsing your web, I though that a 46-10T gear and a 47-11T gear would be equal. Was I wrong!... In fact I though that my RC 120 road bike, whose harder gear (flat bar version) is 48-11T, is slower than the Roadlite 6. The easiest gear is a bit more difficult to calculate, in terms of which is "better".
My MTB's middle chainring 30-34T is superb at riding uphill. and I wonder if 46-51T, easiest on the Roadlite 6 2023, would be equal or better.
Given how I use numbers I though I had one extra teeth to make it easier for the Roadlite 6 compared to my MTB, since I calculated that 30-34 (MTB) compared to 46/51 (Roadlite 6 2023) adds 16 teeth to the chainring on the Roadlite 6 (harder), but also adds 17 teeth to the largest sprocket (easier) so the easy side wins by 1 tooth. Am I wrong? If so, sorry for the newbie question.
What I am certain is that most probably 46-51T is much easier in such a hilly place like the one where I live compared to the easiest gears 34-34T of my road bike. Cheers Bikotic
@@xosece quick dirty way to work it out is to just divide the front chainring by the back, that tells you how many times the rear wheel turns for your one turn of the pedals - so 34/34 = 1:1 46/51 = 0.901 so yes 46/51 will be easier
This is like 5 videos in one.
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