Shifting gears on your mountain bike might seem very basic, but there is a lot more to it than meets the eye – especially if you want to maximize the efficiency of your riding and be smoother between gears. Read on for important keys to focus on when shifting between gears on your MTB.
Things to consider to improve your shifting
Your pedal stroke
It’s important to consider the cadence of your pedal stroke to understand how to properly shift your gears while mountain biking. Cadence just means the speed the pedal cranks turn, meaning how fast your pedals are rotating.
As a general rule, having a higher cadence, or faster pedaling pace, will be more efficient and allow you to ride faster and in better balance. To accomplish this, you’ll need to be in the correct gear.
If you’re riding in too hard a gear, the pace of your pedaling will be too low and you’re likely to tire yourself out more quickly while riding and be less stable on your bike.
Time your shift right
Timing your shift right can be more art than science. Get it right and you’ll be buzzing through the trails like nobody’s business. Get it wrong? You’ll end up having to walk your bike up climbs and not take advantage of flat sections and descents on the trails.
Depending on what type of terrain you’re riding on, there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure you’re shifting gears as well as you can.
Climbing
There is not any type of terrain you’ll need to downshift on more than climbs. But at what point when going up the hill do you shift into an easier gear?
You want to keep your cadence up, especially on climbs, which means keeping your pedals turning at a good, steady pace. The climb starts somewhere, and chances are before you get to it you’re pedaling in a harder gear.
It’s best to be proactive when approaching a hill, and start your downshifting earlier rather than later. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing – you can simply click into a gear or two easier, than continue to downshift as you start the climb until you’re confident you’re in the right gear to attack the rest of the hill.
Dips in the trail
Dips in the trail, where the trail goes downhill with an uphill section immediately after, are some of the trickier areas to get your gear shifting right. This is made even more true if its a steep decline followed by a steep climb out.
It’s difficult to know what the right gear will be to pedal up the climb right after a fast descent. The key is in judging how much speed you’ll be able to carry into the climb, and how much of the hill that speed will take you up.
It’s best to shift gears while still going downhill and start pedaling to get a feel for how difficult a gear you’re in. Keep pedaling as you begin your climb, shifting your gears downward as you find it more difficult to pedal. Don’t wait until it becomes really hard to pedal to shift into a lower gear.
Whatever you do, make sure you get into an easy enough gear to allow you to not stall, and keep pedaling through to the top of the climb out of the dip.
Pedal lightly while changing gears
An important thing to remember when you’re changing gears, whether downshifting or upshifting, is you want to be pedaling, but pedaling lightly while you shift.
It’s best to shift while you still have momentum moving you forward and pedaling is just keeping your momentum going. This allows your chain to move between gears in your cassette much more smoothly.
By comparison, if you try to shift gears while you’re pushing it hard uphill pedaling, its quite likely your change between gears will be very choppy. It especially can become a problem if you’re in too high of a gear partway up a hill, with no momentum still moving you forward. Trying to change gears in this situation puts a lot of strain on your chain, and it can even cause it to snap in more extreme cases.
Being able to keep your pedals turning at a good pace without too much effort on your part is what you want when you’re changing gears on your MTB.
Understanding your bike’s drivetrain
When talking about proper gear shifting on your mountain bike, it’s important to understand how your bike’s drivetrain is set up. Popular set ups can include 1x, 2x or 3x, which indicates the number of chain rings the bike has. If there is more than one chain ring, your bike will have a front derailleur to switch between them as these extra chain rings act as gears.
For example, a 21 speed mountain bike would normally have 3 chain rings and a front derailleur, along with 7 gears in the rear (3×7). In this case, you would use both hands to shift gears, with your left hand shifter controlling the front derailleur, and your right hand shifter controlling the rear one.
In more recent years, it’s become more and more popular for manufacturers to make bikes with only 1 chain ring, or 1x, as opposed to 2x or 3x. Many riders prefer this due to the simplicity of the setup and because by only having the one chain ring, you don’t need the added weight of the front derailleur and extra chain rings.
Mountain bike gear ranges
Gear ranges will depend on the number of chain rings your mountain bike has. If you have three chain rings, you’ll often have 21 or 24 gears to choose from (3×7 or 3×8), whereas with only 1 chain ring you would typically have anywhere from 5 to 13 gears (1×5 up to 1×13).
How many gears your bike has will affect how hard or easy it is to pedal in each gear – its all relative to the number of gears on your bike.
The 5th gear in your 1×5 drivetrain will be the hardest gear to pedal, but the 5th gear on a 3×7 drivetrain will still be fairly easy to pedal. This is important to understand to figure out the best gear to ride in for a situation out on the trails.
Advice for shifting with multiple chain rings
Right shifter for small adjustments
If you have a bike with a 2x or 3x setup and front derailleur, you’ll want to focus on your right shifter for smaller adjustments, because each gear change will have less of an effect on how hard it is to pedal.
Left shifter for big adjustments
If you have a front derailleur, you’ll want to use your left shifter for bigger adjustments. You by shifting one gear on your left shifter, you can potentially change what gear you’re in by 7 For example, if you’re in the 7th gear on your rear cassette, and you go from the first gear to the second on the front cassette, you’ll now be in your 14th gear.
If you need to make a big change to the difficulty of gear that you’re in, like if you’re transitioning from a steep descent into a climb, or from a climb to a flat or downhill section, you can use your left shifter and make the change more quickly and efficiently.
Avoid cross chaining
Cross chaining is when you ride in both the largest rear cassette sprocket (gear) and largest chain ring at the same time, or the opposite, riding in both the smallest cassette sprocket and chain ring at the same time. This is bad because it puts your chain into more of an extreme angle, where it doesn’t perform as well as it would if it were to be in a straight line.
By riding in the largest rear cassette sprocket and chain ring at the same time, not only is the angle more extreme, but it creates tension on the chain because it takes up more of the chain to go around the largest chain ring and largest gear on your rear cassette.
By doing the opposite, being in both the smallest rear cog and smallest chain ring, you run the risk of the chain slipping which can cause an unexpected change to which gear you’re riding in.
To remember this, just think: you never want to be 2 of the same extreme at the same time. It’s okay to be in the smallest chain ring and smallest rear gear at the same time, but it’s not okay to be in the largest chain ring and largest rear gear at the same time.
Your MTB chain will perform optimally by being in a straight line, and getting it into an extreme angle by cross chaining reduces the efficiency of your pedal stroke. Cross chaining can also cause wear on your drivetrain and can even result in damage, such as your chain snapping mid ride.
Thankfully, cross chaining isn’t a concern if you ride with a 1x drive train, but if you have multiple chain rings you definitely need to keep it in mind.
Frequently asked questions
Your mountain bike’s rear derailleur is responsible for changing gears (in the rear). If you have multiple chainrings (on a 2x or 3x drivetrain), you’ll also have a front derailleur to change between them. When you hit the shifter controls on your handlebars, the derailleur forces the chain against steps or ramps, causing it to move onto a smaller or larger cog (a harder or easier gear).
A high gear on a bike is a gear that is more difficult to pedal but also faster when you are pedaling in it. High gears on a bike are the smaller cogs you see on the cassette.
A low gear on a bike is an easier gear to pedal in, and you will go more slowly and not as far for each pedal stroke. Low gears are the larger cogs you see on the cassette.
Yes, you should always be pedaling while shifting gears on your mountain bike, but you want to pedal lightly. Its best to change gears when your bike already has momentum. Trying to change gears when you’re pedaling too hard can put strain on your chain and reduce the smoothness of your shifting.
Conclusion
Shifting gears on your mountain bike isn’t a hard thing to do, but to be as smooth and as efficient as possible, there are some important keys to keep in mind. Remember to shift gears early when approaching a hill, make your gear changes while you have momentum and can pedal easily, and and avoid cross chaining if your bike has both front and rear derailleurs.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other keys that help you to shift gears better!