How to shift gears on a vintage bicycle
General shifting tips:
- On all bikes except vintage 3 speeds, you must keep on pedaling
forward while shifting gears. The chain must be moving the go from
one gear to another. It`s normal to hear some grinding noise. Do not
back pedal while shifting.
- On vintage 3 speed bikes you must stop pedaling when shifting gear.
You can back pedal when shifting. On bikes with a Shimano 3 speed system you
can change gear when stopped.
- Reduce pressure on the pedals while shifting. When going
uphill, you should think ahead and start shifting to an easier gear before
it`s too hard and you are forcing like crazy !
- Older gear shifters don't have a fix position for each gear. You must fine
tune the position until you don't hear chain rubbing noise. If you hear chain
noise coming from the back of the bike while pedaling, fine tune the rear
derailleur position by slowly moving the right shift lever one way or the
other until the noise disapear. If you hear chain noise coming from the front
chainring area while pedaling, fine tune the front derailleur position by
slowly moving the left shift lever one way or the other until the noise disapears.
- It`s better to pedal fast with little force on the pedals,
instead of pedaling at a slow rate and pushing hard. Aim for 60-80 rotation
per minutes (60 RPM), equivalent to one stroke per second.
- On a bicycle with both front and rear derailleurs (with both a left and
right lever), avoid extreme gear ratios where the chain is at a steep
angle. You should avoid the case where the chain is on the smallest
front chainring and the smallest rear gear. Also avoid the largest chainring
with largest rear gear. These positions put a lot of lateral stress on the
chain and you loose power.
Figure 1 shows shifters used on older road bikes formerly known as
"10 speeds" and vintage city bikes:
- The levers might be mounted on the handlebar stem has shown, or lower on
the down tube.
- 10 and 12 speed bikes have both the left and right levers. City bikes with
5 or 6 speeds only have the right side lever.
- the right lever controls the rear derailleur and has 5 or 6 different positions.
Push the right lever all the way down, toward you, to make pedaling easier,
to go uphill or to start from a dead stop for example. Has you build speed,
raise the lever, one step at a time, to go faster and faster.
- the left lever controls the front derailleur and has 2 or 3 positions. On
most bikes bring the left lever completely up, away from you, for easier pedaling.
To go faster, when going downhill, push the lever completely down, toward
you, to go into higher gear. Note that some Suntour derailleurs work the other
way, i.e. up is the hard/fast/high ratio and down position the easy/slow/low
ratio.
Figure 2 shows shifters used on hybrid bikes, mountain bikes and city
bikes with a more or less straight handlebar:
- 10 ,12 and 18 speed bikes have both the left and right levers. City bikes
with 5 or 6 speeds only have the right side lever.
- the right lever controls the rear derailleur and has 5 or 6 different positions.
Push the lever away from you to make pedaling easier, to go uphill or to start
from a dead stop for example. Has you build speed bring the lever toward you,
one step at a time, to go faster and faster.
- the left lever controls the front derailleur and has 2 or 3 positions. Bring
the lever toward you until it stops for easier pedaling. To go faster, when
going downhill for example, push the lever completely away from you until
it stops to go into higher gear.
- see below for more shifting tips
© Copyright 2013, Stéphane Lapointe,
www.pistescyclables.ca, www.StephaneLapointe.com
