• a 3, 5, 7, 8, 12 speed or possibly an infinitely variable internal gear hub
• one, or sometimes two shifters
• one or two control cables
• one front sprocket called a chainring
• a drive chain
a. Shifting internal gear hub gears
Shifting with an internal gear hub dr ivetrain is simply a matter of moving th e shifter to the indic
ated position for the desir ed
gear ratio. After you have moved the shifter to the gear position of your choice, ease the pressure on the pedals for an instant to
allow the hub to complete the shift.
b. Which gear should I be in?
The numerically lowest gear (1) is for the steepest hills. The numericall
y largest gear is for the greatest speed.
Shifting from an easier, “slower” gear (like 1) to a harder, “faster” gear (like
2 or 3) is called an upshift. Shifting from a harder,
“faster” gear to an e asier, “slo wer” gear is c alled a downshift. It is not necessar y to s hift gears i n sequence. Instead , find the
“starting gear” for the con ditions — a ge ar which is hard enough for qu ick acceleration but easy enough to let you start from a
stop without wobbling — and experiment with upshifting and downshifting to get a feel for the different gears.
At first, practice shifting where there are no obstacles, hazards or other traffic, until you’ve built up your confidence. Learn to
anticipate the need to shift, and shift to a lower gear before the hill gets too steep. If you have difficulties with shifting, the problem
could be mechanical adjustment. See your dealer for help.
c. What if it won’t shift gears?
If moving the shif t control one click repea tedly fai ls to result in a smooth shif t to th
e nex t ge ar chanc es are that the
mechanism is out of adjustment. Take the bike to your dealer to have it adjusted.
E. Pedals
1. Toe Overlap is when your toe can to uch the front wheel when you turn the h andlebars to steer while a pe dal is in the
forwardmost position. This is common on small-framed bicycles, and is avoided by keeping the inside pedal u p and the outside
pedal down when making sharp turns. On any bicycle, this technique will also prevent the inside pedal from striking the ground in
a turn.
WARNING: Toe Overlap could cause you to l ose control and fall. Ask your dealer to he lp you determine if th e
combin
ation of frame size, cran k ar m len gth, p edal desig n an d sho es y ou will use resu lts in p edal overlap.
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