My 14 year old son has expressed a renewed interest in road cycling with me. We went through a similar situation last year when I started cycling seriously. He rode with me a while on his MTB, and I went out and found him a Cannondale road bike to ride with me. He became a bit frustrated over the brifters on that bike. We ended up selling the bike, but even on his MTB he does not focus on changing both front and rear to suit the situation. I have gotten some smooth tires for it so that we can ride together. He is young, and strong, and has no issue keeping up with me IF he would use the gears properly. I would like for him to learn to use them correctly, as well as to show me that he will keep a sustained interest in the activity this time before possibly buying him a nice entry level road bike later.

I have tried my very best to explain to him in the simplest manner how the gears work, and how the size of them actually has the opposite effect from the front to the rear. I have also tried to explain cross chaining as well. He is constantly forgetting about most commonly the front, but at times he will focus only on either the front or rear derailler without changing the other. It is very common for him to either be grinding away, too hard, or coasting because he is in some low gear. I cannot seem to get through to him how to make the gears work for him. Is there some reading, or some method that you have used that breaks this down in a foolproof and easy to understand way?