Originally Posted by 70sSanO

To be honest, bicycle shifting, especially with numbers, is the most a-backwards setup for those who are not familiar with what happens when a shift is made. Basically you shift the left (front derailleur) and the right (rear derailleur) in opposite directions to pedal faster (harder) or slower (easier).

For people who have ridden a lot and understand gearing it makes perfect sense; and becomes second nature.

It also doesn’t help when manufacturers decide that they need to help a new rider and number the rear shifter in opposite ways.

In as simple terms as possible, the the larger the chainring, in front, the faster you go. The smaller the cog, in rear, the faster you go. Each chainring, in front, is independent of the others, and gives you a “range” of speeds when you shift the rear cogs to go faster or slower.

If you are in the middle front chainring, numbered as 2, and you can ride as fast or slow as you want, you never have to use the left shifter, you just use the range of rear cogs. You only need the other chainrings if you need to go faster or slower than you can when in 2.

Your job is to know if the numbers are slower or faster.

John

Edit added: Over time you will understand that there is overlap in each range of gears, so you won’t shift through all the rear cogs and then shift a front chainring.

This is where a gear inch chart can show you the overlap points.