Owner's Manual
22
3J. GEARS
Before riding your bike make sure your gears are properly adjusted and that you are happy with how the controls work. If your bike is equipped
with gears, it will have either one or two shiers.
The shier ed to the right hand side of the handlebar controls the rear gears. These are where you have a number of cogs on the rear
wheel, and the chain is moved accross them by way of a derrailleur.
The LARGEST cog is the LOWEST gear and therefore the most easy to pedal, and the SMALLEST cog is the HIGHEST gear, and the hardest to
pedal.
The shier ed to the le hand side of the handlebar if you have one, will control the front gears. These gears work the opposite to the rear
gears, and the SMALLEST cog is the LOWEST gear.
You should select a lower gear to set o and a higher gear once you get going. Most gear shiers have a number indicator to show shich gear
number you are in. Try not to leave it unl you are struggling before you change gear as this will cause you to lose speed and control. Never
change gear whilst the bike is not moving or the pedals are not turning, as you could damage your gears and move out of adjustment.
Bikes come with the gears set from the factory, but slight adjustment may be needed before you ride the bike. In this secon we will detail
the dierent type of gear changers, and we will also explain how to make slight adjustments to these. Gears should change easily and quietly.
If they don’t, here you will nd basic instrucons on how to adjust them. You will need to work out from the images which type of gears you
have. There are so many brands and models of gears it is impossible to illutrate them all, but they all have similar funcons which you will nd
in the following pages.
IF YOU ARE UNSURE OR DON’T UNDERSTAND ANY OF THESE STEPS CONSULT A QUALIFIED BICYCLE MECHANIC