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PART 1
d. Which gear should I be in?
Section 4. Tech
GT Bicycle Owner’s Manual
d. Which gear should I be in?
The combination of largest rear and smallest
front gears (fig. 16) is for the steepest hills. The
smallest rear and largest front combination is
for the greatest speed. It is not necessary to shift
gears in sequence. Instead, find the “starting
gear” which is right for your level of ability — a
gear which is hard enough for quick 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 gear combinations. At first, practice
shifting where there are no obstacles, hazards or
other traffic, until you’ve built up your
confidence. Learn not to use either the “smallest-
to-smallest or “largest-to-largest” gear
combinations because they can cause
unacceptable stress on the drive change. 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.
Figure 16. Front & Rear Gears
WARNING
Never shift a derailleur onto the largest or the
smallest sprocket if the derailleur is not
shifting smoothly.
The derailleur may be out of adjustment and
the chain could jam, causing you to lose
control and fall.
e. What if it won’t shift gears?
If moving the shift control one click repeatedly
fails to result in a smooth shift to the next gear
chances are that the mechanism is out of
adjustment. Take the bike to your dealer to have
it adjusted.
