If your bike is too high, you’ll be having a problem climbing up the hill, or if it’s too low, you’ll lose time on the flat ground. So, how do you pick the appropriate gears for your bike? Don’t worry, here’s what you need to know when choosing the right gear that will suit the need of your bike.
- Spinning or Grinding?
Before buying any bicycle equipment and gear, ask yourself if you prefer spinning or grinding. Well, the answer will vary depending on your body physique or your fitness. Either you like pushing high gear much slower, or perhaps, you spin through low gears at high grounds, maybe you’re in between.
To give you a more detailed explanation, a pedaling cadence of at least 90 rpm or lower is considered as grinding. While on the other hand, above 110 rpm is spinning. So, what do you prefer?
Knowing your preference is an important factor you must know to choose the correct gear for your bike. For instance that you don’t know your preference, take a look at the road, and see other cyclists style. Now, do you pedal faster than them or much slower?

- Apple of the Eye: Know Your Favorite Bike
Know what kind of bike you prefer riding. Once you have a choice, remember that gear ration will make a big difference for your preference. Do you like on triple? Or perhaps, you prefer compact? Triples give lower gearing but liking it doesn’t make you a weak rider, it only means that you prefer spinning than grinding.
Moreover, if you prefer pedaling in slower strokes, it doesn’t mean that you’re lazy. It simply means that you prefer compact bikes with higher gears. You may also want to upgrade your bike with Bicycle Lights, Locks, Bells and Outdoor Goods to give it a cool look whenever you use it for cycling.
- Do you Like Terrain?
If you like climbing steep hills, then you’ll be needing a low gear to support your bike up to the mountain. Of course, you don’t want your bike seizing up in anger while climbing, right?
Regardless of what kind of cadence that you have, climbing in the mountain will always require a piece of lower gearing equipment, and this is something that you must need to consider regardless of your body physique and fitness.
If flat grounds challenge the ability of your cadence, probably, you might want to buy a higher gear ratio, but of course, you need to be realistic. High gears might look great, however, if you like to stay on top of the largest cog, then probably you need to pedal at least 15 to 20 turns to maintain your momentum. But of course, doing this can affect your energy and can even lower your efficiency as well as your speed.
- Are You a Beginner?
If you’re new in the world of cycling, you might want to try some bikes that have triple gears and lower rations, regardless of the body physique. Compared to mountain bikes, even the lowest gear models are available on road bikes and can strike you as high as you can and even challenge you to spin.
There are differences between road bikes and off-road bikes speed and pedal styles. However, you’ll only realize their differences when you’ve cycled them for a few miles. Moreover, picking the lower gears will also help you discover new ways of the roads and can support you on regularly using the highest gears on the flat ground.