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gears & shifting

Gears help you keep good leverage (mechanical advantage) through a range of speeds as you cycle.

Shifters control the gears to change leverage as needed.

We usually see two kinds of gearing systems:

  • derailleurs
  • planetary gears

and two kinds of shifters

  • twist grip - you operate these by twisting the grip as you hold it
  • lever arms - you shift by pushing some paddle or arm (there are many permutations on the theme)

gears & shifting News

An alternative to twist shifters for riders with limited hand-strength

Twist (grip) shifters are an inexpensive and reliable technology common on recumbent trikes. They have two main drawbacks:

13 Jan 2016 - 11:20pm

We have converted an HP Velotechnik Gekko FX 26 to use trigger shifters as an experiment. It seems to work well.

16 Jul 2015 - 9:59pm