How Do Bicycle Gears Actually WORK?

How Do Bicycle Gears Actually WORK?

Ever wondered how bike gears and gear ratios work? What’s the difference between a standard, semi-compact and compact chainset? What gearing did Lance Armstrong use?
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50 Comments

  1. Nirupam Hansda on June 25, 2019 at 6:53 pm

    Very bad



  2. sebastian bradfield on June 25, 2019 at 6:54 pm

    low gear ratios result in high mechanical advantage but smaller frequency (number of turns) and high gear rations result in low mechanical advantage but higher frequency — the total amount of energy output (i.e., work) done is the same (with higher gear ratio you are cutting up the work into smaller pieces)



  3. TanicWhisper06 on June 25, 2019 at 6:55 pm

    Wow this video couldn’t have made it anymore more simple, I was getting so frustrated with these other tutorials. A lot of them already assumed I knew my gears and names for my gears. Thank you.



  4. Aswin Prasad on June 25, 2019 at 6:56 pm

    This is the answer to my questions



  5. James ‘jahmoolahut’ Morrison on June 25, 2019 at 6:58 pm

    Armstrong could have done those climbs on 53/11😂… Though not sure he was the best example to be honest🤪



  6. Themi Valitis on June 25, 2019 at 6:58 pm

    Nice channel name



  7. Dennis Dowd on June 25, 2019 at 6:59 pm

    Loved this, thanks!😎



  8. Mang Connor on June 25, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    Aw! We need to go back in highschool math! I hate math tho!:(



  9. Bruce Wayne on June 25, 2019 at 7:04 pm

    For you non doped plebs, just do what contador does. Get the cassette with 1 up front the boggest cog you usually use, so you never run out of gear. No shame to pedal 11 – 34 because contador uses 32 on mountains and hes logic is that, the biggest rear cog should rarely be used, so you never run out of gear.



  10. fabian Walker on June 25, 2019 at 7:05 pm

    My gears have a mind of their own they change about six hours after me changing the gear



  11. Dick Longflop on June 25, 2019 at 7:08 pm

    Thanks



  12. Abhishek on June 25, 2019 at 7:11 pm

    4.3 is huge gear ratio.. This gearbox works like CVT



  13. riacharda on June 25, 2019 at 7:11 pm

    this was really helpful!



  14. Advice Teller on June 25, 2019 at 7:12 pm

    Lance Armstrong is a cheater he used stairoids



  15. Ausaramun on June 25, 2019 at 7:12 pm

    But is there ever a bike that operates using pure gear chains?



  16. Brian Fritz on June 25, 2019 at 7:13 pm

    How about "How Bike Gear Ratios Work for You" This is exactly what I wanted to show my math students as we discovered and studied ratios and a real world example they could connect with and their bikes. Bravo!



  17. Alonso Coutinho Licks on June 25, 2019 at 7:13 pm

    Bro, Lance was on drugs! So whatever gears he was using is irrelevant.



  18. adrian betti on June 25, 2019 at 7:16 pm

    Keeping 90+ cadence with a 23 up a 10% grade is unfathomable lol.



  19. me on June 25, 2019 at 7:16 pm

    I prefer your Video it’s more detailed and explains how it works which was what I was looking for and this popped up very helpful ty



  20. whiderboss on June 25, 2019 at 7:17 pm

    I HATE SCHOOL



  21. Suganya Subramanian on June 25, 2019 at 7:19 pm

    Where did ratio came from



  22. abanoub samy on June 25, 2019 at 7:20 pm

    Hey i have on my mountain bike 7 only cassettes at the back



  23. Emily on June 25, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    Too much stress. I’m going fixed



  24. punjab singh on June 25, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    cycle max gear ratio?



  25. Vivek Acharya on June 25, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    I don’t like geared bikes. It’s mostly a gimick



  26. Ashkan Ahmadi on June 25, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    but … but … but … you didnt really explain how gears actually work. but thanks overall. i didnt know how to calculate the wheel’s turn. how can we calculate our speed then? number of teeth on the chainring/cogs * the circumference of the wheel?



  27. wale macjay on June 25, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    This is so much simpler to understand now. Great video.



  28. Joe g on June 25, 2019 at 7:31 pm

    Ok BUT you missed a great deal. First if all – road cranks traditionally come in 42/52 tooth ring clusters. Second- why presuppose all shift levers arein the brake lever on handlebar? I still use my old school road bike with down tube friction shifers pretty often. It works pretty well, and I can shift into whatever gear I want instead of only in single increments. There are still A LOT of these bikes being ridden. It is still a thing. AND you never mentioned epicyclic gearing at all. Dude- you are missing out. But I must admit that what you did cover was well done and helpful. But it is just a small part of the story.



  29. Mark Nealon on June 25, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    This was more "what are gears" than "how do they work". I was hoping for a description of your shifters change the gears etc



  30. Himanshu Narware on June 25, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    Sir Hindi mein video Banaye



  31. Arun js on June 25, 2019 at 7:34 pm

    which is the fastest gear
    in my cycle I have 6 in rear and 3 in front



  32. Arun js on June 25, 2019 at 7:37 pm

    please reply brother



  33. J B on June 25, 2019 at 7:40 pm

    Of course lance could do 450+ Watts for a sustained period.



  34. Abraham The Bad Badger on June 25, 2019 at 7:42 pm

    And to this day, I still don’t know how to use the gears



  35. Faiyaz Zaheen on June 25, 2019 at 7:43 pm

    ভাই কিছুই বুঝি নাই।



  36. jay collins on June 25, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    He was on gear to push that gear😂



  37. ᘜᗩᑕᕼᗩ ᘜIᖇᒪᘔ on June 25, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    1:00:00



  38. BAT MAN on June 25, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    oh shit mech engnrng



  39. Aditya Gupta on June 25, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    Please do not quote Lance Armstrong’s references in your videos.



  40. goldenultra on June 25, 2019 at 7:46 pm

    I tried to lower the front gear going uphill and chain fell off.



  41. Jerry Doughty on June 25, 2019 at 7:46 pm

    No offence meant, but Lance, what’s his name, does not exist in the sport of cycling anymore. He gave, to the sport of cycling, the biggest black eye, so to speak. So let’s keep his name out of it altogether.



  42. iTube on June 25, 2019 at 7:47 pm

    this how cvt works!!!! hahaha!!!!



  43. quwers on June 25, 2019 at 7:48 pm

    12 speed road cassette. Hmm.



  44. Jaspreet Kaur on June 25, 2019 at 7:48 pm

    Yaar chalu Kariye Ki Pani gayi ki nahi



  45. Amrit Verma on June 25, 2019 at 7:49 pm

    Very helpful and useful knowledge



  46. Krishnakumar Subramanian on June 25, 2019 at 7:49 pm

    What a stupid video! The title makes it look like you’d actually explain how the gears work on a bicycle – meaning how does the shifters "shift the damn chain" across the derailleurs. But you just basically named the parts and moved on. Wtf?



  47. MaQuGo119 on June 25, 2019 at 7:50 pm

    Fuck that druggie



  48. Lenny appleton on June 25, 2019 at 7:51 pm

    Sorry for my ignorance, I’m new to cycling. But wouldn’t you want your gear ratio to be a 4.3 when going uphill so you’re not pedaling as much?



  49. Kaneki_theshinobi 20 on June 25, 2019 at 7:51 pm

    Thanks



  50. Joe Slater on June 25, 2019 at 7:52 pm

    Perhaps an example of Eddy Merckx going up Alpe D’Huez on a 42:18 would be perhaps more impressive.