Shift gears like a pro: Master your mountain bike gear shifting technique

To get faster on your mountain bike you need to learn to pedal smarter, not just harder. This means you need to learn how to use your gears effectively. Being in the right gear, at the right time is not an easy skill to learn, but if you can master it your speed will increase quickly. 

At their simplest level, gears turn the power in your legs into rotation of the rear wheel. Unfortunately there is no single formula to know which gear you should be in and when. Aside from the factors on the trail like surface or gradient, it is also a question of the rider. Have you been training a lot? Did you sleep well? How much beer did you drink last night? All of these things will have an effect. While there is no magic formula to tell you which gear to be in, there are some basic principles that will help you get the most from them.  

This guide will show you how to change MTB gear effectively. 

Road bikes are usually equipped with gears set up as two chainrings on the crank and a cassette on the rear wheel. They use two shifters to control the gears, the left shifter moves derailleur at the chainring and the right shifter moves the rear derailleur to give you a wide range of gears to tackle any challenge. Until recently many mountain bikes used this system, but today every mountain bike we make, from the entry-level Grand Canyon, to the World Cup-winning Lux, uses what is called a “one-by” system. 

One-by systems rely on a single chainring at the front and a big cassette at the rear to offer a wide range of gears. This may mean you have fewer gears than before - a three chainring setup with an 11-speed cassette would give you 33 gears, while all our mountain bikes today have just 12 gears (except for the Sender downhill race bike, which only has seven). The latest generation of cassettes mean that today your easy gear is likely even easier than in the past, while your harder gear will be just as hard. The biggest benefit of a one by system is simplicity, you have just one shifter to think about and all the gears are in sequence.  

As with almost all mountain bike techniques, anticipation is the most important skill. In the past, making sure your chain was in the right place was crucial. If you entered a section in the wrong gear you were stuck, you would not be able to change to a better gear while you were putting power through the pedals. There was also a good chance the chain would fall off.  

Trying to change gear like this while pedalling hard is called shifting under load. Today, drivetrain manufacturers have spent a lot of time and money to create gear systems that let you shift whenever you want to.  

This is great news if you find yourself in a tricky situation, you can be confident that you are not going to have a problem because of your gears. But, if your goal is to get faster on your mountain bike, then you do still want to avoid shifting under load where possible (Discover how to go faster on your mountain bike with expert setup tips). Anticipation is how you do this. By looking ahead down the trail you can make sure you are in the right gear for the challenge ahead.  

Mountain bike trails are complex environments, but pedalling challenges can be broken down into three broad groups: steady climbs, steep climbs and descending. Each of them needs a slightly different approach. With each of these scenarios, remember that there is also a strong element of personal preference. These are just a starting point to help you figure out what works for you. 

The trick with a steady climb is to find a gear you are happy to sit in for as long as you need and that you can push smoothly. Being smooth is an important consideration, because by keeping the power to the wheels constant you will maximise your traction, wasting as little energy as possible. Some people are happy to push a really hard gear up really long climbs, while others prefer to spin the pedals, the trick is to find what feels right for you.  

If you have a climb that you are familiar with, it is worth repeating it a few times in different gears to start to understand how it feels. If you are focused on getting faster, it will also be worth bringing a stopwatch (or you can use an app like Strava or Komoot). As a general rule, if you are not sure how long or difficult a climb is going to be, it is safer to take an easy gear to avoid running out of steam before the top. 

 Facing a steep climb is when anticipating the trail will really start to pay off. As you approach the climb you will need to ask yourself a few questions: “How long is it?” “Do I think I can make it to the top in this gear?” “Are there obstacles in the trail I need to get over?”. If you are not confident, it is best to start by dropping down into an easy gear before the climb and see how it feels.  

Once you start climbing, shifting under load comes into play as this kind of tough climb is when you put maximum load (power) through your pedals. If you are in trouble, of course you should reach for your gear shifter, but the goal is to try and get into the right gear at the bottom so you can focus on your pedalling as the trail gets harder.  

In the most challenging situations, you might find that taking the easiest gear will not work well - for instance if there is a step or obstacle in the steep section. If you need to make a move like this you may need to push hard by staying in a bigger gear and pedalling as hard as you can to maintain enough momentum to clear the obstacle. 

If you are not worried about going fast, then you don’t need to worry too much about which gear you are descending in. You will still need to anticipate the trail ahead, as you don’t want to be caught in too hard a gear for an unexpected climb. However, if you want to start pushing to go faster than the calculations are complex.  

Imagine you are arriving at a corner on the trail. If you have read our guide to proper mountain bike braking techniques, then you will have braked before the corner and let the bike roll through to the exit, what gear should you be in to accelerate after? That depends on how fast you can ride the corner, as well as your preferences, because the faster you go, the harder the gear you will need. There is a fine balance: too big a gear and it could be hard to turn the crank, too easy and you won’t have drive to accelerate with.  

As with all descending skills, practice is the best answer. If you can find a corner you like, it is worth practicing it a few times to get the lines right, and once you are confident with how you are cornering you can start to try different gears at the exit to see which works best for you.  

While this may seem like a lot, it can be all boiled down to one simple sentence: look ahead and shift your gears ready for what is coming. It will likely take a few attempts for you to find the right gears for you and where you ride, but if you keep working on this core skill, over time it will become a natural habit and you will be shifting gears like a pro.