How To Fix Gears

Step 1

Raise the bike off the ground on the bike stand

  • You need to be able to spin the wheels freely without the bike moving

Step 2 

Locate the derailleurs

  • Derailleurs are the machines that physically shift your gears and keep your chain in place

Step 3 

Find the shifting problem by testing each gear

  • Use one hand to lightly pedal the bike and shift through 1 gear per click

 

Step 4

Locate the cable adjusters

  • Follow the cables leading to the derailleurs to find the adjusters

  • These make small adjustments to the derailleur cables which can help make minor tweaks to shifting

 

Step 5

Shift to the gear that is bad

  • shift your gears up until the chain won't shift, has trouble staying on the gear, or skips a gear, etc.

 

Step 6

Loosen your cable adjuster if the chain won't shift down

  • Tighten your cable adjuster if your chain won't shift up

 

Step 7

Return to your low gear and shift back all the way up and down.

Step 8

Check all the gears again to make sure that the derailleur can successfully shift through every gear 

Step 9

Take a short practice ride to catch any other problems