Changing gears isn’t just a metaphor for switching things up. It’s a crucial step for kids to learn in order to advance their riding skills from single speed to multispeed bikes and keep up with the family on all kinds of terrain.
Learning to shift properly turns an impossible hill into a slow, steady climb; and transforms a long slog on the flats into a speedy straight away. Read on for tips on teaching kids how to shift gears, or watch it for yourself in this helpful video.
Gears & How They Work
Most kids' multispeed bikes come with one pedal gear and 6-7 rear gears. Rear gears are where gear changes happen and the amount of force needed to pedal is determined.
To change gears, first position the right hand on the twist shift located on the right handlebar. Shift gears up or down by twisting forward or backward. Guardian’s Visual Identifier uses tortoise and hare icons to help kids conceptualize that shifting toward the tortoise makes you slow down, whereas shifting toward the hare allows you to pedal faster.
Practice Shifting Safely at Home
Before getting out on the road, practice shifting at home. Grab your lovely assistant (aka kiddo) to lift the rear wheel off the ground while you spin the pedals forward and practice shifting.
First shift up toward the tortoise/higher number from larger to smaller gears. This allows the bike go faster on the flats or downhills, but makes it harder for climbing.
Then practice shifting down toward the hare/lower numbers from smaller to larger gears. This makes it easier to pedal up hills but not as fast for flats or downhills.
Take turns to have your child try shifting while you lift the rear wheel. This gear shifting demo gets kids used to the concept of shifting, but riding on the road makes it intuitive fairly quickly; so try that next!
Take the Show on the Road
Now it’s time to take the bike out for a test run and practice shifting in the field. Start off with a gradual hill (note: hills that are too steep can quickly lead to frustration; make it mellow). Begin at the bottom of the hill in a high gear to have your child experience how it is more difficult to climb in the higher numbered gears (toward the tortoise).
Then, go back to the bottom of the hill and try again, only in a lower number gear (toward the hare), and watch your child climb with ease. These hill trials help hammer home the concept very quickly that high gears = hard; low gears = easy.
Now, move to a flat surface or slight downhill (again, not too steep). Start in a high gear (toward the tortoise) to see just how fast your kiddo can go. Then, try it again in a lower gear (toward the hare) and watch the pedals churn rapidly but with no significant speed.
Tips to Practice Shifting
There are a few important tips to share with kids when learning how to shift gears:
- First, practice on flat ground starting in in 3rd gear to get familiar with the middle gears. From there it’s easy to shift up or down to get the feel for things. Continue to ride adding in small hills, shifting up and down to get a good a feel and build confidence on their new multispeed bike.
- ALWAYS pedal while shifting. Bikes are meant to be moving when shifting gears; this will help to avoid dropping the chain and derailing their ride.
- Only change one gear at a time. You don’t want gears to skip and make the pedals slip.
Just like trying anything new, no one ever begins as an expert. Practice makes progress. So have those kiddos practice, practice, practice and they’ll be shifting smoothly in no time. Once they have the hang of it, try a family bike ride with help close at hand before riding alone with siblings and friends. But most importantly, be safe and have fun. Learning to shift gears will level up you little rider for the longer more interesting road ahead.