Cannondale Bicycles manual Shifting the Front Derailleur, Which gear should I be in?

hills

speed

fig. 19 Chain

2) Shifting the Front Derailleur:

The front derailleur, which is controlled by the left shifter, shifts the chain between the larger and smaller chainrings. Shifting the chain onto a smaller chainring makes pedaling easier (a downshift).

Shifting to a larger chainring makes pedaling harder (an upshift).

b) Which gear should I be in?

The combination of largest rear, smallest front gears (Fig. 19) is

for the steepest hills. The smallest rear, largest front combination (Fig. 19) is for the greatest speed. It is not necessary to shift gears in sequence. Instead, find the “starting gear” which is right for your level of ability -- a gear which is hard enough for quick acceleration but easy enough to let you start from a stop without wobbling -- and experiment with upshifting and downshifting to get a feel for the different gear combinations. At first, practice shifting where there are no obstacles, hazards or other traffic, until you've built up your confidence. Once you've learned the basics, experience will teach you which gear is appropriate for which condition, and practice will help you shift smoothly and at precisely the optimum moment.

56