Understanding gear ratios is something that is usually taught very early in the piece for a new track cyclist. Gearing plays a significant role in race and training performance and it’s every track cyclist’s goal to try and pick the optimum gear to match their physiology and pedalling ability across different types of races. 

Too big a gear and you’ll struggle to get on top of it, too small a gear and you’ll find yourself spinning out or struggling to find more at the pointy end of races. 

For endurance events, finding a gear that allows you to keep up with the race and accelerate in sprints (in a points race for instance) is important, and for short events - such as the sprint or flying 200m - selecting a gear that allows you to produce the maximum amount of average watts over the full 200m is essential. Utilising a number of gears from a gear chart that pertains to your bike set up (e.g. wheel circumference) and your strengths is the first step...

How do you change your track gears? Are you getting all the steps right? 

For those of you who are having trouble with changing gears fluently, our Head Coach Kerrie Meares offers a video guide to successfully change your gears!  

The equipment you're going to need to change your track gears are:

• Chain rings and cogs to fit your bike crank and rear wheel
• Allen key (usually 5mm) to unscrew and re-screw chainring bolts
• Chain-whip
• 15mm spanner (or spanner/allen key required to loosen and retighten rear wheel)
• Lock ring (for wheels requiring it)

A few weeks ago, we put a blog post together offering tips to changing gears, if you missed it - click here and we'll take you straight to it! 

TAKE 2 MINUTES AND WATCH HOW TO CHANGE YOUR GEARS - LIKE A PRO:

1. Find a chair and hang your bike on a rack
2. Loosen chainring bolts in a STAR pattern
3. Remove chainring
4. CHAIN WHIP - Use your bodyweight to LOOSEN cog ANTI-clockwise
5. TIP - Place thumb to...

Let's talk track bike mechanics...

Negotiating gear changes... pedal changes... general bike maintenance...

It can be a painful experience, especially if you've come from a road background, or no real background at all in the sport - particularly when you need something done immediately.

In this blog we're going to talk gearing and guide you through this common practice that most seasoned track cyclists will experience during training or racing sessions.

Why Change Gears?

The gear chart offers so many multiple combinations of chain rings and cogs.

But what do they all mean? And why should you change gears?

Changing gears gives you the ability to alter your pedalling rates. As gear ratios increase, the need for strength development becomes more important.

Small gears generally will help develop your pedalling efficiency, but may not necessarily give you the ability to maximise your force and speed.

Warm up gear ratio’s are generally much smaller than racing gear...

One of the top questions we get from cyclists relates to gearing.

WHICH GEAR DO I USE?

It’s a question asked in training and competition environments, and is a very hot topic in the cycling world, particularly with the evolution of sports science, multiple disciplines of the sport and diversity of athletes that we’re working with.  

In a broad statement, we can say that the more efficient you are (i.e. your ability to maintain force throughout the full pedal stroke proficiently), the larger the gearing that can be utilised. 

In saying that, there are a number of additional variables at play, such as your ability to convert strength into power and speed and transference over to the bike. 

Additionally, the discipline you’re participating in is also a major factor.

For example, if you’re participating in a standing 500m timed event, you need to weigh up your ability to get off the mark against your ability to finish strongly and decide...