Question about shifting bike gears?

[Doormat]

So I took the plunge and bought a road bike. I haven't been on a bike in too many years to mention so the whole shifting thing is new to me. I understand the left side...upshifting moves the chain from the smallest ring closest to me to the largest away from me. That makes perfect sense...I downshift going up hills and upshift going down hills. Fine. But I'm confused about the right shifter. If I understand right, the largest ring closest to me is for uphill and the smallest ring the farthest from me is for downhill. So for me, it makes sense that on the right side, when I downshift, the chain should move to the left towards the largest ring and when I upshift, away from me towards the smallest ring. I took the bike out yesterday and I could swear that when I downshifted the right gear, it moved to the right. It was dark so I could be mistaken but if this is the case, the whole shifting thing makes absolutely no sense to me. Can anyone clarify which direction up- and down- sifting moves the chain on the rear derailleur and is there an easy way to remember all this? Thanks!

 

[WhitePolarBear]

You confuse yourself with the term "downshift", "downhill", "upshift", "uphill". Forget about the uphill and downhill. There are many times you need to shift the gears besides hills - wind, fatigues, need of speeds, etc. Remove the downhill and uphill from your head.

The ratio between the front sprocket teeth and the rear sprocket teeth tells you how many times your rear wheel rotates with each complete cycle of your pedals. The smaller rear sprocket you use, the further the bike travel per cycle your pedal. The bike goes faster but you have to pedal harder and vice versa. For a fixed front sprocket, going to a smaller sprocket in the back always means "upshifting" (to a higher gear). For a fixed rear sprocket, going to a smaller sprocket in the front always means "downshifting" (to a lower gear). When consider the combination of the front and back sprockets together, the actual sequence from high to low gears are more complicated. Use the following link to determine the sequence of yours.
The more you understand your gear, the more efficient and potentially more enjoyable your bike will be. On the other hand, don't be obsessed with gear shifting. Many people use fixed gear bike and they do extremely well.

 

[Joe]

Lots of good articles & videos on the Google link below. On the front crank, the smallest gear is low gear for climbing hills. The largest gear is for downhill. For flat terrain or rolling hills (not too steep) you should be in the middle gear on the front crank (2nd gear) & use the rear derailleur to slightly adjust for terrain, wind direction, etc. If you go up a slight hill, you should downshift one or two gears to a larger gear.

When you put the bike into a lower gear (bigger gear) on the rear, that may slow the bike down, but also makes for easier pedaling or pedal pressure. It's basic physics. Think of it as a fulcrum or lever, or even a kid's teeter-totter. If a kid weighing 60 lbs. gets on one side & another kid weighing 40 lbs. gets on the other - guess who's going up the fastest? Now take that same playground equipment & add another 40lb. kid to the first 40 lb. kid. Who's going up the fastest now? The fulcrum or center has stayed the same.

On flat land, up-shifting the rear gears to a smaller gear puts more pressure on the rider to pedal harder. Downshifting to a larger gear decrease the pressure & increases the cadence.