# Indexing Your Gears

> If you're having a problem shifting to the larger, or smaller, cogs when riding on your Zwift Hub, or your gears aren't changing smoothly, you may need to...

Source: https://support.zwift.com/en_us/indexing-your-gears-BywvPTb6q

Last updated: 2025-04-15T02:14:22.180Z

# Indexing Your Gears

If you're having a problem shifting to the larger, or smaller, cogs when riding on your Zwift Hub, or your gears aren't changing smoothly, you may need to index your gears. Indexing your gears ensures the drive chain lines up correctly—with the appropriate cog on your cassette—when you shift gears.

## Difficulty Rating

[![Difficulty Rating 2/3](https://zwiftdmz-marcom-us-east.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/support/EN/Hardware/Resources/Images/Difficulty Level 2-3.png "Middle of the Road - 2/3")](https://support.zwift.com/en_us/troubleshooting-difficulty-rating-rygrkYkhyl "Middle of the Road 2/3")

## Required Tools/Equipment

*   None
    

## Indexing Your Gears

Follow these steps to index your gears:

If your bike has electronic shifting, you can make adjustments to index your gears while riding your bike. Consult the manufacturer of your shifting components for best practices.

Don't feel like indexing your gears yourself? Your local bike shop should be able to help.

1.  Shift your bike's gears so the chain is on the largest chain ring on the front and the smallest cog at the back.
    
    *   Keep pressing your shifter until there's no clicking.
        
2.  If the chain doesn't move to the smallest cog, complete these steps:
    
    1.  Turn the barrel adjuster for the rear derailleur clockwise—towards the smallest cog—a quarter turn at a time as you turn the pedals on your bike.
        
        Check your bike's manual for the location of the barrel adjuster for the rear derailleur on your bike.
        
        Turning the barrel adjuster adjusts the tension on the cable that connects the derailleur to the shifter on the handle bar.
        
        ![Barrel Adjuster](https://zwiftdmz-marcom-us-east.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/support/EN/Hardware/Resources/Images/Barrel Adjuster Cog.jpg "Barrel Adjuster")
        
    2.  Stop turning the barrel adjuster when the drive chain lines up correctly with the smallest cog.
3.  If the drive chain comes off the cassette, complete these steps:
    
    1.  Position the drive chain back on the smallest cog on the cassette.
        
    2.  Turn the barrel adjuster for the rear derailleur counter clockwise—towards the largest cog—a quarter turn.
        
        Check your bike's manual for the location of the barrel adjuster for the rear derailleur on your bike.
        
        Turning the barrel adjuster adjusts the tension on the cable that connects the derailleur to the shifter on the handle bar.
        
        ![Barrel Adjuster](https://zwiftdmz-marcom-us-east.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/support/EN/Hardware/Resources/Images/Barrel Adjuster Cog.jpg "Barrel Adjuster")
        
    3.  Turn the pedals on your bike and shift your gears to the second smallest cog on the rear.
    4.  Turn the pedals on your bike and shift your gears to move back down to the smallest cog on the rear.
        
    5.  If the drive chain comes off the cassette again, repeat steps a-e until the drive chain lines up correctly with the smallest cog.
4.  Turn your pedals and shift your gears to move up and down through the three smallest cogs on your cassette.
    *   Your drive chain should shift up and down through these gears taking equal time to complete the shift.
5.  If you find any areas where the drive chain doesn't line up correctly with a cog, or the time to complete the shift is off, complete these steps:
    1.  Turn the barrel adjuster by a quarter turn in the direction you want to improve.
        
        Clockwise to improve shifting towards the smaller cogs, counter clockwise to improve shifting towards the larger cogs.
        
    2.  Turn your pedals and shift your gears to move up and down through the three smallest cogs on your cassette.
        
    3.  Repeat steps a-c, turning the barrel adjuster no more than a quarter turn each time, until the drive chain lines up correctly with each of the three smallest cogs on your cassette.
        

Ride On.

\-The Team at Zwift