newbie gear questions

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hi,

i haven't bought a bike in over 20 years. yesterday i finally bought a mountain bike. i live in mexico at the moment and the guy explained the gears real fast and i didn't really understand him.

it is equipped with shimano revoshift (21 speed) 3 big sprockets and 7 small.

what is the correct procedure for shifting? rules of thumb?

if i wanted to just keep it simple and stay in one of the big gears, which would be better? the middle one?

how are they numbered 1-7 small to big?? or vice versa?

thanks for helping a novice with his dumb questions!!

hi man!!
well i'll explain you all these crap, the changer is numbered from 1 to 7 usually being n`1 the one you have to do less power but there will be less speed, whenever you want to gain speed you should start from gear n`1 and going on slowly to the other gears, if you want to use just one gear to ride in the street i recommend you the gear 1 in the front and 7 at the back, you should ONLY change gears while you are riding, i mean when the pedal is moving if you change the gears when your pedals are not moving ( when the bike is not being ridden) your chain can break down and the same with the gears.