Question on gears

[Arch]

Reading the description of your route on your other thread, you haven't got any hills, except if you have to ride up Upper Gungate; and that's not steep, 4% max.

Not a very encouraging kind of remark. You may be a top quality cyclist with years in your legs, but to someone as new to cycling as Mrs Fry, the slightest incline can feel like hell. Try and remember we were all beginners once.

 

[tdr1nka]

If you have the oppertunity find an empty car park or playground and spend some time getting used to your gears.

Start, as Arch sagely suggests, with both gear levers set at 2.
NB: Always keep the pedals turning when changing gears, if you change gear without the wheel turning you might 'crash' the gears when you set off.
This means the chain moves across the gears, making a horrible noise and causing the pedals to slip, rather than powering the wheel when you need it to.

So with your gears set 2L & 2R set off and pick up speed, concentrating only on the 1-6 gears.
As soon as your legs feel they are going round too fast and you are not gaining any speed, change to 3R and you will find your legs spin a little slower but you will start to pick up speed.
Repeat this going up to 4R, 5R & 6R.
As soon as you feel you are going too fast or you are having to pedal harder than you'd like, change back down to the previous gear one at a time until you feel comfortable again.

It's good to practice changing up and down the gears so that you are always in a low gear when you stop. This makes starting off again easier and avoids any gear crashing.

What you are aiming for is for your legs to be spinning at roughly the same rate in every gear and you still having enough energy to push harder to maintain or increase your speed.

The above applies to the left hand gears you'll find using 1L will make you legs spin like roadrunners legs, you'll not have much speed but you'll hurt less climbing hills and using 3L will feel like strong strides, great on flat roads for faster sprints.

I concur with getting narrower smooth or slick tyres, knobbly tyres are too slow on tarmac.

Have fun, and really, don't ever worry about getting off on hills, cycling is not all about punishing ones self.

 

[al78]

Some good advice from everyone here.

One thing I would like to mention is that if the time ever comes where you feel you need to replace your bike or get a new one, I would strongly recommend looking at a hub geared bike. The advantages are firstly you only have one shifter to operate and secondly hub gears are more robust and have lower maintenance requirements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hub_gear

 

[Norm]

I agree with all of the above, but I wonder if it might be a bit too much to start with. Picking up this piece...

So with your gears set 2L & 2R set off and pick up speed, concentrating only on the 1-6 gears.

I'd completely ignore the left hand until you are comfortable with what the right hand does. Put the left hand selector into 2, then forget about it, just use the right hand selector.

Start off in 2, use the right hand gears to keep up a comfortable pedalling speed, you might be using 5 or 6 on a downhill, 1 or 2 when going up. Spend some time just getting used to how those work and the effect on pedalling speed and ease before you use the left selector.

IMO.

 

[Rob3rt]

I agree ^^ on the flat chances are you wont ever need the easiest gears(they will probly tire you out faster from spinning like mad and going no-where) so dont confuse yourself with them.

 

[potsy]

I'd completely ignore the left hand until you are comfortable with what the right hand does. Put the left hand selector into 2, then forget about it, just use the right hand selector.

I did this when I started last year,not ridden since being a kid.Good advice and you soon get more confident and it then becomes 2nd nature to use the left shifter as well.

 

[gbb]

As you will know from my other posts, I'm new to cycling and would like to know more about gears. On my left I have numbers 1, 2 and 3. On the right I have numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. I know that for going up hills you need to be on a lower gear such as 1 or 2 and for straight roads a higher gear. Most of my commute is a straight main road and I use gear 5 on the right and gear 2 on the left.

My legs do ache quickly but if I go on a lower gear then if feels as though I have no resistance in the pedals and I wobble. I also can't get up hills even if it's on a low gear. And it makes rattling noises when it's on lower gears.

Help?!

Hi Mrs Fry...
There's one point that's not been touched on...seat height.
If you cant extend your legs correctly while pedalling, its murder on the legs.
You should be able to nearly have your leg straight while at the bottom of the pedalling cycle.

Theres an article here...
http://mountainbike.about.com/od/tipsandtechniques/f/Seat_height.htm

Otherwise, as the other posters have suggested...and i can't remember whether anyone mentioned tyre pressures. Keep them well pumped up. Half flat tyres sap you speed and strength.

Keep going...it does get easier

 

[mrs fry]

Hi Mrs Fry...
There's one point that's not been touched on...seat height.
If you cant extend your legs correctly while pedalling, its murder on the legs.
You should be able to nearly have your leg straight while at the bottom of the pedalling cycle.

Theres an article here...
http://mountainbike.about.com/od/tipsandtechniques/f/Seat_height.htm

Otherwise, as the other posters have suggested...and i can't remember whether anyone mentioned tyre pressures. Keep them well pumped up. Half flat tyres sap you speed and strength.

Keep going...it does get easier

I was thinking this.. It seems most have their saddles at the same height as the handlebars or higher. Mine is considerably lower.

 

[tdr1nka]

When sitting on the saddle your your leg should be bent slightly at the knee when the pedal arm is nearly at the lowest point of it's turn. Too much either way and your knee will be either too bent, making peddaling very hard work, or too extended which means not only might you not be able to get your feet to the floor but you will be shifting your weight to reach the pedal making the bike less stable.

 

[Arch]

I was thinking this.. It seems most have their saddles at the same height as the handlebars or higher. Mine is considerably lower.

The main thing is you have the saddle at the right height for your legs, not to worry about comparing it to the handlebars - bikes only have a limited amount of different geometries, whereas we all have different body shapes. As gbb says, you want your leg to be nearly straight at the bottom of the stroke, when you have the ball of your foot on the pedal - not totally straight, just a very slight bend at the knee. My saddles are all a touch lower than my bars.

Do you currently reach the ground with a toe or a flat foot when you stop? Raising the saddle to your right height (if you find it's needed) may mean you can't do that anymore. Don't worry if this is the case - it's just a consequence of the height of the bottom bracket (the bit the pedals attach to). You may find that you have to change to coming forward off the saddle when you stop, to get a foot down comfortably. I do on all but one of my bikes, and even on that, it's a stretch to put a toe down, and if I have to stop for any time, I come off the saddle so that I can put my foot flat.

You might find you're fine - it all depends on how long your legs are. I'm the dacshund type You may be a greyhound.

 

[cyberknight]

Have you adjusted your seat height yet?

The shop should have done this for you, if not you need to look at it.There is a bolt , looks like an allen key as far as i can tell whee the set tube goes into the frame .This can be undone to raise/ lower the seat height.

A simple method for seat height ......

1. 1
   Put on your regular cycling shoes.
2. Step 2
   Sit on you bike. Stabilize yourself by placing one hand on a table or counter.
3. Step 3
   Swing the pedals around to the bottom of the pedal stroke.
4. Step 4
   Place your heel on the pedal.
5. Step 5
   Adjust the seat height so that when your heel is on the pedal, your leg is perfectly straight - this way, when the ball of your foot is centered on the pedal, you will have the right amount of bend in your leg.
6. Step 6
   Fine-tune the fit. Put your feet on the pedals so that the balls of your feet are centered on the pedals, and pedal backward. Do your hips rock back and forth? If so, the seat is too high. Conversely, if you feel cramped, it is probably too low.

This is just a guide , there are plenty of other ways and it is subject to feel as well.

Your handlebar can also be adjusted up and down but i would get used to cycling 1st before worrying about it to much as you can find cycling leaning forward more can give other aches if you are new to it.

 

[tdr1nka]

I'm more like a giraffe.

 

[mrs fry]

Thanks a lot. My boyfriend will help me adjust it once we've had dinner. Probably why my groin has been hurting so much

 

[Arch]

Thanks a lot. My boyfriend will help me adjust it once we've had dinner. Probably why my groin has been hurting so much

Welcome to cycling!

Bear in mind, you're still new to it all. If you suddenly started running the distance every night, or swimming it (unlikely I agree, for a commute!), you'd ache and hurt in all sorts of other places. It does get better, honest! Just wait until the reason you hurt is because you went out and did 50 miles, or 100. I did one 100 last summer, I was almost dead when I got home, could barely get upstairs to the flat, but boy, was I proud!

And I've met Tdr1nka, and yes, he is a giraffe.

 

[Debian]

A good article about correct saddle height is here:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html#height

In fact, Sheldon's site is a goldmine of information about all things cycling - well worth a look there first if you have any questions.

Getting the saddle at the correct height makes one helluva difference to how easy you find it.