todays ride

[terry_gardener]

few days ago I took of the mudguards because they kept coming loose and I have to adjust them all the time,
went for a ride today and when I used the 2nd and 3rd gears in the rear. there seemed to be a problem were the pedal resistance would go and then I would get it back with a banging/knocking noise and then it would happen again. so I stopped using those gears but other gears worked ok.
it is a triple using the middle front chain ring. any ideas.

also when I ride the bike I am getting pain the base of my hand where the thumb bone attaches to the main hand bones.

 

[boydj]

Sounds like you have a worn chain / cassette / chainring. How long is it since you changed any of these items?

What kind of handlebars do you have? If your position on the bike is not ideal, you could be putting too much weight on your hands, especially if you have few options for changing hand position on the bars.

 

[terry_gardener]

Sounds like you have a worn chain / cassette / chainring. How long is it since you changed any of these items?

What kind of handlebars do you have? If your position on the bike is not ideal, you could be putting too much weight on your hands, especially if you have few options for changing hand position on the bars.

I bought the bike new in September last year, so never changed any of these.
it is the cube nature pro hybrid with flat bars. I didn't get this problem with my hands when I ride the road bike (see sig)

 

[boydj]

On a flat bar bike, your hands are not in a natural position and that can cause a problem. That's why bar-ends are so popular.

You need a chain checker tool (cheap and useful to have anyway) - if only to confirm that your chain is not worn, since I doubt if you would have done enough mileage since September for this to be the case. You'll need to get the bike up on a stand to check the indexing and alignment of the mechs and chainrings.