Total Beginner confused with gearing

[Globalti]

Somebody get that man a beer!

 

[Arch]

I disagree with 4F. And noone seems to have offered any practical help.

The bike has two gear changers, which appear to be twist grip ones. The left one controls the front gears (where the pedals attach to the bike) and the right one deals with the back (a cluster of 6 cogs)

YOU CAN ONLY CHANGE THESE GEARS WHEN PEDALLING.

Very roughly you want the left gear changer in the Number 2 position on flat roads, number 1 position going up steep hills and number 3 for downhills. Practice will tell you how this feels.

The right gear changer (assuming it is set up right) should have the "easiest" gear (ie the one that feels least effort) as number 1 and the hardest as number 6.(you also should go and get Halfords to set up the gears right as it sounds like a slight misalignment)

Get a friend to help you get it into L2 and R1 (should be on the middle ring at the front, and biggest cog at the back). Pedal off down flattish road, and use right hand changer to go up and down through gears.

Find a slight uphill. As you go along the flat, once you start to struggle, change to L1 and R4 (approx). Then as it gets harder, changes to R3,2 ,1 etc. When you turn round to go downhill change to L3 and then change to gears R3,4,5,6, etc..

Contrary what someone said above, for the bike you have if you pedal down hill in L3 and R6 you should still be able to apply pedal pressure at 25mph+

ENJOY

Um, did you read the OP? He clearly knows the pedals have to turn for him to change, and that 3/6 is his highest gear. His only problem is that he's spinning out downhill, and perhaps hadn't realised that he can turn the pedals enough to change hear without actually putting enough pressure on to drive the wheel....

I mean, your post is a great intro to gears, but most of it is superfluous....

Personally, I wouldn't be too bothered about getting more speed if I was freewheeling at 25mph, that quite fast enough for me on two wheels! On three however, I'm egging it on (but spinning out) at 40 given a smooth surface and enough gravity....

 

[jay clock]

sorry I was in a bit of a rush.

 

[biggs682]

as time passes we all find we either need more or less gears this also happens as the weather changes .

on my daily commute i am more than happy on a single speed bike with a 15 rear and 48 front gear set , never worked out if that is good or bad it just feels right for me

 

[HappyToNotFallOff]

Ok, so I flipped the bike upside down an had my wife move the cranks whilst I was selecting the gears. The rear gears definitely have issues. Most of the time when switching from 1-2 or 2-3, it can't transition properly and slips to the next cog, so when I move it to 5 on the shifter, it is actually on 6. Moving to 6 then does nothing (presumable because it's limited). I'll have to try and follow some of the suggested guides to fix it or take it back to "cough" Halfords as it's only 2 days old! Does this sound like an Indexing problem or a high/low problem?

I think half the problem with the hills is the gears not engaging properly. I'm glad to know that I *should* be able to peddle on the downhill because I want to try for a steadyish cadence. At the moment I'm freewheeling down about a 1/3rd of my route which isn't brilliant for cardio (although it does give my poor quads a rest)!

When I had the bike upside down, the front 1-2-3 transitions seemed to work nicely, but I am struggling to make the transition to 1 for very steep hills. The chain won't shift over from the middle cog. I've tried holding it firm for a few seconds and tried to push past 1 on the switcher but no joy.

Anyway, all a learning experience!

Thanks again for the helpful advice.

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

Um, did you read the OP? ... etc.

You're right about the OP, but it is surprising how many people are totally confused.

I did the Manchester-Blackpool recently (62 miles) with some other people, one of whom was a relative newbie on a gorgeous Bianchi that he borrowed from his brother-in-law. (Must be a damn close family!) We stopped at Wharton, about 8 miles from the end, to gather everyone in the group so that we could finish together and he mentioned to me that he didn't really understand the gears. "Is it the right hand to go up and the left hand to go down", he said. I did have a certain admiration for his tenacity in cycling 54 miles without any understanding of the gears at all!

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

It may also be worth mentioning that 90rpm is quite a normal rate for pedalling, and even 120rpm (4 strokes per second, two on each foot) is not exceptional, particularly down-hill. My cadence (pedalling speed) is much faster now than it was when I started.

 

[abo]

I'll have to try and follow some of the suggested guides to fix it or take it back to "cough" Halfords as it's only 2 days old! Does this sound like an Indexing problem or a high/low problem?

Have a look at this video, it is a bit American . Yet another guide for you to look at lol but this one helped me.

[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j1gSwhsVN8[/media]


Seeing as it is only two days old I'd personally take it back to Halfords and get them to sort it out, rather than you faff about and get frustrated. That way, at least you are off and riding your bike. Unless all their bike mechanics are crap but that's for another post lol.

Eitherways IMHO you'd be wise to learn how to make the adjustments yourself at some point as I had a similar gear/shifter setup as you on a couple of Apollo bikes and they were a pig; hard to get them spot on, and they went out fo whack pretty quickly.

 

[Matthames]

Ok, so I flipped the bike upside down an had my wife move the cranks whilst I was selecting the gears. The rear gears definitely have issues. Most of the time when switching from 1-2 or 2-3, it can't transition properly and slips to the next cog, so when I move it to 5 on the shifter, it is actually on 6. Moving to 6 then does nothing (presumable because it's limited). I'll have to try and follow some of the suggested guides to fix it or take it back to "cough" Halfords as it's only 2 days old! Does this sound like an Indexing problem or a high/low problem?

I think half the problem with the hills is the gears not engaging properly. I'm glad to know that I *should* be able to peddle on the downhill because I want to try for a steadyish cadence. At the moment I'm freewheeling down about a 1/3rd of my route which isn't brilliant for cardio (although it does give my poor quads a rest)!

When I had the bike upside down, the front 1-2-3 transitions seemed to work nicely, but I am struggling to make the transition to 1 for very steep hills. The chain won't shift over from the middle cog. I've tried holding it firm for a few seconds and tried to push past 1 on the switcher but no joy.

Anyway, all a learning experience!

Thanks again for the helpful advice.

Sounds to me like an indexing problem and something that should have been set up by the "mechanics" at Halfords. If it is fairly new I would probably go back to them and ask them to set it right. If you don't want to bother with that hassle then it is a fairly easy job of adjusting the cable tension with the tensioners till the gears index properly.

The problem you have with changing from the middle to the smallest on the hill is that you are probably leaving the change too late and therefore applying too much pressure for the change to work. The trick to changing down to the smallest chain ring is to do it when you feel your cadence start to slow not when you are grinding up a hill. However, if you do find yourself grinding up a hill and want to kick down to the smallest chain ring there is a little trick, you stand up on your pedals and give it a little burst of speed, sit back down whilst still keeping the same cadence and then shift down. What ever you do, do not shift down when standing on the pedals! The consequences of that are usually an interaction between the cross bar and some rather delicate parts.

 

[HappyToNotFallOff]

Update: Thanks for all the advice. I managed to alter the rear derailleur so it works as perfectly as it is likely to. The front derailleur work better after adjustment, but not perfect. In any case, things are a lot smoother now I've tinkered.

 

[calibanzwei]

You get a warm and tingly feeling when doing things for yourself? I know I do

 

[Angelfishsolo]

You get a warm and tingly feeling when doing things for yourself? I know I do

+1

 

[lulubel]

Well done. I'm learning all this stuff too at the moment, and it's a lot of trial and error, isn't it? But you do feel pleased with yourself when you get it right.

 

[Ace Demon]

I guess that my expectation was that I could go downhill and still pedal to keep my cadence up - perhaps that is a false perception and I should just freefall? With that in mind, should I just stick to a medium to low gear on the way down, ready to engage again on the way up?

No. Freewheel down (that's what hills are for) with a high gear engaged. When your speed drops you can start to feed in power (just pedal at a normal speed then you will feel it catch). As your speed drops further gradually change down. Incidentally, if you are in a dip and get it just right, amazing slingshots up the other side can be achieved.

You can still change gear when you have no resistance to pedalling btw. So you might be in a lower gear when you start the descent but you can switch to a higher gear with a few idle turns of the pedals.

 

[calibanzwei]

Incidentally, if you are in a dip and get it just right, amazing slingshots up the other side can be achieved.

+1 Great when that happens