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Original poster

Cyclists, your help please. I can't seem to work the gears very well.

14 replies

spidermama · 07/04/2006 20:24

I've had my new bike for a week now and have cycled to and from work every day. But I know I'm doing something badly wrong with the gears. This is the first time I've had gears so feel free to talk to me like I'm an idiot.

My bike is supposed to have 18 gears. On the left handle it's 1-3, then on the right it's 1-6. My journey comprises uphill, downhill and flat. When I try to change the gears the tension immediately goes slack and it's as if the chain is broken. It seems to sort itself out again.

Also, it doesn't seem to want to go into the high gears.

The bike is new and the gears are Shimano so I think it's most likely to be operator error. Blush

I've been trying all sorts of different gear combinations every day and I'm getting frustrated now. I end up pushing it up even the mildest hills. Any ideas?

OP posts:
busybusybee · 07/04/2006 20:29

Hi Spidermama

Ill try! I dont know any technical terms though!

Think of it like this. You have 18 gears, 6 for each of the 1, 2, and 3 on the left handle.

Does that make sense?!?!?!?

You can have in on left handle 1 and click through 1,2,3,4,5,6 and left handle 2 through 1,2,3,4,5,6 and so on

If you are going up a hill you need it on left handle 1. If you are going downhill left handle 3

Does that help!!!

busybusybee · 07/04/2006 20:31

As for the tension going immdediately - I remember that always happening when changing gears. I remember changing gear, free wheeling for a few seconds to allow the chain to move to the other cog and then peddling again - when as you say it would all sort itself out again

Original poster
spidermama · 07/04/2006 21:21

Thanks busyBB. I'll try that approach more systematically. Perhaps the peddling thing is normal then.

Is it supposed to clunk quite so much when I'm changing gears? Why do the gears seem so reluctant to go into number 3 and 6?

My last bike had no gears and was about 20 years ago.

OP posts:
JanH · 07/04/2006 21:25

Modern gears put me off bikes altogether - who needs 18, really? Surely 1 each of high, medium and low is enough for most people (and a lot simpler)?

Was in France 2 weeks ago and they have lovely old-fashioned sit-up-and-beg-bikes. I want one!

busybusybee · 07/04/2006 21:29

I remember a lot of clunking tbh!

Maybe the gear cogs need oiling or something - not my area of expertise!

I definitely think having loads of gears is great though. I would love another bike and would definitely go for one with 18 gears.

I hope you work it out tomorrow spidermama

Original poster
spidermama · 07/04/2006 21:31

Thanks. Will persevere and let you know. I might send a proper cyclist on a test run just to check it really is operator error and not the machine itself.

OP posts:
Catilla · 07/04/2006 21:32

If it doesn't want to go into some of the gears then it may not be setup correctly. the numbered levers make it look like it'll work perfectly first time, but actually the mechanism still needs to be aligned (the gears are all about getting the chain to run on different sized cogs - changed by gently nudging it to jump across between them). If you don't have a mechanically-minded friend nearby I'd pop into the shop you got it from (or any bike shop) and get them to adjust it.

The tension will drop off just as you change - and you shouldn't be pedalling hard while you change - but you do need to keep the chain moving or it can't move to the next cog.

At the opposite extreme from where you can't get to the gears - it is possible the chain could come off the cogs completely and get jammed, so be careful. I'd suggest staying on #2 on the left handle and using the variation within the right handle until you get it checked.

Good luck!

JanH · 07/04/2006 21:34

So do you need to keep pedalling, stop pedalling, or pedal backwards, when you want to change with Shimanos?

MrsSpoon · 07/04/2006 21:39

Clunking pretty normal, they gears maybe need a bit of adjustment as Catilla advises.

JanH, I keep pedalling but don't try anything like standing up on the pedals whilst changing gears. When you are pedalling you can usually feel the chain beginning to catch on the correct cog IYKWIM.

MrsSpoon · 07/04/2006 21:41

I should have said the gears may need a bit of adjustment if you can't get certain ones, although I think there are still a couple of gears that I can't get on my bike despite having had it about five years and DH rattling on about adjusting them umpteen times (perhaps that all he ever did, rattled on, perhaps they have never been adjusted, must ask him).

Well done on cycling to and from work!

Original poster
spidermama · 07/04/2006 22:32

Thanks all. Catilla I think I will get the shop to check.

Thanks for the encouraging words mrsSpoon. Apart from the gear troubles, I'm loving cycling to work.

OP posts:
Chapsmum · 07/04/2006 22:35

the reason that you can have problems with clunking sometimes is inappropirate gear selection.
The aim is to keep you chain from being stretched, so you do not want to be in the big ring at the front ant the small at the back IYSWIM. If you dont just say and I will try and expain better

Original poster
spidermama · 07/04/2006 23:19

I know theoretically that you want to have the chain lined up and not diagonal. I can't quite get this working practically though.

Does it take other people this long to work it out? I would have thought I'd be there by now after a week of experimenting.

OP posts:
Chapsmum · 07/04/2006 23:25

nope it took me the best part of a month to get really good, though my spt is mountainbiking

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