Changing Gears?

After a lot of pondering the options and getting advice here, I bought a Trek Navigator with 21 speeds. I am enjoying the bike. Despite being really out of shape, I find it quite easy to ride my new bike and it is very comfortable for me.





After getting used to some flat streets, I am trying out the trails in the park. They have some short distance grades and and a few changes in surface. The bike seems to handle this well, but I seem to be having trouble changing gears. Each time I change, especially when I drop to a lower gear, I feel as thought I have lost a little bit of control over the bike. I have one gear mainly in 2nd until I get used to changing the other gear. However, for a couple of hills I feel I need to switch the left gear down to 1. This is where I really wobble. I also seem to change half the time with a clanging and banging of the gears. I am fairly certain this is due to my inexperience. I need some advice on changing gears more effectively.|||You should keep pedaling but only with light pressure while changing gears. The other trick is to keep your cadence up. Candence is the number of pedal revolutions per minute. If you're pedaling really slow, your putting alot of force into the the bike to keep moving. Then when you shift, it hits the drive train hard, and can make you unstable. Learn to pedal at a higher cadence with less force in an easier gear. It's better for the bike and better for your cardiovascular system. When you shift to an easier gear then, the transition is much smoother.





Also, you should be using the rear cogs more than the front. The difference in gear ratios is part of your problem, I suspect. Unless the hill is rather stepp, shift on the the larger cogs in the back one at a time. This will be a much smoother transition to the easier ratio. Once you get used to this, making the big jumps using the front gears won't be as much of a problem.





In short, your problem is experience. Keep riding, it'll come to you.|||Well, it sounds like you are trying to change these gears while going up the hill. The skip that is being performed by the gearing switch can make one feel unstable, if you have pressure on the crank when it happens. It will also make the mashing sound that you describe. Even the pros do not like to change gears too often on uphill climbs. In severe hills where you are out of your saddle and cranking up it is very dangerous to change the gears, you can loos your chain or jam it and being locked into the pedals you fall hard!!!


Try to set it in the correct gear before you get to the hill and when changing gears take it easy and let the operation happen. If the bike is in optimum condition, it should be a smooth clicking transition.


GL, cheers|||it might be that the whole system is of low quality, change your sprocket and your shifter to shimano XT, they are great.|||Key to smooth gear-changing: Don't pedal hard when switching gears.





Pedaling hard causes the teeth of the gear to "bite" into the chain and not let go. That means the chain would tend to want to stay on that gear, and the derailleurs would have to fight extra hard to derail the chain to get it onto another gear. This fight causes the skips, bangs, and loss of control you experienced.





You need to practice coordinated shifting-- Let up on your pedal pressure as you switch gears, then start pedaling with effort again once you hear/feel the gears have successfully shifted. This can be pretty hard to do in the middle of a hill climb, which is why you should shift to a lower gear early on in the climb. It takes practice to find the best time to shift so you don't lose too much power while coasting up the hill during the shift.





Also, each chainring (the front gears, controlled by your left shifters) has an optimum group of sprockets (the back gears, controlled by the right shifters) to keep the chain as straight as possible:





- When using the 1 chainring, you should use the 1-3 sprockets. This is the best low-gear combinations (for more power, while accelerating from a dead stop or climbing up steep hills).





- When using the 2 chainring, you should use the 3-5 sprockets. This is the best mid-gear combinations (cruising).





- When using the 3 chainring, you should use the 5-7 sprockets. (all-out speed on flat terrain).





Practice, practice, practice! And good luck.|||Don't shift while pedalling hard and climbing a hill. Shift to a lower gear before you start struggling to pedal.





Try practicing your shifting in relatively level trails first to get the hang of it.





Generally you use the 3rd gear upfront during downhill %26amp; cruising conditions. The 2nd gear is used during flats and low inclines and the 1st gear (granny) is usally used during climbs.





Just continue riding your bike and eventually you'll be shfting gears smoothly.