Hills and gear shifting problems

Hi all! I just got my road bike about a month ago now, and I'm loving it! I'm doing great on rides that are flat or with small rolling hills (I'm in N. Texas, and that's mostly what we have here!). However, I'm noticing a problem with larger hills and my shifting. I'm not sure if it's user error or if I should bring the bike in for adjustment. Thought I'd ask you all and get your opinions before I load it up and take it to the lbs again.

My high gears work great, and when approaching a hill, I'm fine. But when I start the hill and try to go to a lower gear, my gears pop out. All you hear is this horrible clanking and popping and it's just a mess. Of course, I can't get up the hill because my bike won't stay in gear. It's very frustrating!

I have a Specialized Dolce. This seems to happen whether I'm downshifting on the left or right, but I typically tend to start with the right. Am I doing this wrong? No one really taught me the best way to do it...

Does this sound like user error - am I shifting incorrectly? Or do you think I need something adjusted on the bike?

Thank you so much!

I understand her post thusly: that the adjustment is off. The bike is a month old. Mine shifted horribly after a month. The cables stretch - go in for an adjustment.

Thank you both. I'm thinking it might be a combination of both! It sounds like the way I'm shifting is trying to drop the chain, but the one hill I'm having this problem is tiny, and I can't imagine it would be that easy to drop the chain.

So I'll take it in, and work on my shifting abilities. I'm still pretty clueless about using my gears appropriately, but I'm reading a lot of posts and learning a lot!

Thanks!!

Here's what I do when I ride rolling hills around there:

I'm in my big ring most of the time, some folks might not like that, but I've found it good.

So I'm in my big ring and I'm toodling along and a downhill comes with an uphill afterwards, because it's always like that. I shift to a harder gear and DO NOT COAST on the downhill. I WORK on the down hill--big gear, pedaling powerfully. That makes the uphill, see, easier. You maintain that power, shifting 3-4 gears down (one at a time) as you need to to go up, and then, if you need still easier gearing, shift into the middle chainring (assuming you have a triple, if not, the small chainring).

The trick is to not coast on the down hills, but to make them work for you.

The other trick is to not run through all your cogs in the big chainring before shifting to the middle/small chainring.

This has really made my rides alot more enjoyable and consistent.

My first thought was what Tulip suggested... have you shifted into the middle of your rear cogs before shifting your front? The idea being that when you change between the two or three rings at the front, you should have the chain in a fairly straight line (that is, if you looked down between your legs to the chain, it would appear to be pretty much parallel to the bike frame itself).

My second thought was are you trying to change gears once the hill gets steeper or as the gradient eases. You can drop your chain when you try to change up or down as you climb.

My third thought was what several others here have already suggested too - cables might need tightening - get them checked sometime soon.

I did have a fourth (and final) thought... but its gone - if I remember I'll pop back into the thread. Obviously I am having too many thoughts this early on a Monday morning!

Is it "autoshifting" (or "ghost shifting" by you're "won't stay in gear" comment) or does it just shift very poorly when you mean to shift? You don't necessarily have to shift rings first. It all depends on what rear cog you're in when you approach the hill. You may need to shift the rear to get to a part of the cassette that will make shifting the rings easier. Then, shift the rear again until you get to the gear you want. Always shift BEFORE it gets really difficult to pedal, because you will have cleaner shifts when you're not putting a ton of force on the pedals. You can even think about soft-pedaling for a revolution as you shift to ease up on the chain slightly.

Thank you all for your replies. I'm going to take your suggestions, and hopefully the next time I try a hill, it will go more smoothly. I think it's MOSTLY user error, although I will also have the shop make sure my chain is tight enough. I think I was trying to shift at the wrong time with my chain in the wrong place. I had never even heard of dropping a chain until now - that's how much a newbie I am!

This is very helpful to me. Thank you!!

The chain is probably fine. The derailleur cables stretch. Many LBS do a 30-day or 60-day adjustment for free on bikes that they sell, so you should ask if yours does.

I have a Dolce as well and had problems when I first got the bike too. It kept dropping the chain, refusing to go into gear etc. The LBS thought I was off my rocker until I insisted they take it for a spin. They were finally able to adjust it and now it shifts with ease when going up or down hill. It really should shift like butter, even if you are new to road biking. At least, that is what I learned after my own frustrating first months of owning my bike.