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Hopefully this is the right forum to post on :confused:
For starters I have a 7 speed Trek 7100 WSD.
When going up hill, am I supposed to shift down a gear on the front break (left side gear) It has 3 speeds on the left side. I had a heck of a time today going uphill, and it seemed if I shifted up to 1 .. maybe it's just because I am not used to steep hills and just don't have the momentum.
The left side shifter controls the front 3 chainring gears (where your feet are, on the right side- those three large cogs.) The smallest cog is the easiest of the three. You might want to get familiar with the direction the shift goes when you move the lever on the left handlebar shifter. That way you won't get confused as to which way you need to shift to get an easier gear up front. And you can always glance down to the right to see what gear it is in.
In back, it's just the opposite. The biggest gear is the easiest.
Another way to think about is: the gear closest to the bike is easiest. In front, it's the small chain ring. In back, it's the largest cog.
The gearing on my (road) bike is different, so I'm not sure if this translates to your bike, but for most hills I stay in the middle chain ring in front and shift to easier larger cogs in back. After shifting to the largest cog, if the hill is steep I will shift down to the small chain ring in front. At the top of the hill, I shift back up to the middle chain ring, and then shift to smaller cogs in back as needed for the terrain.
Practice shifting while riding someplace flat and with no traffic, so you can get used to shifting between easier and harder gears and you can safely look down to see which way the chain moved after you shift.