New and need a little guidance

[Diana]

Hi I am new here and am glad I found this site!
I just received a new 21 speed Giant Sedona.
I baisicly know how to ride a bike. But I want to get out on the road and in the trails. I know I have to work at it and get in shape.I am 40 and have not been on a bike since pree-teens. I was supprised that I remembered.
My main problem is I do not know what gears I need to be in to go up hill, strait road and down. I have been shifting but cant just seem to get it right. Any help will be greatly appreciated. I am so inspired but everyone on this site. I cant wait to be at the level everyone else is at.












PF1=INQ SCREEN PF3/CLEAR=END PF7=PREV PF8=NEXT

[DeniseGoldberg]

Hi Diana -
Welcome to the forum!

There's an article by Sheldon Brown about shifting that you might find useful. You can find it at http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears.html. In general you want to be in a gear that will allow you to maintain your cadence regardless of the terrain. So you want to use lower (easier) gears on the uphills, and higher (harder) gears on the downhills.

I probably don't need to point this out, but you did say you're pretty much starting from scratch. So just in case you need this info: lower gears = smaller chainring with larger cogs on the rear, and the higher gears = larger chainring with smaller cogs on the rear.

If that doesn't make sense - keep asking!

--- Denise

[Diana]

Thanks Denise for the link and helpful info. I cant wait to get out of work to try it again.

Diana~

[singletrackmind]

practice, practice, practice
It'll become second nature to you, no problem.

Don't forget your helmet!

[CorsairMac]

welcome to the boards Diana!......congrats on the bike!! It'll come easier the more you ride and with time! like Denise said:

in front - the bigger the ring, the harder it is to pedal.
in back - the bigger the ring the easier.

You've got 3 rings up front and 7 in back sounds like yes?.....so you've essentially got at least 3 - maybe 4 rings in the back for each ring up front!.....play around with them - you'll find your most comfortable combo and then work out from there. Just make sure your chain never looks like this \ or this /. That's called cross-gearing and it's really hard on your chain!
Also, it's easier on you and your knees to pedal in a lower gear (higher cadence) then to try and mash your way thru a higher gear.

Have fun and keep us posted!!!

[slinkedog]

Hi Diana and welcome to the board! I hope you have tons of fun with your new toy! I'm 37 and just started biking last year and I don't think we're the exception around here.

One suggestion I have for you is, if you have a trainer (one of those things you hook your rear wheel hub into and you can ride stationary), that's a good way to mess around with your gears without having to worry about traffic and crashing and all that. It helped me a lot to be able to watch the chain moving around, which I can't really do on the road without feeling panicky. It also helped me get used to the clipless pedals a little bit and improve my pedal stroke.

Hang in there and have a blast!

[Grog]

[I'm assuming you're in North America with a bike with a standard setup, I know that in some other countries the shifters are the other way around - left hand for chainring and right hand for cogs... I'm also assuming from Sedona pics I've found on the web that you have a MTB-type derailleur...]

Just a trick that helped a friend of mine who used a 21-speed derailleur for the first time last week. She shifted like a pro after less than an hour:

Start with the chain on the middle chainring (in the front). If you have digits on your shifters, that would be #2 on the left-hand side. Stay like that and try shifting up and then down, one gear at a time, on the right-hand side (cogs, in the back), taking the time to notice the different resistance you feel when you push the pedals and maybe stop to peer at where the chain is seated in the back. You may notice that the 2-1 combination and 2-7 combinations cause a bit of noise. That's because the chain is nearing a diagonal position between the front and back rings, so that means you should avoid using these speeds. (Same goes for 1-7 and 3-1, and probably 1-6 and 3-2 also).

When you feel at ease with these different settings, now try changing the chainring (on the left-hand side), if possible starting from the middle positions (3 or 4) on the right-hand side/cogs. You'll notice a major change in resistance when you shift up or down, so you may want to upshift on the right-hand side just before you downshift on the left-hand side, so the drop in resistance is not too sudden and you don't loose momentum (especially going up on a hill).

You'll soon realize there's overlap between speeds. Speeds in the 2-5, 2-6 range are quite similar to those in the 3-2, 3-3 range, for instance...

And, oh, just to make it more complicated: the index-finger button on the right gets you in higher gear while the thumb downshifts.... and it's the opposite on the left-hand side.

So you'll want to keep your cadence constant at a bit more than one turn per second. So less resistance when you go up, more resistance when you go down. To do that, you'll probably want to be at somewhere in the 2-5 range on flat terrain, in the 1-2 to 1-5 range on tougher hills and at 3-4 or more when going down so you can keep pedalling slowly (especially on long downhills to prevent your legs from cooling down).

All this is a bit technical but I'm sure you'll get used to it in no time. It's good you ask: from what I see on the cycling path going back home every night, many cyclists have no clue how their derailleur works.

Good luck!!!

[Diana]

Wow Thanks for all the great info. I ditched work today and went for a ride this mornong. There was a gravel road were I started. I played with the gears a bit. I even got up some good speed. When I realized this I slowed myself down. (what a chicken...lol) But What a wonderful feeling. Then I got a little daring. I went into one of the trails. I tell ya what. I had a great time but I am such an amature ...
I had to laugh at myself. It was tougher than I thought it would be.
But I got my gear and I am so psyced (sp) and cant wait to try it again.
We are expecting rain tomorrow but am hoping that I can get some time in to practice tomorrow morning.....Whooo hooo what a high !!!!!!!

[CorsairMac]

Welcome to the wonderful world of cycling Diana!

[AutumnBreez]

Glad you made it too!
You will get the hang of it real quick. All hands on experience. We all have different abilities and strengths, but don't push your muscles too hard up those hills... spin...spin...spin , place it on the easiest pedaling and work your way up the gears. Find your sweet spot gear and go with it and ENJOY!

again...welcome to the finest ladies of cycling!

[KSH]

I can't help... but I can sympathize!

I have all these gears and darn if I can't figure out WHY I would want to use one and not the other.

Actually, 2 of my gears get all the action... I don't ever even **** with my left hand.

Maybe it will come to me in time?

[Grog]

... well time is one thing but if you never even touch the left-hand-side shifter, you won't get the practice and experience... Go alone, find somewhere flat where there are no cars, and fool around with them. Then find somewhere with a (very) small hill and keep playing. Just remember that you should always be spinning at about the same speed on the pedals! Obviously, you can't do this with just 2 gears (unless the hill is veerrrrryyy small!).

No lethal explosion can happen from mismanaging your speeds...

It's really worth learning, you'll probably get less tired legs on longer rides and a better cardio in the end, allowing you to spend more time on the bike. Yeah!!