new bike ,and very unhappy

[EBD]

I dropped my chain a few times when I first got the road bike - and not even necessarily on hills! It definitely takes time. It was months before I started using my front chain ring at all - just left it in the middle and only used the rear gears. Learning to use the shifters is a little like learning to drive a stick shift - knowing how the mechanism works is certainly helpful, but you also just have to develop a "feel" for it. I practiced on a paved bike trail for a while before I braved traffic.

[li10up]

Not sure if this will help with your shifting question but something to keep in mind...if you move the chain (front or back) closer to the bike frame (inside) you will move to an easier gear. Shifting the chain away from the frame or to the outside will put you in a harder gear. Yes, there are times when the gearing is close or overlaps that this isn't necessarily true...but generally speaking this is the case most of the time. Hope that helps.

[Bluetree]

I'm a lot tuffer than this ,and I know Ill be fine soon ,but I want to be fine now.

Of course you're tough, girl... heck you've run marathons!
Honestly, I think you're worrying too much right now. You're thinking about hills and gears when right now you should be focused on getting comfortable on your bike. You know the saying, "You gotta learn to walk before you run..."

Like other people said, stay on relatively flat roads and in your middle ring for now. Get a feel for the bike and get used to clipless pedals. You'll fall down at first, get back up and realize it wasn't so bad. In no time, you'll be wondering what the fuss was all about.

In a few weeks or months, when you're ready to tackle the hills and learn about gearing, it will make much more sense because you don't have to worry about other the "stuff." TE will still be here. NOW GO RIDE!!!! {{{ pointing finger at door}}}

[DarcyInOregon]

I think part of Suzie's dismay is because we signed up to do an event ride out of Portland in just a few weeks.

http://www.worstdayride.com/routes.html

Suzie signed up for the hilly 40-mile loop and expects to do it on her new road bike. I was more practical and I signed up for the flat 18-mile ride, because it is winter and I lose body heat despite my clothing layers, and because I want it to be a learning ride for me since I am still relatively new on my current Trek road bike (only 3 months.)

However Suzie is an amazing rider, even though she has been at it less than one year. She is out there in the winter cold, on her heavy hybrid, in the dark, riding 26 hilly miles with temperatures in the 20s and 30s. She burns 1200 to 1500 calories during one ride and thinks nothing of it, whereas if I was burning calories like that I would have to be chomping away during the entire ride to prevent myself from bonking. Suzie is strong and smart and she will revive this thread in the future months to tell you how wonderful her road bike is.

For the event ride in a few weeks, Suzie can always ride her hybrid for the hilly 40-mile loop, or change over and ride the itty bitty 18-mile loop. She does have options if she is not ready to ride her road bike for 40 miles of hills.

I am signing off. The sun is out. The temperature is in the mid-40s. I am taking my road bike out into the valley to do some riding.

Darcy

[mimitabby]

Mimi ,bluetree,I do understand about what your saying about the gears ,but what if I'm climbing a steep hill ,and I need to go into a lower gear in the back. ,should I just kinda lift off the pedal when I shift ,so there isn't pressure. I get confused as to what direction I should shift. I could pretty much leave the left gear in the middle...then I should have full range of the 9 gears in the back. Do I make sense??

I think pre-planning your hills is the way to go. If you think you're going to need to go all the way down into granny gear, stay on your middle ring on the front and get really close to granny in the back BEFORE the hill becomes a 10% grade. Then, when the going gets really tough, drop down into your lower of the 3 front chain rings. From there, going the one or two clicks in the back to get to granny is not going to be as severe or hard to do.
that's what I've been doing, and so far (knock knock) it has worked for me!

[Pedal Wench]

I'll second what someone else said regarding knowing which way to shift. Chain closer to the bike makes it easier to pedal uphill, away from the bike is harder, no matter if your shifting front or rear. Another easy tip is that the bigger lever is for moving to a bigger ring, whether Campy or Shimano. Little shifter (thumb for Campy) shifts to a smaller ring.

[Duck on Wheels]

Practice clipping and unclipping on the flats as much as you can before the ride. Make sure to adjust your pedals so it's as easy as possible to unclip. Remember to unclip at intersections, a nice bit before actually stopping. Then ... don't worry about it. I've had a dog lunge at me, had my chain fall off, had my chain buckle and stop ... so far I've always managed to unclip in time (touch wood). And I'm an old lady who's always been a klutz. Just ask Trek about the many klutz stories the family tells (the time she got stuck with one foot on the boat and one on the pier ... and fell between; the time she knocked somebody off the dock cuz she turned around while holding a mast; the time she stood in line for potatoes with a lambchop on her plate and dangled the plate by its edge so the lamb chop fell off; the time she tossed the salad -- literally, and so on) I have to be the ultimate test of whether one can learn to ride a lightweight bike with clipless pedals, and hey, I took to it like a Duck on Wheels. If I can do it, so can you.

[Cyclo Kitty]

Is there a park with a soft-ish field near you? I practiced the clipless pedals a lot in field before I dared take my cross bike on the road. I love them now but still have stupid days on them. The BSG told me even he still clips out right and leans left sometimes...and he's been riding for a long time.


You do have to ease into it a little slowly; I found that shifting got a lot easier to understand after riding in the trainer. I could actually see and feel the effect of shifting gears at the same time, so if you have access to a trainer, you might try that. (BSG explained it, DH explained it, I've ridden the bike up and down hills but until I could watch and feel it made little sense.)

This is also my first light weight bike, and the responsiveness combined with the weight is still a little scary. That's where the park came in handy again. Lucky for me there's a park with pine forests and a sandy beach and I don't mind cleaning the chain...but sand and pine needles are better to land on. The car-free riding helped a lot as well, so I ride really early when it's not too cold.

Good luck...I thought I'd made the most expensive mistake a couple weeks ago, but keep pedaling and it has to get better!

[oxysback]

I think part of Suzie's dismay is because we signed up to do an event ride out of Portland in just a few weeks.

http://www.worstdayride.com/routes.html

Dang...too bad this ride is on a Sunday or else I'd sign up, too!

What time are you guys riding on Saturday (I'm assuming you'll be going to Champoeg)? Need another rider??

[alpinerabbit]

.... The bike feels so light ,like it could tip over at any time. ..... Did anyone else ever feel this way when going from a hybrid to a road bike ,and will I adjust......Will I ever learn to ride it. I feel wobbly on it. ...

Me!

Read some of my very first posts! I had no problem with the clipless pedals, had tested them before but aaaah the fear.

Perhaps it is because we share first names??

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Suzie, first things first.
Go with Darcy to the park area where it's FLAT this weekend! You are very lucky to have a supporting friend to go with you and keep you company, also to be there if you get hurt somehow.
Practice for a couple of hours on flat or slightly rolling- no steep hills yet! Leave your front gear in the middle ring for a while and practice changing back and forth on the rear gears, but avoid the 1 or 2 extreme ones on either end. (If it starts making chain noise, avoid that one). When you get the hang of that, try the opposite: leave your back gear in the middle section, and practice only changing back and forth amongst the 3 front rings.

Get comfortable with riding and turning and practice clipping in and out. Try only having one foot clipped. Then switch to the other for a while. Practice stopping so that the bike will lean to the side you WANT when it's stopping. Don't expect to get smooth on all these things in only a day or two! I remember riding in the school parking lots for DAYS, just flat, doing figure eights and turns, starting and stopping. I liked the parking lots because they had yellow lines that I sometimes used like slolom markers for zig-zag practice. Don't practice in dangerous traffic until you are feeling a bit more steady. Wobbly is not abnormal when going from a hyrid to a road bike.
You'll be fine, just go slow and enjoy the learning process- don't always only think of the destination, remember to enjoy the journey!

[liberty]

I can sympathize completely to the hybrid to road bike thing. Learning the gears was totally different, and I was never sure if I was shifting to a harder or easier gear. (I'm sure there are proper terms for "harder or easier", but I will hide behind my novice status) Finally I named the gear shifters. Looking down onto the handle bars as if you were seated on the saddle, think of the shape as a U. Starting from the top left side of the U, the first gear mechanism is "hard", the second is "easy", then moving to the right side of the bike, the bottom shifter is "hard" and the top shifter is "easy". So if I've been off the bike for any length of time (which I have over the holidays) it doesn't take too long to get reaccustomed to road bike shifting again. I just repeat to myself "hard, easy, hard, easy", and it helps me remember. I have to look down at the chain to see what gear I am in and how many I can move up or down. If your hills are massive, you can always keep the front in the easy gear, and just play with the back... I tried to ride my hybrid when I was recovering from the dog wreck, and boy did I miss the road bike! So while there is a learning curve, I don't think you will regret getting your new bike. Have fun.

[li10up]

For learning to clip in and out you can try this. Wear your bike shoe on the foot that you usually want to clip out of and put on the ground when you come to a stop. On the other foot wear a street shoe...one with a firm sole will work better than a soft running shoe. That way you don't have to worry about your one foot accidentally cliping in. This way you will always have a free foot to try to bail out on. Then just ride along and clip in and out...you don't even have to come to a stop. Just unclip, clip in, repeat. Once you have that foot down, switch out your shoes to the other foot. You'll have it down in no time. Good luck, and remember...almost everyone falls at least once. Think of it as a rite of passage.

[ace]

Another helpful tip in transitioning to clipless-

When I was learning how to clip in and out a few months ago, I had a friend (who was just lounging around watching me ride up and down the street) periodically shout "stop!" at me, and immediately had to stop. That way I felt like I was getting some good practice in at having to unclip without warning. It made me feel a lot more sure of myself.

Good luck to you- I'll be making the transition from a hybrid to a road bike myself soon, and I'll be following your progress with interest!

[mimitabby]

For learning to clip in and out you can try this. Wear your bike shoe on the foot that you usually want to clip out of and put on the ground when you come to a stop. On the other foot wear a street shoe...one with a firm sole will work better than a soft running shoe. That way you don't have to worry about your one foot accidentally cliping in. This way you will always have a free foot to try to bail out on. Then just ride along and clip in and out...you don't even have to come to a stop. Just unclip, clip in, repeat. Once you have that foot down, switch out your shoes to the other foot. You'll have it down in no time. Good luck, and remember...almost everyone falls at least once. Think of it as a rite of passage.

Great advice, Li10up, it sounds like what my next step will be!