New, but loving it.

[amy]

I've been reading for a few weeks. I figure it is time to say hello. So, I bought my first bike about a month ago with the ultimate goal of commuting to work 16 miles. I work long hours at the hospital and I figured it would provide time for just me (and an opportunity to work off all the junk patients bring and I happily eat).
I got a Novara mountain bike mostly because a road bike's skinny tires terrified me and I loved the disk brakes. I took off the tires and put slicks on. I really was enjoying it and even though I was terrified, I decided to buy clipless pedals last weekend. I got Forte Campus Pedals (per someone's recommendation here) and Cannondale shoes. I played around in an empty parking lot and then rode 10 miles and I DIDN'T FALL! And I really liked it.
Now I'm feeling more confident and worried that I should have just gotten a rode bike. I'm working really hard to keep up with my sister on her road bike (She's new to it). But when I was riding last weekend my husband said it looks like I'm not taking advantage of my gears and that's why I'm slow. He, of course, is an inline skater and couldn't really tell me how to do it better (or at least not in a way that didn't irritate me) So, how the heck do I learn to use my gears better? Any suggestions?

[Di bear]

When pedalling gets too easy, switch to a higher gear. When it gets difficult, switch to a lower gear. That's it in a nutshell.

Reality: a road bike will be faster than a mountain bike minus other factors. The slicks are nice, but there is nothing like a lightweight, aerodynamic bike with skinnies when it comes to speed on the roads. With your mountain bike, you will have more "rolling resistance" than your sister does. If you want to go faster on the road, get a road bike.

As a mountain biker, I would then suggest that you put the knobbies back on the bike and take that puppy out on some trails! Oh, yeah! I like road biking, but the mountain biking helps me work out a lot of stress, but I'm a more aggressive personality.

Enjoy!

[amy]

It's funny, but I never thought I would be looking for speed. While something was calling me to cycling, it was a terrifying proposition. I've kinda been feeling like this will be my comfy commuter and if I really get into it, I'll have another for speed. But maybe I'll just decide this one isn't working.

I actually wanted to mountain bike, but no one was interested in going with me. The funny thing is the only place I've ever done it is the U.P. My grandmother lives in Calumet. You're practically neighbors.

[RolliePollie]

Welcome! This is the best site I've ever found on the internet. Not only a wealth of information, but a great group of supportive & funny women!

Sounds like you may end up with two bikes! But that would be great, right? Then you could do both road and off-road rides. The nice thing about a mountain bike is that you can pretty much ride it anywhere. I started with a road bike and there is definitely a HUGE learning curve. I'm not quite there yet, but after 6 months of riding, I do ok. If you do end up getting a road bike, you'll probably do just great with it since you're already used to riding!

[amy]

Thanks Sara. I needed that. If I had really sucked, I probably would have given up. OK, I love my bike again.

[boy in a kilt]

Forgive me if this sounds insulting, but here's basically how your gears work. The bigger the difference between your front ring and rear cog, the farther each wheel goes for one rotation of the cranks.

I'm a big believer in playing around with things to figure them out. Take your bike out for a ride and experiment with your gears. As you get to know your gears, you'll figure out what they are good for.

[Torrilin]

I read about gearing online. I drive stick, so it sort of made sense. Then I got on the bike and was confused.

So I decided to try doing a ride on one chainring, and only change the back gears. Did another ride on a different chainring. And the third. One chainring was comfy, and gave me many useful gears. One chainring was harder, with less gears I could use, and the last one I could only use a couple gears. The small chainring had the most gears I could use (I was *very* out of shape for cycling when I started). The middle chainring was not as useful, and I couldn't really do much with the big chainring.

Now, I spend most of my time on the middle chainring. I've learned each chainring has a gear combo that's a comfy "medium" gear for me (1/8, 2/5, and 3/3). But most of the time, the bike's an 8 speed. For most stop signs, 2/3 is a good gear. After a stop, I accelerate to 2/5. If I'm feeling especially strong, I may cruise along at 2/6 or 2/7. If a hill is kicking me in the *** a bit, I may drop down to 2/1. I do use the little and big chainrings, but it's not a daily thing for me. They're mostly for hills.

As you build up your mental chart for your bike, it will get easier. You'll also get stronger. The more I practice, the more often I get to zoom past someone on a road bike while I'm carrying a load of groceries *eg*.

[rij73]

Welcome!

I've been where you are exactly. I got a hybrid in April. It was my first bike since childhood. I had to overcome some fears to start going fast on it, but once I did, I was hooked! In July I upgraded to a beautiful road bike. I needed those interim months to learn about cycling, get comfortable on a bike, and figure out exactly what I would want in my dream bike. It was an indispensable part of the process for me.

I sold my hybrid since I really can't justify two bikes. But, if you are commuting, I would imagine that the mountain bike could be perfect for that and you could have a road bike for recreation. I don't commute (work from home, lucky me) and all my errands are within 5 blocks of my apartment, so it just didn't make sense for me.

[Thalia the muse]

Torrilin, thank you for that! I'm a total newb -- I just bought the first bike I've owned since college on Saturday. Needless to say, technology has marched on since the late '80s/early '90s (and I rarely shifted on the POS garage-sale 10-speed I had then anyway, because it always made the chain fall off).

Now shifting is a piece of cake because my new bike has numbered handgrip shifters so I can see what I'm doing, but I've been staying on the 2 ring and just shifting through the middle set of gears. Even little kills totally kick my butt and kill my thigh muscles; it doesn't help that my comfort bike weighs a zillion pounds. I think you've inspired me to experment more seriously with the 1 ring for a while.

I have a stupid question, though -- When I'm in 2/1 and I shift to 1, won't I end up in 1/1 and have the peddles spinning frantically because there's no resistance? That's why I haven't used the left shift yet ... Are you supposed to simultaneously take the other cog up to 6 or 7? Or do one first and then the other? Or what???

[Torrilin]

Answer: it depends. Your bike may not have the same gearing mine does. Your *body* may not have the same function (or lack) that mine does . I do try to avoid going straight from 2/1 to 1/1 on my bike, because it just doesn't work well.

I keep doing hard things (like hill climbs) where I'm not quite sure what the right gearing solution is. So each attempt, I try a new technique, or I try for better execution of something that sort of worked the last time. Some of the improvement I see in my hill climbing ability is just plain old physical strength. Another big chunk is I make better use of my gears. If I end up having to walk, it's ok. I won't learn anything if I don't try.

On my nemesis hill (a piddly 5% grade *sigh*), I've tried all kinds of techniques. Since I have a short downhill right before I go up, what seems to work best is to upshift on the 2nd chainring for the downhill, maintain speed on the little bit of flat, and drop into the 1st chainring as pedaling gets hard. So I might go from 2/5 to 2/6 on the downhill, drop into 1/6 as I *just* start to stomp on the pedals. That leaves me with 6 gears worth of downshifting for the hill... still not enough but I keep doing better. On my first try, I barely got past the first of 3 cross streets on the actual hill. On my most recent try, I got up to the second cross street, and stopped the bike a little early because the curb was a safer dismount.

Each hill is different. Sometimes I can upshift while going up a hill, because the grade is so shallow. Other days, the same hill is a depressing downshift party.

[Crankin]

If you are approaching a hill (before the hill or just as it starts), shift the cogs to a higher gear and then shift down to the granny gear. Then you won't feel like your pedals are spinning. It also helps you feel like you have more gears to shift down to on the cogs as the hill gets steeper. Do not wait to do any of this until you are going up the hill or you will drop your chain... or not be able to shift at all.

[amy]

Thanks so much to everyone. This really helps. I spend my time in a limited amount of gears, but perhaps that is just where I am physically at this point. I will keep playing... and keep riding.

[Jo-n-NY]

I began years ago riding a hybrid which I rode for many years and wouldn't even thing of riding a road bike, for reasons like you said the skinny tires. Five years ago or (6 hmmmm) I had trouble keeping up with my husband so he got me a Specialized Sirrus, skinnier tires, but not as thin as a road bike and straight handle bars. I was very happy with that for a while, but with my confidence level increasing and everyone I rode with had a road bike, I finally took the plunge and dh got me a roadbike. I did in babysteps, but for me it was the right way and I absolutely love to ride and like most everyone else here, live to ride.

~ JoAnn

[tjf9]

I have a stupid question, though -- When I'm in 2/1 and I shift to 1, won't I end up in 1/1 and have the peddles spinning frantically because there's no resistance?

Well, technically yes... The thing to remember about bike gears (that I also didn't get until I'd been riding a while) is that it is not a linear progression. It does not go 1/1, 1/2...1/9, 1/10, 2/1, 2/2...etc. It goes more like 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 2/1, 1/4, 2/2, 1/5, 2/3, 3/1, 1/6... (or something like that, I just made that up), so if you were in 2/1, you would actually want to shift to 1/3 to go down one gear. 1/4 would actually be harder than 2/1.

Are you supposed to simultaneously take the other cog up to 6 or 7? Or do one first and then the other? Or what???

Do not shift them both at the same time, or your chain my come off (also speaking from experience ). I usually shift the big one first and then the small one, but I don't really know what I'm doing, so that may be wrong.

Enjoy the commute!