Cross-chaining! Help!

[bikerz]

Thanks for all the tips, everyone.

Well I spent an hour fussing with the FD this morning - I adjusted the cable twisty thingy and the limit screws, with my trusty bike maintenance book open in front of me. I eventually got it to that I could shift smoothly up and down through all the gears without rubbing on the cage except just occassionally. So I was very proud of myself for not making it worse!

Then tonight I headed out for my local short hill loop. It was aggravating! It seems like the FD shifting was very sluggish - most of the time the chain wouldn't drop from the big to the middle chainring at all - I'd have to shift twice, and then eventually, bam, I was in the small chain ring - it skipped the middle one all together. Not what I had in mind, and by then I had lost a lot of momentum. Grrr.

I didn't cross chain at all (although there's not much opportunity on this ride, because it is just up, up up, then down, down down).

So I guess it's time to go to the LBS. I've been in for this kind of problem many times, and on the stand, it shifts great, just like it did for me today when I was done fussing, but then out on the road, under load, it's a whole different story. Each time the LBS owner, who I really like, has convinced me that I just need to learn to be a better shifter, perhaps maybe I am shifting too fast, or not letting it "engage" fully. And it has seemed like that must be the case because it shifts so smoothly on the stand. Hopefully I'l have a chance to take it in tomorrow...

Thanks everyone.