Gear changes - expectations too high.....?

[Stevie135]

Hi All

New to the forum - and new to commuting (at least some of the time) on my brand new Boardman Hybrid Comp. I've used this a few times and found it to be a great bike, light and quick but also feels robust.

However, when I change gear sometimes there are small delays before the change is made, also the changes can clunk a bit. I'm only changing one gear at a time - not trying to be greedy popping through several quickly etc and I would have thought the changes would be smoother. I took it back to Halfords and they were keen to help, made a minor adjustment as I wasn't hitting the smallest rear cog all the time. They thought the changes were smooth - I tried to explain that with my weight on the back and applying pressure etc was a very different test than simply running through the gears with no resistance/loading.

Please can someone advise me - are my expectations too high here? As the gears do work is this an indication that all is fine, or should I be taking it back to a different store and trying to find a more experienced fitter?

Many thanks for any help

 

[cyberknight]

You should if possible not be putting full pressure on the pedals when changing gear anyway
http://bikeumd.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/gear-shifting-101/
You are putting extra strian on the chain and cassette causing faster wear and slower shifting if your pedaling away at the same pace you ride at normally .

 

[Stevie135]

Thanks for the pointer. I had been doing this probably too often! That said I have still been getting the clunk and the delay during "normal" pedalling.

Cheers

 

[MrJamie]

If the indexing is slightly off it could be changing either up or down a bit slower i guess, im always tweaking mine to get the balance perfect.

The other thing is your cadence during changes seems really important IME, ie. how fast youre pedalling, presumably because of how fast the chain is moving, if youre pedalling fast changes seem to be smoother switching from one sprocket to the next. The typical example being when youve stayed in a gear way too long before changing round and it takes a lot of pedal travel before youve wrapped the chain around the next sprocket. Sorry if thats patronising but from time to time i get lazy and my gear changes are a bit slack

 

[cyberknight]

If the indexing is slightly off it could be changing either up or down a bit slower i guess, im always tweaking mine to get the balance perfect.

beat me to it, last post was done quick as mini me wanted to play .
Really hard to pinpoint any problems without seeing it in person.

have a look at ...
http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailler-adjustments-derailleur

 

[Stevie135]

Not patronising at all - I'm really new to this. And please can someone explain cadence?? Sorry....

 

[cyberknight]

Not patronising at all - I'm really new to this. And please can someone explain cadence?? Sorry....

Its the speed you pedal at , the generally accepted good avergae is around 90 rpm , if you are pushing a fast gear hard at a slow leg rpm your putting pressure on the drive train which can cause the shifting issues.Another benefit of a faster leg speed is that you spin an easier gear for the same speed which puts less strain on the legs .
The easiest way to explain it is to push a fast gear slowly and you can feel your legs hurting to do it , drop a gear and you pedal faster for the same speed and your legs hurt less .Its hard to believe untill you get a speedo and test it with or without a rpm (cadence ) sensor .
When changing gear you can keep the cadence but not push down so hard on the pedals during shifting.

 

[MrJamie]

Not patronising at all - I'm really new to this. And please can someone explain cadence?? Sorry....

Its just how fast you pedal in RPM, like how fast the cranks/pedals are going round You can get bike computers that tell you how many revolutions per minute youre pedalling at, but I just meant in general if youre pushing a bigger gear slowly or waiting until you virtually cant push the gear anymore before you change to a lighter one it makes the change slow and clunky.

Im also quite a newbie, i just geek out on here too much

Edit: Damnit CK beat me this time

 

[TheJDog]

Maybe I'm old school, but changing gear with anything like normal pressure on the pedals is something I would never do. The fancy cog designs aren't magic. You've still got a chain being shifted between two cogs. Full pressure is only just possible on those electric front shifters, isn't it..

 

[Stevie135]

Many thanks for the replies.

I guess then that as I get more experienced I'll get used to planning ahead a little for gear changes to tackle hills etc so I don't have to keep the pressure on! I'll get out there today and see what difference it makes......

 

[Stevie135]

Thanks to all who responded. From the advice I've modified the way I pedal and it has made an improvement, however it is still not where I'd expect it to be - my cheap mountain bike (£80 new) changes better than this..... I've looked at the great link that cycberknight posted - this has really helped answer some of my questions and I've been able to identify that the gears aren't set up as they should be so I'm back to the shop to have them look again!

Thanks again

 

[martint235]

Gears are reasonably easy to fettle yourself. Have a look on youtube and you'll see a few videos on how to do it. I'm pretty much cackhanded but manage to do this. Plus not matter how cackhanded you are, you're probably not as bad as a Halfords mechanic.

 

[Norm]

Maybe I'm old school, but changing gear with anything like normal pressure on the pedals is something I would never do. The fancy cog designs aren't magic. You've still got a chain being shifted between two cogs.

Indeed. One of the first things that I did when the kids got bikes with derailleurs was to show them how the gear change mech worked. Once they had seen the ramps and the twists and the way the chain moved between cogs, they quickly understood why you need to (IMO) relax the pressure considerably when changing gear.

 

[fossyant]

Gears are easy to sort yourself. If you get stuck come here and ask. I know I talked one member through it step by step on a thread here some years back.

If the change isn't as good as your old bike, then it could be the cables are sticky, or indexing not spot on.

I've got 20 year old STI's on my MTB and they still shift sweet. I was initially worried years ago, they were so new, one set busted within a couple of months on a ride where we tackled snowdon. Finished the ride with a cheap thumb shifter until I got home. worked fine since.

Any gear sluggishness I put down to sticky cables these days, change them, it's usually sweet. Can also be indexing out. It will overshift one way, but not the other.

Worth persisting with the shop though. They can clunk down, and some is riding style. Good cadence, some mechanical sympathy and it all shifts perfect. Slow pedalling won't get a fast shift.

 

[RhythMick]

I'm a newbie myself, well 12 months in now (and a lot fitter).

I'd strongly recommend watching YouTube videos, searching for "index bicycle gears" or similar. YT is full of excellent and helpful tutorials which make it easy and clear. Ok there's some rubbish too, but it's pretty obvious which is which I think.

Learn it, demystify it for yourself. I found it really easy and am much more confident tweaking. Cables stretch over time and you may need to adjust regularly - you don't want to have to go back to HALFORDS for it.

Here's an example.

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkzvfCaIbyQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player