Changing gears while going uphill

mel.b

I had to take my bike into the shop today as it appears I broke 4 spokes yesterday doing the Sean Kelly 50km (as an aside, is that normal - I've only done 1000km on the bike, but maybe it is because of my weight)

Anyway, I mentioned that I still have difficulty changing into '1' on the left hand side, especially while going uphill, but also on the flat. At first he was trying to tell me that I shouldn't be changing gears as I go uphill and should have changed in advance in preparation for going up. i can't see how that works as I don't know what gear I will need, plus it will screw up my pedalling (my cadence?). What I do is work down through my gears as I climb up, and as I'm not very good at hills I do use my granny gears. Is this what you are meant to do or should I be changing earlier? He eventually adjusted the derailluer (I think that's what it was) after taking it for a quick spin and realising that there actually was a problem.

Thanks,
Mel.b

Lumen

It is normal to ease off a bit whilst changing gear, but otherwise changing gear while going uphill is not a problem if the gears are properly adjusted, just have a bit of mechanical sympathy.

Broken spokes are usually caused by spokes that go slack and then suffer from fatigue. This is most often caused by a badly built or maintained wheel.

mel.b

Lumen wrote: »

It is normal to ease off a bit whilst changing gear, but otherwise changing gear while going uphill is not a problem if the gears are properly adjusted, just have a bit of mechanical sympathy.

Broken spokes are usually caused by spokes that go slack and then suffer from fatigue. This is most often caused by a badly built or maintained wheel.

By ease off, do you mean slow down while changing? Sometimes I couldn't get much slower!

My bike is only about 4months old so I don't think it would be badly maintained wheels...actually what maintence do I need to do with them The bike was is only a cheap hybrid so I'd more likely say badly built wheels?

studiorat

Not push as hard for a revolution or two. Eases tension on the chain etc and makes the shift a little smoother.

cdaly_

Hopefully when they replaced the spokes they trued up the wheel and that may be enough to make it cope better. If it keeps breaking spokes it might be worth asking for a replacement wheel on warranty.

mel.b

cdaly_ wrote: »

Hopefully when they replaced the spokes they trued up the wheel and that may be enough to make it cope better. If it keeps breaking spokes it might be worth asking for a replacement wheel on warranty.

He didn't mention anything about that. Will see how it goes from now on and will keep it in mind if they keep breaking.

Holyboy

My rule of thumb is if more than three spokes are broken the wheel should be replaced,unless it was a crash or something similar,i can only see one outcome for your wheel and thats more broken spokes! As for the gear change,the guy in the shop is kind of right,if your changing while going up hill your more than likely putting alot of pressure on the pedals and there fore the drive train,when shifting gears you should be turning the pedals but not really putting any pressure down,well in a perfect world anyway!

Chips Lovell

Think clutch on a car. You don't want to be shifting under maximum load.

carrielou

Mel, I know very little but I do know if I can I head into a severe hill in quite often the lowest gear I have and if I am able for it then I will change up a gear.

I got caught yesterday once while standing haha i reckon the gradient suddenly increased on the hill or else my legs just died so there I was standing up pedalling while trying to change down gears, oh sweet Jesus, u should have heard the grinding and me cursing out loud, lad behind me just started laughing and so did I.

Am guessing I was lucky I didnt break anything !!!