Trouble changing gear when going up hill

Gwaredd

Hi all. Very new to this mountain biking stuff. Usually prefer my off road bikes to have an engine rather than pedals, but am rather enjoying it atm! Please excuse the poor terminology. I'm sure I will pick it up as I go along!

My problem is that when pedalling hard up hill & I need to change down from the big cog to the medium one (crank gears, not rear gears) It just won't go. On the flat, or down hill is fine, but when I have a lot of pressure going through the crank, it just won't go. I have tried adjusting it, but to no avail.

Bike is a Claude Butler Stone River, which is fine for me atm, & it uses the Shimano Acera gears & Truvativ X-flow crank. Would a better gear-set or crank-cog thingy solve this problem, or is it down to my riding skills? I suspect that when riding hard up hill, I should use the rear gears rather than the front. Is that right, or should the gears do as they're told!?

Cheers,

Gwaredd.

Steve_b77

You shouldn't try to change gear when there is alot of pressure on the cranks like when you;re going up hill.

The best bet is try and predict what gear you;re gonna need before you start off up the hill and change to it then.

Or try and find a less steep bit where you can take the pressure off and change then.

milkywhite

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What he said. Try to avoid changing on hills.

At the very least you should try and be in the right chain ring before you start to climb. After that I find I can change to lower (larger) rear gears if I need to by easing off a touch on the pedals for a second, without losing too much momentum.

Avoid shifting at all if you can though.

Gwaredd

Cheers for clearing that up guys. Still, I think it's pretty shocking that gears are still the same (in that respect) as they were on my old 80's Emelle mountain bike. Where's the technological advance through the years?

alaric@epicmtb

If you do find that you've started a climb in the wrong chainring, and you're pedalling too hard/slowly for it to shift smoothly, try this:

1. Accelerate hard, just for a few turns of the cranks (I know, I know but bear with me)
2. Stop pedalling hard allowing the bike to coast, just gently turning the cranks
3. As you ease off in step two, hit the shift lever for the front mech

It takes a little practice and a small amount of spare energy, but try it a few times and as your timing improves this will give you an almost infallible shift when you would otherwise be stuffed!

You find that all your changes are smoother if you ease off as you shift anyway.

Alaric.

steelo

The shifting technology has not changed much in terms of mechanical method as there is no real improvement in terms of cost and weight by using any other method (internal hub gear-box etc.) The improvements have been made in material and build quality of the components.

trail jacker

yeh, i wouldnt recommend changing on hills.
if you cant change before the hill, stand up, pump really hard to get some speed up, then ease the pressure off and change quickly. the momentum should carry you so you can ease back into the pedalling once the gear has changed.
alternatively, pull over, lift the back end, change gear and turn the cranks with your hands. then away you go....