Bicycle Mechanics - wierd problem

So today i go on a bike ride. I think i accidentally switched the gears by touching the levers and the backpedaled a little. Right now when i apply any kind of force when pedaling it sounds like my chain skips the teeth on the rings or as if i am switching gears, but no shift actually occurs. I am not sure ifit is on the front or back. The bike is brand new with about 50 miles on it, 95% of which were on the road. What could be the problem?

Have a friend play shop stand, by standing by the left side of the saddle and holding the back wheel off the ground. Gentle turn the crank forward by hand, and watch the chain and the front and derailleur cages. The chain should track smoothly through the derailleur cages and around the selected cog and chainring. If the chain is skipping, you should be able to observe whether this is occuring in front or in back. If there is visible skipping in back, caused by the chain riding up on top of the cog teeth, try adjusting the right shift lever. Likewise, if the chain is caught in between the chainrings, try moving the left lever.

As you continue to turn the crank, try shifting through the gears with one lever, then the other. Watching this for 5 minutes will give you a good intuitive feel for how a derailleur transmission works, and will help you diagnose and repair future problems.

okay i think i found the problem.
The skips occur in the back ring. It seems like the derailleur is loose and causes the chain to get off the ring at some points, but it just goes back on by itself. Any way to fix this?

yeah and if i try pedaling backwards on the largest rear ring, it almost immediately goes to smaller ring by itself.

With such a new bike take it back to the shop where you bought it. They should be able to adjust it for you at no charge.

the problem is i am at school now and i bought the bike at home...about 400 miles away. So i think i'm going to have to fix it myself.

www.parktool.com
read up on how to adjust your shifting, more than likely, your shifter cables have stretched a touch, and it's in need of a little adjustment.
It's easy to do, and you should not have to adjust your limit screws to get back on the road.
More than likely you will just need to adjust your rear barrel adjuster a bit, but read up on it first, print it out, then read while you do, next thing you know, you have it done!


Cheers,

Scoob

Go into your LBS where you are at school and ask them to show you how to adjust it :p it should only take a minute

Brendon
:beer:

Try this:

1. Lean the left side of your bike against something.
2. Turn the pedals BACKWARD with your hand while you watch where the chain comes off of the arm that hangs down from your rear derailleur.
3. When you see the arm kind of skip, examine that portion of the chain.

If the chain seems to be straight but one link is kind of cocked up, that's good. It means that you just have a stiff link. You might be able to work it loose just by manipulating the link.

If the chain seems kind of twisted, that's a bit worse. It means that you have managed to twist your chain some way. You'll never be able to twist it back so that it workd satisfactory. The only adequate solution is to replace it with a whole new chain.