Originally Posted by
Beginner Biker
I was riding my new bike and when I was going up a hill on a high gear, and I shifted down toward the top of the hill to make pedaling easier and the chain made a really loud sound and was jerky shift. Should I not shift down in the middle of a hill? I am not sure how or when to shift. Also at the highest or lowest gears, the chain makes a sound, I look down and it clips the front derailer box (dunno the actual name), is this of concern? Could someone give me some advice or good articles to read about shifting?
Thanks!
Shifting going up a hill is tricky. You should be prepared and shift slightly before you need to shift. The problem with shifting is that on many setups, shifting under full load will damage things faster than otherwise. So typically when I shift I synchronize my body with the shift and lessen the power I'm applying to the pedals until the new gear catches, at which point I reapply full power. The reason this is tricky going uphill is because you're typically providing full power just to keep your momentum up, and if you lessen your power for any significant amount of time, you'll slow down too much.
So when going uphill I always shift down before I feel like I absolutely need to. I am told that higher end derailleurs do not suffer from this, however, but I've never been lucky enough to test them out...
