Originally Posted by tracyfrombklyn

I'm a new-ish cyclist who is now commuting to work on my Giant Cypress, and some of it is uphill. On a flat surface, I ride in second gear on the left and third on the right and I usually downshift to second gear on the right when I hit a hill. Each time, it seems like the gear change doesn't "catch" right away...the pedals feel slack as I go around three or four times before I feel the change. And sometimes there's quite a large clunking noise.