thanks for all the good advice, the problem may lie in the fact that its brand new and not wore in, or in how im riding/shifting. its just very clanky and alot of time it "sounds" as if its inbetween gears but its not. but then again im new to this so i could just be insane, very possible. the lbs i bought it from went out of business the day i bought it haha, which is how i got it on a pretty good clearance. but i have another lbs down the road i may take it to to have them look at it. ill wait another week or two to break it in before i take it up there to see if it goes away.
side note, my chain has slipped off 3 times now, when i shift from the lowest gear on the big front ring and shift to the small front ring(sorry my terminology sucks) its fallen off 3 times, i don't know if thats not what you're supposed to do or what, but its a pain when im climbing a hill and try and drop it, again im sure it has to do with my massive inexperience, but i learned quick don't shift from the lowest gear on the big front ring to the little front ring
and yeah im definately going in to get a good computer, ill probably head up this weekend and take a look at a decent computer. i've already bought a set of clipin shoes and pedals, both shimano, i went with a more "mountainy" shoe because it had a sole on it and i would like to be able to walk around and not screw the shoe up or slip and fall on my butt haha. ill get a road only shoe eventually but for now this works for me.
if your wondering, yes i fell trying to unclip at a stopsign haha. i sat in my garage for about 20 minutes practicing clipping in and out without falling, went for a ride around the block, stopped at all the stopsigns, no problems, as soon as i set off on my actual ride, i got to the exit of the subdivision, got my right foot unclipped, tried leaning on it, weight went to the left and i couldnt get my foot out, tipped over. it was pretty funny, i think i was laughing harder then the guy watching me in the car behind me haha.