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. I have no idea if this normal, but it doesn't feel very efficient, and it doesn't seem to happen when I upshift as I go downhill again. I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if something might be wrong with the bike.

Also, any thoughts on whether the gears I'm using on a flat surface sound reasonable? I seem to be the slowest biker on the road, but if go higher or lower it doesn't feel as comfortable to me.

Thanks and sorry if these are really dumb questions.

Sounds like your gears need some adjustment, if you can do this yourself, there are how to guides on youtube / the Park Tools website. you say you are a new cyclist, how long havbe you had the bike? if new, has the shop you got it from looked at it?

No pain no gain, what do you mean by comfortable?

You may be shifting with a load which doesn't work well up front (the derailleur is on the high tension side of the chain) and is a little rough in back.

You want to slow down your pedaling so there isn't any appreciable resistance on the pedals, shift gears, and pedal normally once the chain gets done moving.

I've had the bike six weeks and brought it to the shop and they said they "adjusted" it, but today I had the same problem. Guess I need to bring it back. On the other issue, I mean, if I use a lower gear, the bike feels wobbly to me, and if I use a higher gear, I get tired easily. Like I said, I'm new to this commuting thing...so maybe I'm just not in shape like everyone else whizzing by me.

I do keep my ulock and a bag in a front basket, so maybe that's contributing to the problem. I'll ask the bike shop. Thanks. At least I know I should have it looked at again.

Unless it's pulling /squishing the brake/shifter cables, that shouldn't be an issue.

As for being the slow rider - you are aware that you're powering the bike as well as steering it, right?
If you want to go faster, you have to pay for it - in sweat. But if your regular daily routine B.C. (before cycle) didn't contain much physical activity it will get easier after awhile.

Apart from that, listen to Drew. Going easy on the pedals while shifting will make the gears go in ever so much easier.

Did you ever think it worked right?

Almost surely you need a rear derailleur cable tension adjustment. Most of the time a half turn counter clockwise on the barrel adjuster where the cable leaves the shifter or enters the rear derailleur will fix it. If that doesn't do it there are a couple of other possibilities but they're more complicated.

What Drew meant by "shifting with a load" is that you're shifting while pedalling hard (uphill or accelerating, for example), he didn't mean that you're carrying too much stuff. While shifting slow down your pedalling, then resume your normal pedalling when the chain is done shifting gears.

And it's normal being slow at first, don't let it discourage you!