So I rode home again today. The entire way up to the hill, I was getting mad and pissed. See, I really hate being made a fool out of, in any way shape or form. So here comes the bottom of the hill, and up I climb. I pick a spot in the distance, generally an intersection, and tell myself I'm making it that far, plain and simple. Get there, decide I can handle more, and pick another spot. I finally had to stop and get off the bike just to let my legs rest, but I'm not giving up. Back on the bike I go, and uphill I climb. I had to stop two more times(for 3 times total), but I ended up pedaling up the entire hill!! I'm so freaking ecstatic right now, it's not even funny!

I also learned that I can't keep up the same pace with the wind in my face, at least not for long. I cranked it down a couple gears and just kept a steady pace, not a fast one, but steady, and I had plenty of energy once I reached the hill, which wasn't the case yesterday.

Very good job, and excellent call on dropping down the gears when going into the wind.
Glad to see you were able to do it today, and no shame in taking breaks. It's only the second run

For commuting, I find it much more relaxing if you just go at your own pace and not try to stay at a certain speed. Go at whatever you feel comfortable at. Certainly not something you should be fighting against when you got a gradual hill coming up. Maybe you can go for speed later when your legs are stronger but it is more important to just keep pedaling now to build up the strength to be able to do it later.

Yup, gotta build up those legs. Good job!

Speaking of legs, my right calf cramped up on me yesterday while going up the hill, and this morning it was screaming at me the entire ride in, might have to just take the bus today. Been commuting 3 days and this makes me a very sad panda.

On a serious note, for whatever reason, my bike doesn't like shifting into the lower gears. Sometimes I'll shift from say, 4 to 3, and it's like the chain popped off, or a car in neutral. Turning the pedals doesn't do anything but make my feet move. It also happens when I shift the front up from 1, I have to go to 3 then back down to 2. Any idea what/why this is happening, and what I can do to fix it? Trying to stay out of the LBS, money is tight so I'm hoping for a home repair if something needs it. Although.....I have to go in anyways. The hand pump they sold me does NOT fit the tires I have, regardless of the guy swearing up and down and almost promising me his first born child that it did, unless I'm absolutely stupid, which I'll admit is a complete possibility.

Your pump should work you just may need to switch it so it works with your valves. They usually have a spot on the apart that goes onto the valve that screws off and their is a piece in there you flip around and then put it back together again. If you are confused by this explanation Google your pump and you should find instructions or some similar to help you figure it out.

Your gear issue...what exactly is or isn't happening when you encounter this problem?

EDIT: Ok the front it sounds like you need to adjust the front shifter cable some and tightening it may fix your problem. There should be barrel adjusters on the end of your shifter and turn it so the cable will get tighter. You might have a similar thing you need to do in the rear too, but not sure based on your description or my reading comprehension today. LOL

You might need to start stretching after your ride if your calf is sore, and take a day off if the muscle needs rest.

I can't help with the shifting problem, but does your hand pump have a reversible end that can be used for either schrader (big) or presta (small) valves? Sometimes you need to remove the end cap that fits on the valve and reverse it so it will fit the other size of valve.

When I shift down, a lot of times it hits like a neutral, or maybe drops down to the lowest gear. All of a sudden there's NO resistance and I can sit there and pedal away and not go anywhere. It usually happens when I'm going a decent speed(10-15mph for me). That's on the back gears, the front gears, everytime I go from 1 to 2, it doesn't go, it sits there and clicks like it wants to go, but it doesn't happen until I shift up to 3, which takes it up to 3, then I can shift down to 2.

Ok, so what have you done to get the rear gears from being in that neutral spinning state?

Shift down another gear, just like the front. So I have to shift 3 times to go down one gear, I have to shift down twice, and up once to get to the gear I want to be in.

Mind you, this isn't all the time, but it happens at least 2 or 3 times each morning. I spend most of the ride home in real low gears and don't shift often, so it's not quite as frequent on the ride home.

It sounds like you just need your derailers adjusted. You can Google for some help on how to do this yourself or maybe your boss will help you out. Sometimes the LBS will do this for $10-15, but I think alot of them charge more than that. Of course in your area you have other low cost options as well like the bike kitchens etc. There someone would teach you what you need to do. If you are mechanically inclined at all its not that difficult to figure it out yourself IMO.

I have the mechanical ability of a rock haha. But I can read and follow directions, so I'll google it and see what it takes.

Grats on sticking with it so far. No shame in getting off and walking when you have to -- as you get in better shape, you'll need to do so less and less. In the meantime, don't burn yourself out! Have fun!

- Scott

I have encountered a similar problem on another bike of lesser quality but I think I might know what it is. If the chain is not popping off, and stays on the gears, then it might even be the freehub in the back not engaging the wheel correctly. I know the feeling when you are trying to pedal but it seems like something broke and you have almost no resistance when pedaling and you aren't going anywhere.

Since the bike that I had was doing it was a piece of crap, I just wacked it a few times and it sort of fixed the problem. Yo can read more about it here, but the idea is that something in the hub has some 'hooks' that hook onto the wheel as you pedal to make it move. If the hooks are not engaging the wheel, that is where the problem may be.

A bike is like a car IMO. Just call up a few bike shops and tell them you have a problem, but don't know what it is. Since you are in SD, I am sure there will not be a shortage of LBS'. Ask them if they will give you a free estimate on what is causing problems. You do not have to commit to having them fix it and you now have an idea of what might be wrong.

If the pump does not work, I'd bring it in with the bicycle and have them show me how it works. If they say it works, they should be able to get it to work or give you your money back. Stretching is important too, and should be something everyone does after riding. I am kind of lazy about it, and forget half the time but it should not be neglected less you wish to get cramps

potassium; magnesium and sodium. also soak those legs in a hot epsom bath and use a lot of it. then give them a good rub down

Unfortunately a lot of bike shops call a derailer adjustment a 'tune-up' and charge $35 for it.

Yeah I know and $35 for a tuneup is a deal here. I think the cheapest tuneup here from a shop is $50. There are cheaper places to get one done though.

The LBS I bought most of my gear at quoted me for a tune up at $70 bucks. Seemed a little outrageous at the time, now I'm pissed. Time to shop around.

So, silly question. But if I were wanting to drop my posture a little bit, should I go little by little, or just flat out go for it? Currently I've got a flat bar with some risers on the bike that came with it when I bought the thing, and the stem is angled upwards to give you more of an upright position. I was considering taking the risers off this weekend, but with how cheap stems actually are, I was debating getting a stem that points straight out instead of up, to bring me down even more. Having only been riding for two weeks, I'm just not sure if I want to drop down too far too quick.

Well, you could start with lowering with taking out he risers like you mentioned and put them back on top of the stem afterwards. If you want to feel a bit more stretched out a longer stem might be the way to go.

or you could try just flipping your stem over. Then the upward slant becomes a downward one and stretches you out a fair bit.

I've been told about that, but I'm not sure how that would work considering the degree my stem rises. I've got a picture posted back on the second page of this thread, to me it just doesn't seem like it would work right with my current stem. Though obviously I could be wrong.

No you are right that stem wouldn't work flipping it over unless you really wanted some serious drop. LOL

Yeah I thought it looked like it would go low. How good are the adjustable stems? I was thinking that or just getting a straight stem, neither of which seem to be all that expensive.

https://bicycletutor.com/adjust-rear-derailleur/

https://bicycletutor.com/adjust-threadless-headset/

This is my attempt at lowering my current stem to lower my position. Obviously the tube sticking out of the top is not supposed to be like that. From what I can tell, the rings at the bottom of the stem aren't actually risers, they're there so the metal of the tube doesn't show. If I'm wanting to actually LOWER my current stem, am I going to have to cut that tube, or is there something I'm missing?