# Key to smooth gear changing?



## amegazero (May 4, 2009)

Hello, peeps

Quick very noob question, I have a 09 Giant Yukon and I am having trouble making smooth gear changes. Any advices? Do I pedal when I change gears or just let it roll.. I don't like the cranking sounds one bit. 


THANKS!!


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## LRB (Mar 19, 2008)

If the bike is new and just getting broken in you probably need to have everything adjusted because cable strech and the chain will break into the sprockets and thing will shift less smooth until adjusted properly. As for do you pedal when you change gears yes you have to be pedaling for the chain to move from sprocket to sprocket but you don't want to be under load. So try and pedal slowly until the chain finds the sprocket you are asking it to be on then you can pedal hard! GOOD LUCK

LRB


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## KevinB (Oct 5, 2004)

amegazero said:


> Quick very noob question, I have a 09 Giant Yukon and I am having trouble making smooth gear changes. Any advices? Do I pedal when I change gears or just let it roll..


Yes, you need to pedal, but not with a great deal of effort. This is especially true of the front derailleur. I.e. don't try shifting the front derailleur when going up a steep hill. Or if you do, you need to do a couple of hard strokes to build momentum, ease up, move the shift lever, and continue to pedal easy until the shift occurs. The rear derailleur can be shifted at any time, though it too will perform better if you ease up a bit during the shift.


> I don't like the cranking sounds one bit.


Your derailleurs may need to be adjusted.


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## amegazero (May 4, 2009)

When i Change the front gears, it feels like its trying to find its tract, takes maybe a second or 2 before it clicks in, is it suppose to do that or after I break in this new bike it will work more smoothly? (bought it yesterday)


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## KevinB (Oct 5, 2004)

amegazero said:


> When i Change the front gears, it feels like its trying to find its tract, takes maybe a second or 2 before it clicks in, is it suppose to do that or after I break in this new bike it will work more smoothly? (bought it yesterday)


Have the shop from which you purchased your bike check the adjustement of your front derailleur. It is normal for the front to make more noise than the rear. It will sound like it's grinding a bit, particularly when changing to a larger ring, but once the chain is over the new ring (to which you're shifting), it ought to drop into place fairly quickly.

Some questions for you...

Does it happen with all rings? Does it happen only when shifting to a larger ring or does it happen when shifting to a smaller ring too? Does the chain still rub the derailleur cage after the shift is complete?


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## amegazero (May 4, 2009)

Thanks for all your input, i believe it makes cranking noises when i shift from smaller to larger and i don't think its as apparant vice versa. I do solemly believe that i'm just doing it wrong also. lol


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## amegazero (May 4, 2009)

Does the chain still rub the derailleur cage after the shift is complete?

No, after the shift, its as perfect as ever


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## KevinB (Oct 5, 2004)

amegazero said:


> Thanks for all your input, i believe it makes cranking noises when i shift from smaller to larger and i don't think its as apparant vice versa. I do solemly believe that i'm just doing it wrong also. lol


The only things you might do wrong when shifting the front derailleur are to a) not pedal at all, or b) pedal too hard. So long as you're pedaling lightly when shifting the front derailleur, you're doing it right. When shifting from a smaller ring to a larger ring, you also need to keep a firm, even pressure on the shift lever until the shift is complete. Don't jam the shift lever over too quickly, or it *will* grind a lot. (Get in the habit of doing most of your shifts via the rear derailleur. Only use the front when the terrain changes enough to warrant using another gear range. E.g. when approaching a steep hill, shift the front to a smaller ring for the climb ahead. Shift using the rear derailleur while climbing the hill to make adjustments in your speed / effort on the climb. When you get to the top, shift back into a larger ring for the descent.)

As I said earlier, it's normal for there to be a certain amount of grinding when shifting from a smaller ring to a larger ring. This is because the chain has to climb the shifting ramps of the larger ring in order to move onto the larger ring. What might not be normal is the delay in the chain dropping into place.

In your other (later) post, you said that the chain doesn't rub after the shift is complete. This is good. It means that the front derailleur is most likely adjusted correctly. (Or is close anyway.) Next time you ride, shift to the middle chainring (in the front) and then (repeatedly) shift the rear from one extreme to another (lowest gear to highest gear and back again) while listening for noise of the chain rubbing against the front derailleur. You can try the same thing with the big and little chainrings too, but keep in mind that you should avoid the small-small and large-large combinations under normal riding conditions. (This is called cross-chaining and places more stress on the chain causing it to wear more quickly. That said, Ned Overend likes the big-big combo and says that it's okay to use for brief periods of time in race situations.) It's okay too, to briefly shift into these gear combinations for testing.

If there is some rub (of the chain against the front derailleur cage) while either in the highest gear or the lowest gear (in the back), this could be normal; some front derailleurs are very difficult to adjust to remove all chain rub. On the other hand, it could point out a problem with the front derailleur adjustment. E.g. it could be that your high limit screw is too tight which might prevent the chain from being pushed far enough to the outside when shifting from the middle chainring to the large.

As a beginner, this might be hard for you to diagnose. That's why I suggested bringing the bike back to the shop. Most shops will do minor tuning free of charge immediately after a purchase. After all, they want you to be happy, so that they'll get repeat business.


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## Memphis_Buckeye (Mar 13, 2009)

When you up-shift in the front, are you holding the shift lever until the shift is complete? 

I don't know about your Shimano shifters, but I have SRAM X.4 shifters and I have to hold the shift lever until the up-shift (i.e. going from smaller ring to larger ring) in the front is complete. Down-shifting in the front and up- or down-shifting in the rear do not require this; only up-shifting in the front.


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## FBinNY (Nov 7, 2008)

The secret to smooth shifting is to plan ahead and downshift *before* pedalling gets too dificult in your current gear. Help get a smooth shift by easing up the pedal pressure during the shift before resuming full pedalling force.

The process costs a bit of momentum during climbs, but if you learn to time it well, it'll be very manageable and your chain and drive train will thank you for it.

Use a similar method when upshifting also, especially the front shifter.


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## amegazero (May 4, 2009)

Thank you Kevin and Buckeye and everybody for all your input!! I really enjoy the support from you all considering I am totally new at this, very much appreciated and I hope to do the same for starters in the future when I am more experienced. 

Kevin, I really appreciated your response as it gave me a more in depth explanation of the whole shifting, however would you mind clarifying the cross chaining? The small small and large large combination got me a bit confused. Does it mean when I shift I should only shift from say 2-1 to 2-8 before I goto 1-8? Or am I totally on the wrong track. lol

Thank you Buckeye for bringing up an awesome point, so for my shimano shifters (Shimano Alivio Rapidfire), do I actually HOLD IT when I shift? Or do I click it then start pedaling? Thank you all for your responses!!


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## Memphis_Buckeye (Mar 13, 2009)

amegazero said:


> Thank you Kevin and Buckeye and everybody for all your input!! I really enjoy the support from you all considering I am totally new at this, very much appreciated and I hope to do the same for starters in the future when I am more experienced.
> 
> Kevin, I really appreciated your response as it gave me a more in depth explanation of the whole shifting, however would you mind clarifying the cross chaining? The small small and large large combination got me a bit confused. Does it mean when I shift I should only shift from say 2-1 to 2-8 before I goto 1-8? Or am I totally on the wrong track. lol
> 
> Thank you Buckeye for bringing up an awesome point, so for my shimano shifters (Shimano Alivio Rapidfire), do I actually HOLD IT when I shift? Or do I click it then start pedaling? Thank you all for your responses!!


You're quite welcome.

An example of cross-chaining like KevinB was talking about is when you are in 1-8 or 3-1. It gets its name from what it looks like... The chain is crossed over from far left or far right in the front to far right or far left in the back, i.e. in 1-8 or 3-1, rather than more straight forward and back. Typically, you do not have to worry about crossing the chain at all in the middle front gear, it's just the outer two you should be aware of. Also, while it's not a very good thing to be in those gears for extended periods of time, that's not to say you should absolutely never ride in those gears.

When shifting, you should be pedaling before, during, and after a shift to make sure the chain is moving fluidly through the gear change. As KevinB and I (I only said it because I missed his point about it) both stated above, you should hold the lever on a front ring up-shift down until the chain is completely on the new ring. I'm not familiar with your Shimano shifters, but I'll explain how it works on mine and hope they are similar... For my front shifter, I have two actions. I have a lever type action which up-shifts and a button type action that down-shifts; conversely on the rear, the lever down-shifts and the button upshifts, and both actions are by my thumbs. So, to up-shift on my front, I push and hold the lever with my thumb until the chain is completely on the next bigger ring. To down-shift on the front, I just tap the button it the chain hops right down to the smaller ring. So, it takes a little longer to up-shift on the front than it does to down-shift. I hope that helps! It's so much easier to show someone than it is to explain in in writing!


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## KevinB (Oct 5, 2004)

amegazero said:


> however would you mind clarifying the cross chaining? The small small and large large combination got me a bit confused. Does it mean when I shift I should only shift from say 2-1 to 2-8 before I goto 1-8? Or am I totally on the wrong track.


Not sure if you're on the right track or not. It depends upon how you do your numbering.  Rather than trying to figure out the numbering, I'll stick to big/little...

Basically, what I was saying is that you want to avoid (at least) two gear combinations: Big ring in front with big cog in back, and little ring in front with little cog in back. If you're in a situation where you're in the big ring and you want to shift to the big cog in the back (to get into an easier gear), you ought to instead shift into your middle ring and use a somewhat smaller cog instead. (There are roughly overlapping gear ratio combinations for each of the three rings.) Likewise, if you're in the small ring in front and the second smallest cog in back, wanting to go a bit faster, .... rather than shifting into the smallest cog, instead shift to the middle chain ring and move the rear to a somewhat larger cog (going up 2 cogs should be about right).

You will note that when you're in the big-big or little-little combinations, the chain has more lateral pressure placed upon its links than when you're in other combinations. This lateral pressure will increase wear on the chain and reduce its lifespan.

You might even get more life out of the chain if you avoid the largest two or three cogs in the back when you're in the big ring and the smallest two or three cogs when you're in the small ring. Basically, once you get that far down (or up) the cassette and you think you might need to go even further, that's the time to start thinking about shifting the front.



> so for my shimano shifters (Shimano Alivio Rapidfire), do I actually HOLD IT when I shift? Or do I click it then start pedaling?


Push the shift lever while pedaling. Keep a firm, steady pressure on it until the shift is complete. If you're abruptly pushing and letting go, what's happening is that the cable housing is compressing (and perhaps the cable and shifters are stretching / bending somewhat). This will form a stiff spring of sorts that will cause a lot of grinding early in the shift. Later on, near the end of the shift, the "spring" will be significantly weaker and could lead to the chain riding on the sprocket without engaging for a period of time. You don't really want to be using your housing, cable, and shift mechanism as a spring though. That's why you need to go a bit slower when shifting to a larger ring.


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## amegazero (May 4, 2009)

Thank you both so much! very good clarifications! i'm gonna go try it out the second i get home! happy MTB-kinG!


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