<p>It’s not so much what you do when you are in the process of shifting. Rather, it’s what gear you end up in. You don’t want to end up with your chain diagonal, where the front is selecting a low gear and the rear a high gear, or the front selecting a high gear and the rear a low gear.</p>
<p>Nrdsb, you have three chainrings in front, and seven rings on your cluster in back. You shift your bike by twisting the the grip. Both of your shifters, I believe, are labelled with numbers, where a lower number means a lower gear. You don’t want to be in gear 3 in front (controlled by your left hand) and gears 1-3 in back (controlled by your right hand). Likewise, you don’t want to be in gear 1 in front and gears 5, 6 or 7 in back.</p>
<p>So glad one of us had an explanation that worked for you! It’s funny, my husband tried to explain my gears to me (a few years back) the way CF did… absolutely useless to me because I was trying to shift without looking at the numbers. It wasn’t until I started looking at the chain that any of it made sense. And for that, I had to practice in a parking lot instead of on our hill.</p>
<p>Any opinions of the Breezer Uptown 8? My husband thought I might want to look at one he saw in a (Seattle) shop today. My needs: good on wet and dry pavement, gravel; gearing for hills (hill near my house requires lowest of current bike’s 21 gears); upright position. I want a handlebar that curves back toward me, so would have to change that out. The bike shop guy said he could do something (no idea what) to improve the Uptown 8’s gearing for hills. I ride 4 to 10 miles often but want a bike that’s enjoyable on 20-25 mile rides. On the flats I go at a decent commuter pace, though the spandex people all pass me by.</p>
<p>The shop with the Breezer doesn’t have any other bikes that would be suitable for me so I wouldn’t be able to comparison shop in a side-by-side way. If I get serious I’ll also go to Greggs and look at the Electra Verse and Treks.</p>
<p>My current bike is a fairly old hybrid and has worked well for me. It’s lacking some nice features including suspension. The Breezer is at the top of our price range. I’d love some suggestions.</p>
<p>A quick look at the Breezer says to me that it’s not a good bike for longer rides, but you know your riding style best. I love my touring bike and my drop bars ;-)</p>
<p>dmd, can you please elaborate on what about the Breezer suggests it’s not good for longer rides? Aside from the seat and handlebars (would change both) I’m just not sure what to look at! Is it the limited gears?</p>
<p>I don’t agree with dmd in this particular case. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to do a 20-25 mile ride on an upright bike like the Breezer- I ride my mountain bike on 20-25 mile rides all the time. I love the Breezer’s built-in lighting; more bikes should have that! I like the fenders and the rack, too. It’s got nice wide tires, unlike the (IMO stupid) bikes that don’t allow any tire wider than 25mm. In fact, there’s a whole lot to like about that bike if it feels comfortable to you, and the price is great for what you get.</p>
<p>If you want to go fast, you’d probably choose a different bike. But there is no particular reason to go fast if you don’t want to. If you just want to go out on a nice bike ride, maybe to a lake or a restaurant or an ice cream store 10-15 miles from your house, that Breezer is perfect.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, CF. Being upright is crucial for me due to carpal tunnel, but I like being upright anyway. I do like to go kind of fast, but I’m not as fast as the really fast bikers or the teens who pass me by.</p>
<p>If you wanted to pep the bike up, you could replace the tires with either Compass 26 x 1.5 or Panaracer Pasela 26 x 1.25 or Panaracer Pasela 26x 1.5. </p>
<p>I personally don’t like upright bikes. I’ve had two commuter/city bikes with flat handlebars and I find that the flat handlebars give me so little choice about hand position that I end up with tingly fingers after a while. I like the weight changes and hand-position choices that drop bars give me, but I also mount the bars so that they are higher than the seat (below the seat is more common). </p>
<p>I get numb hands more with my bikes with drops than my bikes with upright bars. Go figure. Maybe it’s because with the upright bars, I’m not putting much weight on my hands.</p>
<p>So I’ve had my bike for about a week now. First day I did the 2 mile circle around my neighborhood. In the days since I have had some frustration with low back pain even with the upright model. I have some inclines in my neighborhood, and whether it’s the treadmill, or just walking, inclines have always been unkind to my back. </p>
<p>The past several days I have concentrated very hard on keeping my lower spine straight even as I hit an incline. This seems to have helped. Also, riding this bike has shown me how very out of shape I actually am. When you are walking, you can really convince yourself you are working. But as with a treadmill, your bike won’t let you fool yourself unless you are coasting a whole lot, which I am consciously trying not to do.</p>
<p>Anyway, today I rode for 6 miles for the first time. My back feels okay and my legs weren’t noodles afterwards. Hopefully in a week or two, I’ll be ready to leave the cocoon of my gated neighborhood and start riding some paved trails which I’ve found online.</p>
<p>Nrdsb, try using lower gears. A lot of times new cyclists convince themselves that they have to push hard gears. That’s not the way experienced cyclists ride.</p>
<p>^^^^Thanks, CF. Yes, the first time I rode I thought that riding in harder gears was the whole point of getting fit. I’ve since read differently. Today, since I was doing more distance, I did try to lower the resistance as much as possible on the inclines. I think that’s why I was able to go a little farther. I didn’t want to let myself coast on the downhills, though, because six miles is still just a few, and I don’t want to “fool myself” that I’m doing more than I am. </p>
<p>If your feet are going at less than 60 rpm, and you have a lower gear, get in that lower gear. Doing otherwise is a ticket for knee and back problems. Ideally you’d be going at 80 rpm or higher, which might feel funny. But definitely don’t go less than 60 rpm if you love your back.</p>