What is the proper way to shift gears on a mountain bike?

Question

I have a 21 speed Giant brand mountain bike, 3 high gears and 7 low. I only switch the low gear when I'm in first gear and trying to climb a hill. I only switch the high gear when the low gear is at its highest (otherwise the chain is guaranteed to fall off due to the angle). I have tried shifting while pedaling, while not pedaling, while not moving, while pedaling backwards, every way I can imagine, but for some reason the chain seems to fall off an awful lot. It's a real time consuming pain to get it back on, and I end up with a lot of grease stains on my clothing and hands.

Should I be pedaling when I shift? Is it okay to shift down after stopping (to make it easier to start pedaling again)? What is it that is causing the chain to fall off while I'm riding?

Thanks a lot to anyone who can help me!

Answer 1

Yes, you should be pedaling when you shift.

Things I learned from the Sheldon Brown site below: I used to ride a higher gear (pushing) while climbing ala Jan Ullrich. I now spin ala Lance Armstrong :) I also didn't know about "criss-cross" gears. Check out the site, it's explained in simple terms.

Good luck!

Answer 2

well u have to shift while in motion or that will blow the gears out of proportion and the technique u r using is perfect stay in 1gear on the big shift while going up hill and 3 while going down this will enable u to pick up more speed as well as have more handles but stay in motion while u shift and what probably is causing the chain to fall off is that u could be shifting too fast and it will most likely happen while u go fast and shift down to and extremely low gear that speed will cause the chain to jump track stay within 7mph when u think u are going to shift down this will heavily decrease the chances of the chain jumping track HOPE THIS HELPS

Answer 3

You should only shift when pedaling. If your chain is falling off when you shift to your high gear it's because your derailleur is out of adjustment and it's overshooting it's stopping point. Take it to a bike shop for a tune-up.

Those are great links promdi.

Answer 4

i think u should shift the gears only when pedalling, which will prevents the chain from falling off. you should ceratainly not shift when not pedallind cuz then when u will start pedalling the chain will fall off

Answer 5

while your riding twist the gear shifter to the difficulty you want be sure to test them all and make sure you can handle them.