Cheval vapeur

I have a small but very steep hill to climb everyday. Can we change gears when we force to climb. I don't think so, but what can I do so that I don't have to walk alongside my bicycle in the middle of the hill.

PeteHski

Lose weight, gain power, get a bike with lower gears. Or just get an e-bike.

wolfchild

Climb out of the saddle standing on the pedals.

Maelochs

I am not sure what question you ask? Do you have a single-speed bike?

If you have multiple gears, then yes .... the whole reason you have multiple gears is to change your ratios to better suit the terrain.

noimagination

I think you are asking if you can change the gearing on your bike to make it easier to climb. The short answer is yes, this is possible for most geared bicycles, but it depends on the type of bicycle that you have.

If you have a bike with an internal geared hub (IGH), this is generally not possible. This type of bike does not have exposed derailleurs, the gears are all inside the rear wheel hub. Perhaps you can look for a compatible IGH with lower (easier) gears and build up a wheel, but I don't know if this is possible. Sorry, I'm not familiar with IGH bikes.

If you have a bike with derailleur shifters, then you can usually get a new cassette (or possibly free wheel for older bikes) - this is the cluster of cogs on the rear wheel - with lower gears. It would be a good idea to go to your local bike shop (lbs) for advice on the correct cassette/free wheel. There is a limit on the size of the largest cog that depends on the type of rear derailleur that you have. Also, the cassette or free wheel must be compatible with your rear hub. (edit: you will probably also need to add one or more links to your chain.)
You can also, in some instances, get easier gears by going with smaller chain ring(s) in front, but this is often more complicated, because it may require you to (a) get new chain ring(s) - if you have multiple chainrings and you change the size of the smallest ring to get lower gears, you may also have to get smaller ring(s) for the larger one(s) because there is a limit on the difference in the number of teeth between chainrings that your front derailleur can handle; (b) change the height of the front derailleur (not always easy if you have a braze-on derailleur mount, though there are adapters that you can buy if you need to get your front derailleur lower than is allowed by your braze-on mount); or possibly even (c) get a new crank if the crank spider will not accept a smaller chainring.
Your best bet, as I said above, is to go to your bike shop for advice.

If you have a single-speed or fixed gear bike (you only have one gear), then of course you can get a larger cog for the back or a smaller ring for the front (however, it must be compatible with your crank spider), and you'll only have to add/remove chain link(s) and/or move the rear wheel in the dropouts.

If you have a very inexpensive bike (for example, branded by a large department store or, in the U.S./Canada anyway, sometimes a gas station chain) then often the parts to do what you're intending to do are difficult to find or don't exist, so it may be better to just replace that bike with a new one with the gearing that you need.

I hope that this helps.

freeranger

Don't try to change gears while going uphill and exerting lots of pressure to the pedals. You can change gears but take a very short pause or ease up on the pedaling stroke while changing gears. If possible, maybe go across the hill, easing up on the pedal stroke, change gears and continue up the hill. After a while, you'll get a "feel" for when you can or cannot change gears while pedaling uphill.

Iride01 

Learn to keep a high cadence and push a ridiculously low gear and you'll be able to shift most any time you wish. You'll also find out that you can climb that hill faster than you ever did before.

Only when you run out of a lower gear to shift to should you let your cadence get lower than 75-80 rpm. Though there are some if's and's and but's.

Welcome to BF!

bblair

As I understand the question, it is about shifting while under load. You probably can, but it is best to anticipate and shift before you need to, especially since you know the hill.

Or, I might have misinterpreted the question.

rsbob 

OR, you may want to start the climb in a gear or two lower than you regularly do, so when you reach the steep part, you will not have to shift. I don’t do this but if your bike has some shifting limitations you may want to give this a try.

LarrySellerz

Literally turn around and go back down and change your gears then try again. Or get off your bike and change the gears and lift your back wheel. You are right that you can break your bike if you try to change when going uphill

genejockey 

Switching back and forth between modern and vintage bikes, I have to remember to shift the latter BEFORE I start the climb. There's one steep pitch on one of my routes that is no problem with brifters (let up slightly and shift), but on the older bikes it's just *grunt.grunt..grunt...grunt....grunt* as the bike slows down because I forgot to shift. So far, I've never had to bail, but I have once or twice gotten down to about 30 rpms before I hit the crest.

79pmooney

+1

Cheval vapeur, tell us what your bike and gearing is. Also, are you asking if you can change gears in the middle of a hill climb or are you asking whether you can modify your bike to have an easier, lower low gear? Or both? The more we know, the better we can help you.

Calsun

What works for me is to anticipate the steepness and length of the hill and drop down to a low enough gear that I know I can make it 100% of the time. I will get in the rear cogs needed and then when I get to the spot on the hill where I am slowing down I go to the inside chain ring for a very low gear. No worries about a missed shift with this approach. I am not in a race so coasting into a hill is not a concern.

If I am in too low a gear it only means take 1-2 minutes longer to get to the top. No reason to take a chance with too high a gear and having to change gears or get off the bike and walk.

Cheval vapeur

Thank you for taking the time to answer me. I actually have a bike with shifters of outside derailleur. It's brand new mountain bike and I don't plan to change the cassette. Previously my daily ride consisted of a long flat road heading up a higher but longer hill. I could pick up momentum and around the middle I could slow down a bit and change gears and complete the climb standing up. But I've moved and there's a hill to climb before I get home and I can't gain momentum, it's too short. Several times I tried to shift into low gear on the middle of the hill and my chain came off. My only solution right now is to switch to low gear from the start and all the way through.

Cheval vapeur

Thank you for your answer. Currently I descend at the lowest speed from start to finish. Several times when I wanted to change on the hill, my chain has gone out
or it made a hell of a noise.

rsbob 

You need to get your shifting adjusted by a bike shop. What is happening is not natural.

Carbonfiberboy 

I shift down before I come into the hill. If you have 2 or more chainrings in front, the first thing is to change down to a smaller chainring. Spin very fast, When your spinning decreases to somewhere just above your usual cadence, shift the rear down again and just keep doing that. If the chain is coming off, that's probably in the front, and as rsbob said, get a bike shop to adjust it so that won't happen. But mostly, shift down long before you really need to, so the pedal pressure is still light, Then your shifts will go better, If you run out of gears even in your biggest rear sprocket and smallest chainring and still have to walk, that's another story. That means you need a larger cassette and a longer chain, again that's a bike shop job.

Iride01 

If you have a brand new mountain bike and you chain is dropping then take it back to the shop and ask them to check and see if there are any issues. It's not considered unusual for a the shifting system to need adjustment after the first few hundred miles. As well spokes on your wheels should be checked to make certain that some haven't become too loose. Usually this is just a one time thing, but many will have their bikes checked every year or two if their owner isn't an avid DIYer.

However you might drop a chain with bad shifting technique. Especially if you are riding at a very low cadence. Shifts need a certain amount of crank rotation in order to complete. if your cadence is so slow that you can't complete a full revolution of the crank smoothly then you've waited to long to shift. So next time shift sooner. Well before you start struggling to pedal. Once your cadence drops below 50 - 60 rpm, shifting will be disastrous. Try to keep 70 rpm or better till you get to that lowest possible gear combo. I tend to keep 85 - 90 rpm when going up hills till I get to that lowest gear combo and can shift without having to let up on the power very much if any at all.

If you wind up walking your bike before your gear combo is in the lowest possible gear, then that also is a good indication that you are waiting to long before shifting to a lower gear ratio. Pedaling should be stupidly easy! Grunting and straining to get up a hill with all force your leg muscles can manage is not the way to ride your bike. It won't do anything for your fitness or make you good at riding. You should only grunt and have to strain on very steep hills after you have reached that lowest possible gear combination just before you have to get off the bike and walk.

If you are using your mountain bike on paved roads, then I doubt that there is any paved road steep enough to be outside of the normal gearing range of the bike.

Maelochs

As others have said .... well-adjusted bike shift just fine under load, particularly in the back. I do recommend easing up for a fraction of a pedal stroke just as the chain is floating between cogs, but that just makes it easier ... with modern derailleurs you can shift while pedaling full gas.

Plenty of good climbing technique described here, but all of it will work better when the bike works. I assume your cables have stretched. Take it back to the shop for a tune-up. have them check the brakes and the spoke tension while you are there.

Great.