08-15-2013, 12:12 PM
Hello and thanks in advance for your help.
Background
I recently bought my sister's bicycle so that I can start commuting by bike to work. My first attempt was riddled with issues that could be separate or may stem from one cause.
I don't know much about bicycles, and before I bring the bike to a repair shop I thought I'd field this community for some ideas on what the cause could be. My intent isn't to avoid taking the bike to the shop -- I just don't want to be completely ignorant before I bring it in for repairs.
Problems
1. When I pedal uphill, the chain makes a noise. It sounds like a crack or a pop.
2. When I pedal the bike, it's like I can't get any traction or momentum. The wheels spin, but I go very slowly. I am able to change the gear settings on the handle bars (although they are a bit sticky). When I change the gears, the problem doesn't usually go away. It did briefly stop when in mid gear for a bit, then came back after a minute or so.
3. During this test drive on my city's greenway, another cyclist pulled me over to say that he could tell that I was in the wrong gear for the terrain. However, when he looked at my gear settings, it was set to what he considered to be the correct gear. He said that the bike did not look like it was in that gear.
Thanks for your help. I'm looking forward to reading more about what you think the problem(s) could be and getting this fixed.
Background
I recently bought my sister's bicycle so that I can start commuting by bike to work. My first attempt was riddled with issues that could be separate or may stem from one cause.
I don't know much about bicycles, and before I bring the bike to a repair shop I thought I'd field this community for some ideas on what the cause could be. My intent isn't to avoid taking the bike to the shop -- I just don't want to be completely ignorant before I bring it in for repairs.
Problems
1. When I pedal uphill, the chain makes a noise. It sounds like a crack or a pop.
2. When I pedal the bike, it's like I can't get any traction or momentum. The wheels spin, but I go very slowly. I am able to change the gear settings on the handle bars (although they are a bit sticky). When I change the gears, the problem doesn't usually go away. It did briefly stop when in mid gear for a bit, then came back after a minute or so.
3. During this test drive on my city's greenway, another cyclist pulled me over to say that he could tell that I was in the wrong gear for the terrain. However, when he looked at my gear settings, it was set to what he considered to be the correct gear. He said that the bike did not look like it was in that gear.
Thanks for your help. I'm looking forward to reading more about what you think the problem(s) could be and getting this fixed.