Changing gears on road cycle. was told to stay in the first gear...any suggestions as when and how to change?

Was told to stay in first gear when I purchased my road bike but sometimes I feel like it is too easy. Any suggestions on when to change gears to make it more difficult?

Also I am confused by the right and left gear lever...can any one help?Changing gears on road cycle. was told to stay in the first gear...any suggestions as when and how to change?
Who in the world told you to stay in 1st??? There is a reason for the gears, else why have them? You answered your own question: if you feel it's too easy shift to a ';harder'; gear.Changing gears on road cycle. was told to stay in the first gear...any suggestions as when and how to change?
when biking, use the first gear[lighter gears] to go up hills or for fast acceleration. use the heaver gears to go faster when on a level surface or to keep yourself working when going downhill



[ino, this sounds rather stupidly obvious, so heres my additon]





at a hault, keep your gears at a low gear

this includes when your at a stoplight with traffic,

low gears allow for better transfer of energy between your legs to the pedals.

in traffic, you want faster acceleration at a light because nobody wants to wait for a rider who cant get up to speed.



you also use low gears when riding up a hill, battling wind, or going thrugh tough terrain.

[summary: switch to a low gear when stationary, and/or when you feel that pedaling has become hard]



switch to a heaver gear when allowed to

heaver gears allow you to maintain a faster velocity without pedaling excessively fast.

if you are at speed(and want to maintain it easyer),

want a harder workout,

or are just pedaling too fast, and going rather slow, and you want to go faster, but pedal less than you are now [reread if you don't get that last one]



switch to a higher gear











if you want to get at a decent pace, or just are doing a leasurly cycle, keep it around [front gear/rear gear] 2/4 or 2/5



if your at a standstill and/ or you want to accelerate faster

keep it around 1/3 or 1/4



if you want to maintain a high speed while pedaling less

keep it around 3/5 3/6 or 3/7







keeping your sprockets from wear by optimising shifting:



if you are at a gear far from the other [ 1/7 or 3/1 ishy]

the chain starts to eat away at your rings because of the diagonality of the chain



optimal gears

[agian: front gear/ rear gear]

1/1-4

2/4-5

3/5-7



not sure if this is what you were asking, but if not, heres some food 4 thought.
What type of road bike are you riding?



Left gear will change you from the small ring to the middle and big rings.



The right gear will change the chain in the back cassette. Farthest to the left is easiest...farthest to the right is the most tension.



Work on your cadence in the easier gears and gradually begin riding in the larger rings and more challenging gears.



Read up on shifting gears and then get out and practice! http://bicycleuniverse.info/eqp/gears.ht
At the risk of over simplifying gears and shifting. Play with your gears to find one that comfortably lets you pedal at about 75 RPM. Measure this by counting the revolutions of the pedal for 15 seconds and multiply by 4. Your goal is to pedal steadily at 75 RPM the entire time you are riding.



As far as shifting goes moving chain closer to the bike makes it easier to pedal moving it away makes it harder.



www.learntobicycle.com
Staying in first grear is definately too easy...try some cycling videos that offer you a range of training and raod readyness for the up comming season.

From your gears...left is the higher gears and the right is the lower gears.