I am new to the whole riding a roadbike, ive done my past few tri's on a mtn. bike, and finally stepped up to a beautiful 2300 Trek. w/ Ultegra components about 3 or 4 months ago....

One of my question's is - ever since I got the bike, if I am in a higher gear in my rear gears, and in the second gear (I have a 3 gear crank up front) up front, my gears tend to growl on the downstroke. If I tap my big gears to where it clicks but doesnt shift up to the next higher one, SOMETIMES the growl goes away. My question is - are there SUBgears for the crank? Or is something off?

Also - Ive been riding my bike for the past three months, about 3 times a week, and have not lubed the chain. Would this be the problem to my gears shifting roughly? What oil would you recommend? And where should it all be applied.

Sorry for my novice skills of maintaining a bike, but I gotta learn sometime! :)

Thanks in advance!

Did you buy it at a local bike shop? If so, a lot of them include one free maintenance tune up within the first few months after you buy it.

yea, they do offer that Dave, but I guess I was asking just to learn for myself :) Thanks for the reply.

o2ripper,
this is what I learned after killing my Ultegra:
Do not give up! Someday it will sound good again.
I am describing teh whole way of fixing, amybe this is too much but it is supposed to work afterwards.
Your rear derailleur has got 2 screws. One should be marked Hi and one low. You start with adjusting the high one. Chainring and this small whell, where the chain changes its direction have to be 180°. So they match in a straight line. Then you go on with the low one.
It is exactly the same, make them match.
If you cannot shift all gears, adjust the tightness of the cable coming out of the derailleur. There is another screw, which you can turn with your fingers.
(Oh my god, nobody is going to understand me, I should have looked up the words. Wait, learn german and I will explain it again)
Turn all screw only quarter-wise. Remember the positions.
And for the chain I would use some lubrication. There should be some wax-like but I do not know whether it has anything to do with shifting, guess not.
Hope it helps you,
inlovewithcervelo, who spends more time with his bike than with his girl

THank you InlovewithCervelo - I will try this, but they should be in a straight line as it is. Is this why it is growling?

you can goto bike.shimano.com, under the Technical Tab, are Technical Documents. There you can find Service Documents for most all Shimano Parts. They are worth their weight in gold, that way you can adjust your bike as it needs it.

Quick Link (http://www.shimano.com.au/publish/content/australia/en/cycling/customer_support/service_diagrams/road_bike_service.html)

o2,

I bet that is what you're lookin' for, the reason it "grinds" on the downstroke is because that is when you're applying the most force to the crank...

http://www.haynes.com/na.html

I have a copy of the Haynes Bicycle manual (Haynes specialize in automotive repair manuals) and it is very comprehensive (it covers ATB and Road bikes) (it even tells you how to breakdown and clean/repair suspension forks)...

Hope this helps you in your quest to clean/maintain/repair your new baby...

I never knew that there was a haynes manual for bikes! Sweet! I have one for my car (actually a bentley) and man does it save some money! :) Thanks Rredding....

Thank you Dkidd, and Great Greyhound, great links for the shimano components! Thank you for the help everyone. Much appreciated!