I think that my biggest issue is that I am not confident that I actually know what gear I should be in at what time, etc. I also had an issue this past Saturday of dropping my chain druing a ride.

I think that I am just feeling completely overwhelmed with all of the "newness" that I am mentally psyching myself out and feeling at a loss.

I was in the same boat a few weeks ago. Don't panic! I got myself so worked up that I know I was having trouble climbing hills just because I psyched myself out mentally.

Try riding around on flat ground and just get confident with what gears make things easier or more difficult. I spent a ton of time just going in circles and shifting up and down on flat ground, otherwise you'll freak out on a hill and want to jump off.

I found this article very helpful http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/skills/uphill.htm.

I have an old bike with a downtube shifter which makes shifting a little more difficult so when I approach a monster hill I sometimes just put my bike in the easiest gear as I approach the hill so I don't have to shift on the hill. As I become stronger and more confident I'm able to do more shifting as I climb a hill.

I'm no bike expert, but from your post it looks like you have 20 speeds? Is that right? If so, I'm doubt you need to worry about switching to a triple. I have 12 speeds and live in a hilly area, it's tough and I can't wait to upgrade to a new bike, but I can manage to crank up most hills in my lowest gear now.

Good luck! Just get comfortable with your bike on flat ground and then try some hills in your easiest gear, you'll be cruising right over them in no time!

As far as the chain dropping goes -- like JStyle says, try not to put a ton of force on the pedals as you shift. Your front derailleur also may need a limit screw tightened. Check out the Park Tools website to learn how to do this yourself (it's very easy--all you need is a small screwdriver), or take it to a trusted mechanic and explain exactly how the chain is dropping. He or she will know what to do.

You don't need a triple on a road bike--triples are tougher to work with in general, and more bother than they are worth IMO. You may want to explore getting a bigger cassette (that's the cluster of gears in the bag--that website says you have a 12-25, you may want a 12-27) or if that isn't low enough, a compact crank (which means smaller chainrings in the front). Either of those things would make riding the hills easier. A 10-speed rear cassette runs from $50 to $75 and beyond, depending on what you're using and where you buy it. A compact crank in the front would likely start at $200 for the cheapest model.

Nice bike, by the way.

If you bought you bike at Performance Bike, take it back to them and explain what is happening. They will tune the bike for you at no cost and there will be someone there to help you out with how to ride. I have been to many Performance Bike stores and all of them have had great customer service.

Don't panic. If the bike is new, some of the problems you might be having could be caused from the cables stretching and settling, which is very normal for a new bike. Performance will tune your bike and this may alleviate the problem.

From the specs on that bike, it looks like you have a 53/39 double crankset and a 12/25 cassette. This means that the large front gear (aka chainring) has 53 teeth (harder to pedal) and the small front gear has 39 teeth (easier to pedal). This is pretty much the road bike standard. In the back, you have a 10-speed cassette that ranges from 25 teeth (easiest to pedal) to 12 teeth (hardest to pedal). So if you are going UP a big hill and want the easiest gear combination to pedal you would be in the small ring up-front (39) and the big gear in back (25). If you still struggle with this combination then your options are: 1) Get a new rear cassette that goes up to 26 or 27 teeth 2) Get a compact crankset up front 3) Get a triple crankset up front. I listed them in $$$ order. Option 1 is the cheapest route whereas option 2 may require a new front derailleur and option 3 probably would require a new front derailleur and a new front shifter (triple). Hope this helps, ask more questions if not.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I took a pretty hilly ride on Saturday and am happy to report that things went much better! I think that part of my problem before was not actually getting into the correct gear and the correct time and probably more importantly, I was psyching myself out with negative self-talk. So...I put on my "tour-de-france-face", relaxed, and tackled the hills. I was amazed at how much I was able to use my momentum from going down one hill to get my up the next with less effort.

So, I am feeling much better about the situation. The steeper hills are still going to give me trouble, but I think that I can handle that for now and know that I will "grow" into my bike eventually.

Thanks again for all of the help/encouragement!

Lisa