Gear shifter and riding a bike

[HenryBraxton]

Hello. I have mastered the basics of bicycle riding recently, and I’ve been given a bike by my sister. I’m very new to this whole cycling thing, but I have a few (silly) questions. First question, how do I prevent my feet causing pedals go backwards when I pedal forward? I think it happens because my brain freezes for a second while pedaling (since it’s not used to cycling yet). Second question, the bike has 6 speed gear shifter. But lacking any knowledge in this, I just put the 6th gear and been riding as usual (just casual riding). Will it somehow affect the bike? Third question, the saddle of the bike is flexible and can move in any angle (up/down), but it keeps moving when I sit on it, making it impossible to ride. I have used a wrench to tighten the bolts, it seemed way more firm but it still moved back and forth (very high angle, doesn’t seem to be broken but keeps moving despite tightening the bolts). Any advice? Fourth question, the back mudflap (?) that covers the rear wheel from behind the seat doesn’t stay up, constantly dropping down and bothering with rear wheel by making contact with it and causing vibration. I looked at the bolts and they seem rusty. Should I try to tight em up too? Thank you for the answers!

Topic

[ReneeYvonne]

Hi HenryBraxton,
Congrats on mastering the basics of bicycling! That’s very exciting. May I suggest taking a Basic Skills cycling class in Arlington. This class can help with all of your questions and afterwards there is a class on city cycling to get you comfortable riding in the city if you want to start doing that. You can check out the class here.

[Author]

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