I ride my bike a lot and if you change gears while pedaling you’re met with a lot of resistance and the bike creates a very audible and tactile *crunch* when the gears shift which is regarded as you making a mistake and a sign of a novice rider. And, while I’ve never driven a manual transmission car, I do know that you should also disengage the accelerator when depressing the clutch to switch gears and the transition is smoother if you get really good at this just like on a bike.
I understand that changing gears while accelerating is “bad” but I do not understand what damage is being done and why it is being done. It’s also odd to me that I can’t switch gears while applying power to a vehicle, but I can switch gears in a stand mixer without needing to shut it off.
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Okay, when you are pedaling the bike, you are pulling the chain tight and dragging it over the gears, which pulls the gears and spins the wheel.
When you switch gears, you are lifting the chain up or down and to the left or right to align it with the next gear, to give yourself an increase or decrease in speed.
So, when you pedal and shift at the same time, you are applying two different and opposing forces onto the chain, one that is trying to stay engaged with the gears and one that is trying to disengage, which causes the chain to drag improperly, and you risk damaging the chain or the gearset.
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