In addition to the above, I've seen on the forum people having a bit of difficulty with 1st to 2nd on occassion expecially when cold. I find that not being too eager to change gear early in the rev range helps. I'm not saying rev the nuts off the car when the engine is cold, I am suggesting that changing too early is not helping the gear shift so smoothly, possibly because the oil and syncro are not being allowed to do their job efficiently? I've had cars with gearboxes that are known to have a particularly notchy (or grumpy as I like to call it!) gear, and I've found that allowing the revs to flow more allows the gearbox to work more efficiently. Your natural reaction when the engine is cold is to change gear very early, but I find this is when the gearbox on most cars is at it's worst.