A absolutely dumb question

[rebecca_f]

This is going to seem a very dumb question but I'm a beginner.

How do you shift up a gear? I went for my first ride today on my Giant Avail and couldn't shift up a gear, I could shift down but not up, I had to head back home otherwise that ride would have been quite difficult. I don't know weather I have assembled the bike wrong or it's me being dumb:o

[Biciclista]

It's probably another lever on your bike, on the other side of the one you've been ratcheting up. Get off your bike and play with all the levers. I don't know what kind of gears you have, so I can't be more helpful than that.

[OakLeaf]

What's dumb is not your question, it's the shop selling you the bike without making sure you knew how the "brifters" (brake/shifters) work...

On both derailleurs/shifters, the (smaller) inner paddle shifts you to a smaller cog, and the (larger) brake lever shifts you to a larger cog. Shifting is always by pushing centerward on the appropriate lever. So to downshift the front derailleur, you'd push the left inner paddle to the right; to downshift the rear derailleur, you'd push the right brake lever to the left; and vice versa for upshifting.

Make sure you're pedaling, but not putting too much force on the pedals, while you shift.


Unless it's the Avail 3 with the Shimano 2200 shifters that have the very small inner lever. I haven't seen those in real life, but from Shimano's website, it looks like it's the same principle of big lever->bigger cog, small lever->smaller cog, except the small lever gets pressed toward the brake lever rather than in the same direction as with the paddles in Tiagra, Sora, 105, Ultegra and Dura-Ace.

HTH

[Grog]

It is not a dumb question. I sat in the living room with my new road bike for a while before I figured that one out. (I did not get it at a shop.) I agree that the shop should have gone over this with you.

If you're like me, you've first figured out that pushing the smaller black lever did something (like shifting up, if it's on the right side). To downshift (on the right side, still) you have to push the whole thing (the small lever and what you've been thinking so far is primarily the brake) toward the inside. It takes a bit more reach and it's not as intuitive at first.

On the left side, pushing the small black lever towards the inside will make you shift into an easier chainring. Pushing the whole thing makes you go on a bigger chainring (increasing the resistance). So it is the opposite.

Why such a confusion? Basically when you press the small black lever (on either side), you always go from a big cog or chainring to a smaller one. It's easy for the bike to do that because it's like going down stairs. However, when to move to a bigger cog or chainring, you need more strength/leverage because it's like going up stairs. That's why you use the bigger lever. [This is not a very accurate way to describe it, but it helped me understand what was going on.]

Good luck, and please come back to tell us about your riding stories!

[Zen]

The letter R might help.

Right is Rear

[lph]

I had ridden only mtbs for years when I got my road bike, and I would never have figured out how the brake/shifter combo worked if I hadn't been shown first!

[bike4ever]

Does your shifter look like this one? For the right shifter, to make the gears harder you click the little thumb shifter. To make them easier, then you push the whole lever into the center of the frame. For the left shifter, you click the thumb to make it easier and push and hold the lever toward the center to make it harder.

Hope this helps.

[tctrek]

Rebecca, we've all been there where there's something about the bike that we don't understand. And either your LBS or a biking buddy needs to help. Hats off to you for doing this all on your own!

Did you get the answers you needed from these posts? Could you use some more help?

[Karma007]

Now, if one had asked "where do I sit?", that *might* have been a dumb question. But someone would still have answered it.

[OakLeaf]

Now, if one had asked "where do I sit?", that *might* have been a dumb question. But someone would still have answered it.

:D At length, with links to five or six threads about saddle and KOPS. :p

[cylegoddess]

Im glad for this post.R is rear is something I never noticed( I am little slow!)
I just figured it out by feeling it and really, wondered which was what!

[hayleymajayley]

Man my boyfriend still makes fun of me because I don't know how to shift properly. I know HOW to shift.. just not what gears I'm shifting into or anything. I just shift everything around til I magically find a comfortable gear haha. the R trick should help me out this season!! :]

[Jiffer]

Sounds like you've had your question answered in full. However, I wanted to recommend a great book for all beginners and even not so beginners.

Every Woman's Guide to Cycling: Everything You Need to Know, From Buying Your First Bike to Winning Your First Race, by Selene Yeager

It answers lots of basic questions that you have to learn SOMEWHERE. I was lucky to learn a lot from my husband, but I learned a lot from this book as well. She teaches about a lot of basics on the bike itself, plus riding technique and training. A very good investment for any beginner to intermediate rider.

[gingerale]

Sounds like you've had your question answered in full. However, I wanted to recommend a great book for all beginners and even not so beginners.

Every Woman's Guide to Cycling: Everything You Need to Know, From Buying Your First Bike to Winning Your First Race, by Selene Yeager

It answers lots of basic questions that you have to learn SOMEWHERE. I was lucky to learn a lot from my husband, but I learned a lot from this book as well. She teaches about a lot of basics on the bike itself, plus riding technique and training. A very good investment for any beginner to intermediate rider.

Yes, yes, yes!! I second this recommendation. I bought it last summer after I'd started riding and it helped me tremendously.