Have I forgotten how to shift?

[DDH]

No my bottle cage isn't touching anything. Once you fixed that did it fix your problem? DH has adjusted it for me and the LBS that I got it from adjusted it before I took it home and made sure everything was going smooth.
I have a feeling I'm just not holding my tounge right, but haven't figured out the sweet spot to hold my tounge in. LOL

I will have DH look and make sure nothing else is pushing or touching it, but from what I can see nothing is.
My DH told me today he didn't know what was going on, because it works fine for him. I told him "fine you get on it and you ride it".
I really love this bike, but that one little thing is driving me buggy. It's not all the time, but it's seems to take a spell on a ride where it does it constantly and then I will have a ride where it may not do it at all.

[CyclChyk]

Are you perhaps shifting too "quickly"? I guess what I'm really asking is that when you shift, do you push quickly, or hold the shifter a couple of seconds before letting go??

I did not have a problem with chain coming off, but I did have a problem of not being able to shift to the big ring and it was because I wasn't holding the shifter, just pushing it and letting go. I have Shimano gears.

I hope I am explaining this in a manner that makes sense. Hope its info you can use.

[xeney]

I had that same problem on my mountain bike, and it was because I didn't realize there was sort of a knack to shifting in the front. The rear is easy, and my road bike is easy, but there is kind of a sweet spot on that front shifter. My husband could shift it find but I had all kinds of trouble until I figured out that I was not holding it hard or long enough.

I have low-end Shimano components. I have wondered if upgrading might make it less of an issue, but I think it is something I can probably just work out with some practice.

[CyclChyk]

Xeney - My Giant has Ultegra and I had a HARD time with the front gears. Same thing as you. Not long enough or hard enough. My Bianchi is 105's and so far it shifts like a dream...... so... don't know if that means Ultegra isn't much of an improvement over 105's, or that it means upgrading would just cost money and not fix the problem.

[salsabike]

Actually, your DH SHOULD get on and ride it. Or your LBS guy. Bikes behave differently when the weight of a real person is on them than when someone's shifting gears and moving the pedals by hand. Sounds like some kind of chain or derailleur adjustment might be necessary.

[Tali]

In case this is an issue, I'll mention it. I did this when I first switched to Rapid Fire shifters. You can't really shift both front and rear at once. Shift one, then the other. Once I figured this out, no more chain drop. Maybe this is waaaayy too stupid to even mention, but hey, I'm ok with admitting my own learning curve, which was STTTTEEEEEEPPP when I started biking. I have no idea how experienced you are, so no offense intended......

[CyclChyk]

totally off topic - note to TALI - I am not afraid of spiders but your avitar freaks me out!!!