New Rider--having problems with gears & chain

[Zen]

Let us know how things are going with your Dolce Elite. I'm getting one sometime next month and I've never ridden a bike with gears like it before where the shift's in the brake levers. My current bike is an old Raleigh 5 speed with the old-fashioned friction shift.

Because of difficulty with shifting, I had to configure my bike so it has indexed shifting on the rear and bar-end friction shifter on the front. I like the friction shifting, it let's me "cheat" in that if I see a hill I can prepare for it without even pedaling. I can also trim the front dérailleur if I need to. Nothing wrong with good old friction shifters!

[ladyicon]

I had a Dolce triple a few years back and had trouble with shifting and chain falling off problems too. The LBS should have a little plastic add on called a chain stopper that at least stops the chain from falling into the inside. I also realized that even though you have all those gears does not mean you can use them all in any combination, well you can try but the chain falls off. Do some Google searches on chain shifting problems and see what you can find. I never did get the hang of a triple chainring. I now ride a compact double chainring and it seems much simpler. Don't give up with the Dolce, practice makes perfect. Oh, and congrats on the new bike

[La Victoria]

Thanks to all of you for your replies. I did take my bike back to the shop and I am going to retrieve it today so I will take it out later this week for a ride and I'll let you know what happened.
Best,
La Victoria