My lovely new bike.

[Savra]

I got my new 1st road bike yesterday!! She is a beautiful 2006 Specialized Dolce Elite. I have one question. I seem to have problems shifting up on the front derailer. The bike shop told me I just don't hold the shifter long enough. I think it should shift up faster. I especially have this problem going into the top third gear but today the chain almost fell off going from the 1st gear to the second. Am I doing something wrong or is it the bike?
And, for my first day out on my lovely new bike - I almost broke my hand falling over on from a dead stop trying to use the clipless pedals. The left hand is not working so well right now. My neighbor keeps asking me - Why are you purposely attaching yourself to the bike?????? and I'm having a hard time answering her.

[KatyLady]

I can't help with your shifting question - but I can say welcome to TE.

As for your cleats, I'm impressed that you are using cleats immediately after buying a road bike. It took me a year to break down and give them a try. (But then I'm sort of old and clutsy.) When I first switched to cleats I used Speedplay Zeros but I always felt like it was just a matter of time before I fell. I recently switched to Speedplay Frogs and can't believe how easy it is to get in and out of them.

Hope your hand heals quickly. And I bet someone will be able to give you the shifting information you are looking for.

[boy in a kilt]

I got my new 1st road bike yesterday!! She is a beautiful 2006 Specialized Dolce Elite. I have one question. I seem to have problems shifting up on the front derailer. The bike shop told me I just don't hold the shifter long enough. I think it should shift up faster. I especially have this problem going into the top third gear but today the chain almost fell off going from the 1st gear to the second. Am I doing something wrong or is it the bike?

Shimano shifters require a long, steady pull to get the derailleur to move from smaller to larger gears. I'm not sure how you are numbering your chain rings (front gears) so I can't say too much more about it.

[DDH]

Welcome to TE!!! The shifting, I have found is a delicate art at times. I drop my chain at times to, and sometimes I can work the shifter to get the chain back on, and sometimes I have to stop and put it back on. I don't do it nearly as often anymore. I have found on mine, it's particular about have a quick smooth motion. I seem to only have trouble with the 3 front rings and my problem is usually going from the the small ring on the front to the second ring. I don't know all the trerminolgy so I may be confusing everyone but myself. LOL Anyway, I say all that just to say that you aren't alone, and if it's not something wrong with the bike, then you will learn with practice.

Same thing with the clipless peddles. I would practice cliping in and out of them several times before I went out on the road again. I think everyone or just about everyone has fallen at least once when going to clipless peddles.

I hope your hand gets better quickly, and I would love to see pictures of your new beauty!!

[koala]

LBS is right -- hold it until you feel it move, then let go. You'll do just fine, you just have to get used to it. Yes, it takes a little longer to shift. You have to go a ways up in $$$ level of componentry to get quicker. I have a Dolce elite, and it is the same. But I love my bike! What color is yours?

And we all have our embarrassing moments trying to learn clipless pedals. I crashed into the curb going uphill about 2 mph. I saw it coming, just couldn't get out! Oh well..

[Savra]

Thank you for all of your encouragement! The hand is doing better today. Someday there will be no more falling, right. Thank you for the advice on shifting. I'm sure it will help. I will post pictures of my bike a little later today. She is powder blue with a black seat. I must say, there is a world of difference between riding a road bike and riding a mountain bike. I went up hills in the last two days at speeds I never could have on my mountain bike. I can cut through the air like butter. I love it!!!! And along the same vein, this is a great community of bikers.

[Ana]

Does your bike have Tiagara or 105?

I have Shimano 105 and have less shifting issues than you describe but I still do have to look down when I do bigger shifts to make sure I'm not stressing my chain/cogs too much :P (i.e. big ring on big ring, etc). When I was starting out on my road bike, I had to look down every time I shifted to verify my shift and what it looked like. Which was kind of dangerous as a beginner because that meant I wasn't always looking where I was going. Then again, I was very cautious about where I rode because I was so unsteady in my shifting. Some people remember which gears they are in but I like to just shift and enjoy the ride

Plus I am hyper-vigilant about cars around me--I have to know where they are at all times! So knowing where the cars are takes priority over what gear I'm in!

So maybe you'll want to upgrade your front or rear derailleur as you become more proficient at shifting

Just curious: did you ride any other bikes with upgraded componentry? Did you notice a difference?

[Ana]

Oh! And don't forget that the tension on your clipless pedals is most likely adjustable! That means the amount of force required to clip in or swing your foot out to unclip! If you find the tension that is right for you, you will have less accidents

I had a more experienced cycler help introduce me to cycling so they loosened the tension for me when I first started out so my feet wouldn't be trapped onto my bike in case I fell because I couldn't detach my pedal

But there are all kinds of things I learned as I rode more about my bike

[Savra]

The derailer is a Shimano 105 for both front and rear. I did notice on my ride today that if I change what gear I am in in the back then I have less problems shifting up in the front (I hope that makes sense). And your right, I do need to release the tension on the left peddle (the side I fell on). I can unclip from the right much easier than the left.

[CindyVA]

Savra,

I just picked up my first road bike last week after riding a hybrid for a long time. I also went to straight to clipless pedals.

You may get a chuckle out of the thread that I posted yesterday on the very same subject!

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=22751

I made a lot of progress in one day of practice! We CAN do this!

Cindy

[redrhodie]

I also had a Dolce with 105, and I had trouble shifting from the granny gear, so I ended up switching to a compact double. That may not be the right solution for you, if you're in super hilly terrain. I think one thing that may help is making sure you're in the middle of the cassette when you shift the chainrings.

[Savra]

I guess my biggest question in all this is why does the road bike have such a hard time shifting when my mountain bike didn't? Is it the type of derailer being used? Or the shifters? Is it the triple in general or just my Dolce Elite? I will admit, I did ride a few other bikes before buying this one but only from bike stores that allowed jaunts around parking lots and not the neighborhood. This was the first bike I got a good feel for. I bought it for it's fit and because I liked the bike store more than anything else. Other bikes seemed to shift better but didn't seem to fit right. I went for fit instead of shifting in the hopes the shifting issues would work themselves out or that I would get used to them. I admit, I am getting used to them. So I guess I made the right decision on fit.

[KnottedYet]

I bought it for it's fit and because I liked the bike store more than anything else. Other bikes seemed to shift better but didn't seem to fit right. I went for fit instead of shifting in the hopes the shifting issues would work themselves out or that I would get used to them. I admit, I am getting used to them. So I guess I made the right decision on fit.

You did good!

Shifters/brifters/derailleurs can all be changed. Frames, well, not so much. If the bike feels good but the shifting is annoying: that can be changed. If the bike shifts great but the fit is annoying: ooh, bigger problem.

Congratulations on your new bike!

[VeloVT]

Hi Savra,
Congratulations on your new bike -- sounds like you're off to a great start!

It took me some time to get comfortable shifting through my front chainrings. The bike I started on (which I just sold) was Ultegra/triple. I have a 105/triple and my new bike is new Ultegra/double. In general, triples tend to be a bit slower shifting and harder-shifting. My 105 has always been a bit fiddlier than the Ultegra triple was but I finally got it tuned in and it's been very reliable for me this season, so you can certainly do just fine with 105.

All of that said, a lot of getting a clean shift in front is technique. I never drop my chain anymore, and I make the shift up into my big chainring on the first try too. A few tips:
1. The timing for shifting up (into bigger rings in front) and shifting down (into smaller rings in front) is different. To shift up on 105, you can expect to have to give the shifter a big shove (bigger than you might expect) -- do it decisively, and you do have to hold it a tad longer than when downshifting. When you downshift, it should also be decisive (timid shifting can lead to undershifting), but on my triples at least this is a much quicker shift, and if you hold it too long you risk overshifting (overshifting on the way down can mean that you drop your chain).

On my 2008 Ultegra double, the upshift on the front is really light and easy, almost the same as downshifting, so this varies according to components.

2. **This is really important. Upshifting or downshifting in the front, you need to let up on the pedals for a moment. You don't need to STOP pedaling, you just need to softpedal for a revolution. Many a dropped chain has come from trying to shift into the granny while whaling up a hill. Practice this and the rhythm will become automatic for you.

3. If you should drop your chain, you can usually sweep it back up without having to stop if you **RELAX** and immediately upshift (while soft-pedaling).

Oh, and I was a wreck when I first got clipless pedals. My boyfriend and I got into lots of fights because he would ride as normal, but little (normal) things he would do would make me nervous because I was scared to death that I"d get put in a situation in which I would have to stop or slow suddenly and I wouldn't be able to get out of the pedals . It took me a month or two to get relaxed and comfy with them. Now it's totally second nature and I wouldn't give up clipless pedals for anything, so just keep riding .

[VeloVT]

A few more thoughts...

A lot of women who have small hands have a hard time with the big shove needed to shift up. If you have small hands, you might look into shimming your levers or replacing them with short reach levers (though this last option can get $$$).

Bars that are too wide can make everything feel kind of awkward too. Smaller bars will not specifically address "reach to the lever" problems, but it could help the whole setup feel more natural. This is not a terribly expensive thing to change either.

Lastly, adjustment really does make a big difference. A derailleur that is just slightly off adjustment can make shifting too slow (or too fast, though in my experience it's more common for a not-so-good tune-up job to result in a chain that hesitates and rattles and undershifts). Sometimes I think it can seem to be shifting properly on the stand, when hand-pedaled, but when you get it out onto the street under real shifting conditions it's not quite right. So it would be worth checking that too. Once I was having a couple different lingering problems including front der adjustment; they kept adjusting it and telling me it was fine, but then it would hesitate forever when downshifting (and other assorted issues). Finally I took it in on a slow day, and had them adjust, then I'd go out and ride in the parking lot and report back, then they'd adjust some more, then I'd test it again. After 3-4 rounds we got it perfect. In your case, you might make sure a mechanic has actually test-ridden your bike to check the adjustments, not just run through the gears on a stand.