Embarassing but... gears?!

[vickster]

Cables can stretch and the mechanisms can need adjusting, so take the bike back to the shop for its 6 week check up (assuming you didn't buy online, in which case you'll need to learn to do the adjustments yourself or pay a shop)

If you did buy from a shop, as above, it's a bit rubbish they didn't explain the gears to you

You won't break the chain if you avoid cross chaining. The worst that might happen is that the chain comes off, most likely when swapping the front cogs (right lever) when the chain is under load, probably on a hill, so make sure you swap to the little ring ASAP if going to need easier gears. Also when changing the front, make sure you are in the middle of the cassette at the back

 

[Venod]

(some have the functions of left and right levers swapped)

I know they have the brakes swapped, I didn't realise they had the gear functions swapped also.

 

[MichaelW2]

In practice, for most riding, you can leave the chain on the middle ring up front and just use the rear gears.
Going up steep hills you can change to the small front chainring.
If you find yourself spinning out downhill, change to the large front chainring.

As you come to a stop, change to a low gear for an easy start.

 

[vickster]

Is it not more likely a double than triple?

 

[Dogtrousers]

And don't be too worried about this "cross chaining" that everyone's going on about. It's not ideal, but it won't break your bike. Worst it will do is cause your gears to be a bit noisy, and cause passing purists to have a fit of the vapours. You'll soon develop an ear for it, so if you do it by mistake you can rectify before anyone notices.

For now concentrate on getting used to the controls.

Change the left hand (high or low range) in response to what's ahead ("ah ha, hill coming up, I'll move to the little ring in anticipation").
Change with the right hand in response to what's happening now ("ouch, this is a hill, I'll change down now")

Remember to change down to a lower gear when stopping, or you'll find yourself having to start off in a high gear (remember the bike has to be moving to change gear).

 

[rugby bloke]

Lots of great advice here. The only thing I'll add is that the key is getting a feel for the right gear - which will come from experience and mileage. Keep looking ahead and anticipate when a gear change will be needed. There is nothing worse than coming to a steep climb and finding yourself stuck in a high gear. Its not the end of the world but much clunking of gears is normally required. A bit of advice I read from Wiggo as well - when climbing always try to leave yourself a final gear to drop down into !

 

[KneesUp]

Minor correction to @KneesUp post. Cross chaining would be to use the smallest front cog and smallest rear cog, or the largest front cog and largest rear cog.

Thank you - of course you are right. In my defence it was very late I've edited the oringial post now.

 

[mjr]

and... you need to be pedaling when you change gear...

And ideally, pedalling, but not pushing hard.

With experience, you decide to hell with wobbly brake levers and go back to simple friction lever setups, or a Sturmey Archer trigger - or at least I did

 

[ColinJ]

I know they have the brakes swapped, I didn't realise they had the gear functions swapped also.

I wondered about that myself after posting!

It is just the brakes that are swapped, isn't it! That can be achieved by routeing the brake cables differently. To swap the shifters too would mean Shimano manufacturing two different sets of shifters.

I will cut that comment from my post!

 

[GravityFighter]

Here's the best guide I found when learning for the first time: http://pedalpowerct.com/articles/how-to-shift-shimano-sti-levers-pg170.htm

 

[annirak]

I know they have the brakes swapped, I didn't realise they had the gear functions swapped also.

They don't. It's just the brakes.

The brake levers are swapped so that you can signal across traffic and use the rear brake at the same time.

 

[S-Express]

Got my first bike the weekend. A specialized allez elite 2016. Gdoupset is shimano tiagra.

So i ve been round the block a rew times however i just cant get too grips with these gears. Is the left hand lever for flat road or right for hills etc?

Any basic tips greatly apreciated as i dont want too mess the chain up already!.

Just keep clicking on the levers until you work out what's going on. It's very intuitive.

 

[Goggs]

It certainly doesn't help that, in the UK at least, the controls are basically backwards. To my mind it makes no sense to have the left-hand gear lever operating the front changer and the left-hand brake lever operating the rear brake. Totally counter-intuitive. On all my previous bikes with cable operated brakes I would reverse them so that they worked in the same way as my gears.

It paid off big-time once about 20 years ago too. I had parked my bike up outside the local newsagent and standing in the queue I saw a guy make off with my bike (no, it wasn't locked). I dropped everything, ran out of the shop to give chase. The scumbag got to the end of the road, started to turn right and went flying over the handlebars. I caught up with him and he ran off through the local park. My rear wheel was buckled, because a car ran over it while it was lying there.

Nowadays my bikes tend to have hydraulic brakes which always come with the levers hooked up the 'wrong' way. I've never gotten around to fixing this and now, every time I go for the brakes in a hurry, I have to process what lever to hit. Old habits die hard.

*Edit - I just bought a bike to replace the one that was stolen 8 months ago & guess what? It's left-hand drive! Order restored.

 

[EnPassant]

Front
Downhill - Big Ring
Uphill - Little Ring
Flat - Wind dependent*

Back
Finessing it.

The only change you really really ought to avoid is big to little at the front when you're nearly at a standstill cause it turns out that lump was actually a hill, particularly if you are also trying out clipless for the first time....

*Also possibly fitness if you're anything like me.

 

[ColinJ]

It certainly doesn't help that, in the UK at least, the controls are basically backwards. To my mind it makes no sense to have the left-hand gear lever operating the front changer and the left-hand brake lever operating the rear brake. Totally counter-intuitive. On all my previous bikes with cable operated brakes I would reverse them so that they worked in the same way as my gears.

Funnily enough, I had never given that a moment's thought until today. I was putting a new stem, bars and bar tape on my bike and changing the cabling while I was at it. I got confused and suddenly realised what you just pointed out - that the brakes and shifters operate opposite ends of the bike!

It doesn't really bother me because I am used to it - my hands just do what they are supposed to do without me having to think about it. I am not accustomed to putting cables on bikes though so I had to engage a brain that was not expecting to do any work ...