Gaint SCR 2 gear shifting question

[asukhama]

Hi,

I'm pretty new to the cycling scene but i've always wanted to get in on it. So recently i decided to purchase my first entry level road bike (based on a friends advice), the Gaint SCR 2.
Only today did I have a first chance of taking it out for a test ride (weather has been abysmal in the past few days).
While riding, I was messing around a little bit with the gears, getting the hang of shifting. While my right triggers (the rear cogs) shift properly and smooth, the front cogs don't. I noticed that when I press the my left break inwards until the end, it will shift the chain from the small to the big cogwheel. But then my bicycle chain begins to rattle (it seems to constantly bump into the shifting mechanism the whole time). The same happens when i shift down back to the lower gear by pressing the trigger under my left brake. However, by pressing the brake halfway (half-shifting?), the chain seems to fall in place and the rattling stops. But i can't seem to get it to work for the largest cog.
I bought the bicycle in Taiwan, and while I do speak relatively good chinese, the owner was explaining it will so much flair and technical terms. I thought I understood, but i guess I didn't. Anyone might have an idea of how to fix this?
I like the bike a lot otherwise, just this nuissance

 

[Turbo Rider]

Slowly double click the shifter, leaving about a second between clicks. I have the same thing with my Defy. Not sure if that's standard, but it solves it for me.

 

[asukhama]

Thanks for the advice, but it was to no avail. The problem persists. After looking up some similar issues on the net i found that it's most likely the front derailleur that might need to be readjusted. Currently, the runs through the middle of the derailleur when spinning on the smallest gear but seems to touch the mechanism when switching to the big gear.
I'm going to the store this thursday to have it readjusted

 

[lpretro1]

It is quite normal for new bike gears to need re-adjusting as everything settles in and beds down. The shop should have offered a free after sales mini-service for exactly this reason

 

[Turbo Rider]

Ah, sorry to hear that. I'd agree with Ipretro1 on the bedding in and aftersales thing as well. They should be more than happy to help. Hope it gets sorted for you

 

[asukhama]

because of logistical issues (the store was located on one of the biggest main roads in Taiwan), I couldn't test it out properly. Hopefully they will adjust it for free, but they have a tendency to be rather unhelpful when it comes to foreigners (especially when you misunderstand what they're saying, a sign for them to use the situation).
In any case, i'll pass by the store tomorrow and see if they can readjust it for me.

thanks for the replies!

 

[asukhama]

(can't edit posts apparently)
Before I go back to have it readjusted, what level of noise am i looking at ideally? Is it possible to completely reduce noise by readjusting the derailleur? Or should i expect at least some minor noise on extreme settings (large gear +lowest/highest; small gear + lowest/highest)?
I took it for another ride today. To give a better idea of how my situation is. I've got 2 (front) x 8 (rear) gears, the smallest front gear combined with the 6 highest rear gears produced virtually no noise. The 7th & 8th starting producing occasional, but noticable grinding.
Everything combined with the large front gear produces very noticable grinding of the chain hitting the derailleur. I can manually reduce the grinding by keeping my left brake trigger pushed inwards (and thus pushing the derailleur outwards). But the moment i let go, it resets position and the rattling resumes.

Sorry for wall-of-text-level amount of questions, but such is the arduous life of a beginner cyclist enthousiast

 

[mrbikerboy73]

If you run large/large or small/small gear combinations then you will get some chain rub on the front mech. This isn't really good practice as it doesn't do the chain any favours. There should be trim on the left shifter which will move the front mech very slightly to stop the chain rubbing. If every thing is noisy on the large chainring on the front but pushing the lever stops it, then it sounds like more tension is needed on the cable.

 

[asukhama]

I went back yesterday morning and they fiddled for a bit with the derailleur tension cable and the mechanism itself. There is significantly less rattle now (the majority of front small/large and middle rear gear combinations are completely soundless). The owner did it for free, jokingly saying he was expecting back there within the first few days. They told it will probably take one or two more visits to get it completely sorted out