Double tap shifters and some buying advice please.
jaffajim0
Posts: 18
I have just received my Boardman Team Carbon and am itching to ride it. It is my 1st road bike and I have no idea how to use the gear shifters. They are the double tap variety. I also wondered what the view on slime inner tubes is. I assume a road bike is more prone to punctures and even if there is a slight weight increase would they give me more protection?
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Sorry, can't help on double tap, but found this:Double Tap shifting works with a single lever located directly behind that of the brakes. Push this lever in towards the frame once for a downshift and then in a little further for a shift up in the cogset.
On punctures, I think a road bike should get less punctures (higher pressures, less risk of pinch flats/snakebites, fewer thorns). To minimise punctures use the correct pressure at all time (I put 110psi in my 23x700c tyres) - the correct pressure is within the range on the tyre sidewall, modified depending on your weight and the degree of comfort you want. Also, some tyres are very much more resistant to punctures, I have never had a puncture on my SPecialized All Conditions Pro's, which I have on two bikes and have covered many thousands of miles.
I wouldn't use slime or any other contraption, it can unbalance your wheel, make it heavier, and presumably messes the tube up if you do need to repair it.0 -
Take the bike to a quiet road with little or no traffic and experiment. That's the best way to learn. It's called "double tap" so try out what happens when you tap once or when you tap twice. you'll pick it up in no time.0
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neilo23 wrote:Take the bike to a quiet road with little or no traffic and experiment. That's the best way to learn. It's called "double tap" so try out what happens when you tap once or when you tap twice. you'll pick it up in no time.
The name is a bit of a misnomer. You don't actually have to press it twice. Press it half way and it moves up a gear, press it all the way through in one motion and it moves down.0 -
I have just been out for a quick spin before I read this post and after a bit of frustration I found that it is indeed a bit of a misnomer as you get nowhere if you tap it twice but instead half way and all the way works fine. Thanks for the reply's. For my 1st ride I found that you feel every bump and curse council's (non) road maintenance programmes :evil: . The seat was not uncomfortable on the short trip (5 miles) that I did but I am expecting it to be so on a longer run. The only problem I identified immediately was the discomfort in the hands. Notably the fleshy bits at the bottom of my thumbs. I was wearing gloves so I don't know if the gloves are not padded enough, if the handlebars are not padded enough or if the seating position is wrong :?: . I did not suffer any back pain but it was a short ride. Any advice greatly appreciated.Garry H wrote:neilo23 wrote:Take the bike to a quiet road with little or no traffic and experiment. That's the best way to learn. It's called "double tap" so try out what happens when you tap once or when you tap twice. you'll pick it up in no time.
The name is a bit of a misnomer. You don't actually have to press it twice. Press it half way and it moves up a gear, press it all the way through in one motion and it moves down.
Lovely smooth ride when you find good road though. :P0 -
You get used to it all!0
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did you ride on the hoods?0
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You can suffer discomfort if your gloves or mitts have too much padding. It creeps into one place and creates a ridge that's quite painful after any distance.
Please don't use bold italic in posts like that. It's not easy on the eye.:)0 -
The gloves, I think, are not over padded and it does all stay in the same place. The pain is like a strong ache over the whole area and not like something that is protruding.ChrisInBicester wrote:You can suffer discomfort if your gloves or mitts have too much padding. It creeps into one place and creates a ridge that's quite painful after any distance.
Please don't use bold italic in posts like that. It's not easy on the eye.:)
As for the bold italics, I still think that is preferable to having to squint to read what you wrote
Just my idea to make it look less boring 
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Suggests you might be putting too much weight through your hands, might be inexperience with the position, lack of core strength, bars too low in relation to the seat etc. Maybe could try initially rotating the bars upwards slightly (loosen bolts at front of stem) may make it more comfy. If bars are too low, could stem be flipped?0
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jaffajim0 wrote:As for the bold italics, I still think that is preferable to having to squint to read what you wrote Just my idea to make it look less boring
Oh. I used small so as not make it look like a shouty 'oi - don't use bold italics'. Still think it looks sh!te personally but there yer go.0 -
having suffered a puncture halfway to work on my daily commute I switched the tubes to slime. I also have a boardman team and the only problem with the slime tubes is that the valve tube is a bit shory and needs more care attaching the pump. However the relief of knowing that barring a major puncture I will be able to get home is worth the slight increase in weight. Obviously if i was racing I wouldn't bother.
I think the bar tape is one area that halfords have economised on the bike and I find the whole grip quite small especially on the drops. When I pluck up the courage I will probably swap the tape. I believe that specialised to a nice thick tape but haven't seen it.
Good luck
Chris0 -
alfablue wrote:Suggests you might be putting too much weight through your hands, might be inexperience with the position, lack of core strength, bars too low in relation to the seat etc. Maybe could try initially rotating the bars upwards slightly (loosen bolts at front of stem) may make it more comfy. If bars are too low, could stem be flipped?
I've had my Team Carbon 3 weeks and find my hands hurting and going numb, flipped the stem today (5 min job) and it felt much better (too used to MTB bars). I'll leave it like that for a month or two until I get used to them.0 -
What do you mean by flip the stem?? Sorry for my ignorance but this is a beginners thread :oops: .spursn17 wrote:alfablue wrote:Suggests you might be putting too much weight through your hands, might be inexperience with the position, lack of core strength, bars too low in relation to the seat etc. Maybe could try initially rotating the bars upwards slightly (loosen bolts at front of stem) may make it more comfy. If bars are too low, could stem be flipped?
I've had my Team Carbon 3 weeks and find my hands hurting and going numb, flipped the stem today (5 min job) and it felt much better (too used to MTB bars). I'll leave it like that for a month or two until I get used to them.0 -
The stem holds your bars to the fork steerer. They are angled,
this one points slightly down. If you take it off and fit it the other way up you get the stem pointing upwards, thus raising the bars.
You have to know about tensioning the headset this video explains.
Might be worth considering rotating the bars a bit first, I find that out of the shop bikes often have the hoods slightly lower than I like (I like the start of the hood to make a horizontal line with the top of the bars), so a few degrees of rotation sorts this and less downward force is placed on them.0 -
Excellent. Thanks very much for that and posting the picture is a big help. I will try rotating the bars a bit 1st and will follow your ideal set up as a guide.0
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I have the bars in this sort of position, most of my weight is on the heel of my palms rather the crook of my thumbs
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