Shifting Gears - Which way?

salopcyclist
salopcyclist Posts: 11
edited June 2010 in Road beginners
This may be a stupid question :oops:

On my road bike shift down using the small lever, and up using the big lever, it has a Shimano 105 rear derailler.

I have just got a new bike which has an XT rear derailler and it is the other way round! This is slightly confusing as i have to remember which bike I am on before changing gears

Is there a standard way round or is it just the way it has been set up? Both are using Shimano Flightdeck shifters

Comments

  • hopper1
    hopper1 Posts: 4,389
    Re post this in Workshop, may get a better interest...
    XT is offroad rear mech, so that may be a reason.
    It definitely seems wrong to use the little (inner) lever, to change up the rear sprockets...
    Start with a budget, finish with a mortgage!
  • ratsbeyfus
    ratsbeyfus Posts: 2,841
    This happened to me when I replaced a rear derailleur on my hybrid... it was sprung the opposite way to the broken one and meant that the thumb-shifters worked the opposite way round.

    So have a look at your rear derailleurs. Looosen the cables on them and watch to see which way the spring carries them (i.e. towards or away from the spokes). If one goes one way and the other the other you've found the root of your problem!

    Happy fettling.

    I had one of them red bikes but I don't any more. Sad face.

    @ratsbey
  • softlad
    softlad Posts: 3,513
    it's the difference between having a 'top normal' mech and a 'low normal' - one shifts down the cassette as you release cable tension, the other shifts up. If you want the same shift pattern on both bikes you will have to swap the XT rear mech for a top normal version...
  • kayakerchris
    kayakerchris Posts: 361
    This sort of thing really confuses my wife as the levers on each handlebar on her hybrid do different things. I understand that both thumb levers increase tension in the system but she cannot easily get round the idea that one side the thumb makes her go faster and on the other hand it is for going up hills.

    Does anybody else find this confusing and can you mix and match derailleurs to overcome it?
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  • ratsbeyfus
    ratsbeyfus Posts: 2,841
    edited June 2010
    kayakerchris wrote:
    This sort of thing really confuses my wife as the levers on each handlebar on her hybrid do different things. I understand that both thumb levers increase tension in the system but she cannot easily get round the idea that one side the thumb makes her go faster and on the other hand it is for going up hills.

    Does anybody else find this confusing and can you mix and match derailleurs to overcome it?

    Yep - on my hybrid both my thumb shifters now make gearing harder, and the finger shifters make the gearing easier - swap the rear mech on your wifes back for the opposite one (ie. switch from top to bottom normal - or the other way round) and you're sorted.

    I had one of them red bikes but I don't any more. Sad face.

    @ratsbey
  • salopcyclist
    salopcyclist Posts: 11
    softlad wrote:
    it's the difference between having a 'top normal' mech and a 'low normal' - one shifts down the cassette as you release cable tension, the other shifts up. If you want the same shift pattern on both bikes you will have to swap the XT rear mech for a top normal version...

    Thanks, you learn something new every day. I think I guess i will have to get used to it then

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