How to change gears?

millerblade

Hello.

Im a complete newbie so you will all read this and think im an idiot! However last time I had a bike I was about 12 and it had 1 switch on 1 handle which ranged between numbers 1 to 6.

Im 35 now and just bought a carrera vengeance 2nd hand. Im wanting to ride to help me loose weight and fitness.

Not been out on it yet. On both handles there are various switches! Gear related I assume. I cant find a manual online.

Here are 2 photos showing each side. Wherr my nails are is where the 2 switches are on each side and obvioualy you can see the dials.

Hope you can help



 

Thanks
Danielle

cougie

Gears for the sprockets on your wheel are controlled by levers on the right.

The switch between the chainrings is on the left.

To start off with just ride somewhere flat and practice the ones on the right. They get the most action. One's on the left is for more extreme inclines.

Only change one side at a time and keep pedalling as you do but just ease off the power slightly.

millerblade

Thanks for replying. What should I have my left side on? Which switch shall I use? Same for my right?

Thanks

mattyfez

millerblade wrote:

Thanks for replying. What should I have my left side on? Which switch shall I use? Same for my right?

Thanks

There's two switches on each gear shifter, one for shifting up and the other for down. Easier gears or harder gears if you like.

You have 3 cogs where your pedals are, I'd stay on the middle cog for now, which is the middle position on the left gear shifter, and then just forget about the left hand side gear levers for now. You'll notice the red indicator move when you change gears.

just use the cogs on the rear wheel which are controlled by the shifter on the right side of the handlebars until you get a bit more used to shifting up and down on the rear cogs.

This will be very much like what you are used to from your old bike, except it goes from 1 to 8 rather than 1 to 6.

Basically as you build up speed you'd start off in a lower (easier to pedal) gear. And select gradually higher gears the more you build up speed.

For any given speed you don't want your legs to be pedaling at 100mph and spinning, nor do you want to be in too high a gear where you're struggling to push the pedals around.

It's something you'll get a feel for with a bit of practice.

snowster

As above nice nails

millerblade

snowster wrote:

As above nice nails

Thanks

Red.Devil.Ghost

Just to add, with the actual levers. So looks like you have sram kit, which I believe is normally 'push, push'. This means both levers on each side need to be pushed to change gear. On the right hand side lever, the one that changes the cog on the wheel, the upper lever will take you up through the gears. The lower lever will take you down through the gears. The largest cog (1st gear, ignoring the chainring position at the front) requires least effort to move and the smallest cog (furthest from the wheel) requires the most effort. When you are moving at speed, you won't want to be in too low a gear, because as said above you'll just be spinning really fast and going hardly anywhere.

On the left hand side, the levers are reversed. The top lever will move the chain outwards on the front chainrings, towards the bigger chainring, and the lower lever will move it in towards the frame, and towards the smaller chain ring. The same principle is true on the front chain rings; the larger chainring will require less effort than the smallest chainring.

If you ride a bike with Shimano gears, they are slightly different in that they are 'push, pull'. The lower levers will still require you to push away with your thumb, but the upper levers you pull towards you with your index finger. Having recently ridden my brother in laws bike with sram kit, I much prefer the Shimano way (but I am used to it; many will prefer sram).

Having said that, from the pics it doesn't look like there is space to push the upper levers. If that's the case, you'll need to pull them instead.

They are much better than old gripshift stuff which was popular when we were kids, and pretty reliable too.

Uber_Pod

Red.Devil.Ghost wrote:

If you ride a bike with Shimano gears, they are slightly different in that they are 'push, pull'. The lower levers will still require you to push away with your thumb, but the upper levers you pull towards you with your index finger.

Just to completely blow your mind (it blew mine), at least some shimano shifters have two way release. This means the smaller upper lever you pull with your finger, can also be pushed with your thumb too. :shock:

JBA

Red.Devil.Ghost wrote:

On the left hand side, the levers are reversed. The top lever will move the chain outwards on the front chainrings, towards the bigger chainring, and the lower lever will move it in towards the frame, and towards the smaller chain ring. The same principle is true on the front chain rings; the larger chainring will require less effort than the smallest chainring.

If you ride a bike with Shimano gears, they are slightly different in that they are 'push, pull'. The lower levers will still require you to push away with your thumb, but the upper levers you pull towards you with your index finger. Having recently ridden my brother in laws bike with sram kit, I much prefer the Shimano way (but I am used to it; many will prefer sram

There is a lot of fail in those statements.

On the left hand side the larger lever will move the mech outwards and on to a larger chainring. The smaller lever will move the mech inwards and on to a smaller chainring.
A larger chainring equates to a higher gear and requires more effort.

Most modern Shimano shifters, at least from SLX upwards, are dual action. They can be operated push, push or push, pull.

Generally, shifters have a small lever and a large lever. The small lever releases tension on the mech and allows it to move towards the smaller sprocket or chainring. The larger, usually longer lever applies tension and moves the mech onto a larger sprocket or chainring.

millerblade - just take your time and experiment. You’ll soon have the gears sussed.

Red.Devil.Ghost

Well, I didn't realise the Shimano is dual action; I never use the push so fair enough

The bit about inwards and outwards - I knew that, not sure why I put it the other way round. I even said that the left hand lever works the opposite way to the right hand side so of course the upper lever moves inwards. Not sure what happened there at all!

But you are right. A lot of fail! Ignore me totally.

JBA

R.D.G - Mind farts happen to us all from time to time.