18 speed Shimano Deore or 27

If it has 18 gears, is that with double chainset (two rings at the front, where the pedal fixes) or a triple chainset?

If the shop told you 27 gears is only for off roading, they are lying to you. Mtb's have 27 gears, i.e. triple chain ring and a 9 speed cassette at the back.

Modern road bikes generally come with 9, 10 or even 11 speed cassettes, so with a double chainring at the front this gives 18, 20 or 22 gears, however some come with a triple chainset, more suitable for touring or for riding in hilly areas if you are not so fit. I have a road bike with 27 gears and one with 20. All perfectly normal.

If they have sold you one with a 6 speed cassette then they have not only lied to you, but probably sold you an old model. If they have sold you one with a 9 speed cassette and a double chain ring then you do not have as wide a range of gearing as you might want.

Whether the bike is good or bad, or the gears as you want or need, I despise the bike shop for either their ignorance or their dishonesty!

The 2010 Shape Pro is sold as a fitness bike (I think this means a fast-ish flat barred road bike). It has a 50/34 chainset (which is known as a compact double).

The bike you have been sold is, therefore, presumably as per the correct specification, however you may not have been sold the bike that best meets your needs.

If you are a reasonable cyclist, can get up most hills, don't want to do loaded touring, then this may be fine. If you struggle on hills and/or want to carry loads and/or long day or multi-day rides then perhaps a bike with a triple chainset would be better.

If you can manage fine with the gearing, no problem. If it is unsuitable, well I think they have mis-sold the bike to you.

What does it say on the receipt?

Strangely, I checked the Corratec website and they don't mention how many gears. So I googled your bike and found this strangish description at:

http://www.damianharriscycles.co.uk/pro ... s-Trekking

It says "27 Speed Shimano Deore" but the picture clearly shows a double ie 18 speed. I checked a few other sites and there's no real mention of drive train description. I just wonder if the bikes are set up individually by each LBS for their customers own specification?

As to whether 27 is better then 18 speeds...me personally I hate triple chainsets, I just don't like the feeling of my legs spinning furiously in the granny gear. But then again, I am leaning more towards single gears and getting off the bike to push

A member of my family was recently sold a Corratec Shape Pro by a "certain" bike shop chain. I won't name them, but they sell a lot of Raleighs, and have a word that rhymes with "wife" in the name... The bike was sold as being the best thing since sliced loaves, but in the cold light of day, said family member realised it was overpriced, not particularly high spec, very little info was available about it online, and crucially, no demo was offered. For these reasons the order was cancelled later that day, and said shop will get no more business from my family... FWIW it seemed like a nice, light bike, but just not worth the asking price (c. £900) unless there is something seriously missing from the scant spec available from the Corratec website.

Anyhoo, my Focus hybrid (cost £240 earlier this year) has a full Deore groupset on it, and has a triple chainring. I'm not the most fit, or least fit, and I'd say I use the smallest chainring about 5% of the time. It doesn't strike me as particularly necessary. It'll depend on the gearing at the back I guess, but if it's anything like mine (MTB cassette, not road bike) you just won't need the small chainring.

My thoughts were that it was worth around the £500 mark tops, when compared to hybrid/flat bar roadies like the Spesh Vita, hence my slightly unsubtle advice to aforementioned family member...