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Unlocking the Secrets of My Bike, One Embarrassing Moment At A Time
Okay, so this is the fancy gear shifting system on my new bike. The very same gear system I insisted was malfunctioning when I carried the whole bike into the bike shop today. I had to carry the bike because the front tire had gone flat sometime after the 7.5-mile micro ride I took Saturday. I’m on a roll, what can I say?
I was only a few miles from my house Saturday when the black lever would not click any more to shift gears. The gears wouldn’t shift, so I assumed my bike was busted. I mean what else could it be?
Massive operator error, that’s what.
Today’s humbling experience involved me learning how to properly shift the gears on my bike after it became painfully clear to the young man who sold it to me that I needed some serious help. Turns out the whole breaking mechanism clicks sideways in order to shift. Duh.
I felt a little better when the bike shop guy said the flat was likely the result of a faulty tube and not anything I did.
Well, that’s a relief.
Today I was once again overwhelmed by my cycling ignorance. I’ve been riding bikes since childhood, but I feel like I’m just now learning how to do it correctly. The thought of completing a triathlon seems all the more crazy today given my the difficulty I’m having doing basic things like shifting gears, etc. My word.
P.S. I’ll have another podcast ready for you soon. Really, I still podcast.
Posted: May 27th, 2008 under Cycling.
Comments: 7
Comments
Comment from Amy
Time: May 28, 2008, 6:22 am
Jennifer, it took me a year–a year!!–to figure out how to properly gearshift my mountain bike. Come to think of it, I never did figure out how to shift on my 10-speed as a teenager. Huh. Maybe that’s why I never rode it.
Anyway, you’re not alone! And it is totally the manufacturer’s fault!!!
Your triathalon will go great…you’ll see!
Comment from martin
Time: May 28, 2008, 8:23 am
Doing it “correctly”? Screw that for now. Just keep riding it and experimenting. Remember when you were a kid and just rode around and crashed into curbs and threw your bike down in the driveway? Bikes didn’t intimidate you then, and you probably learned a lot that will benefit you now if you don’t let people in spandex intimidate you. (Sounds like you got a nice guy at the bike shop, but there are others.)
I say all this because the first road bike tends to intimidate people who are otherwise natural cyclists. They get stiff and worried on them when they wouldn’t have been that way on their homey mountain bikes, and stiff and worried isn’t a good way to cycle. Of course there are a lot of technical points if you’re going for out and out speed in a competition setting, but it doesn’t sound like that’s what you’re going for. You’ve done a century on your mountain bike, so endurance isn’t the issue. It’s more like comfort. I’d say you should just mess around by riding the new bike as much as possible, in as many contexts as possible. Then while the spandex weenies are fussing about the proper gear, you’ll be zooming by having fun.
Comment from Elizabeth
Time: May 28, 2008, 11:14 am
If it makes you feel any better, I hauled my 10-year-old’s new mountain bike into the bike shop when she insisted the front brake didn’t work. It appeared it did not work. The guy was very nice when he showed me that the front wheel had been turned 360 degrees, thus making the brake cables pretty much useless. Everything was pointing in the right direction. Felt like an idiot, but got off cheap! I do wish my daughter (the wheel-twisting bike owner) had been there.
Meanwhile, go enjoy your bike! I’ve had mine for years and probably still don’t shift right…
Comment from Stephanie
Time: May 28, 2008, 5:31 pm
I had the same problem figuring out the gears when I first rode a road bike as well. Especially since I had been riding a mnt bike until that point. Hope things work out better.
Comment from Emily
Time: May 30, 2008, 7:25 am
Don’t worry! My son is a bike mechanic, and bike shops end up teaching a lot of people way after the purchase. Whoever sold you the bike should have helped you through all shifting and braking when they fit the bike to you. They did fit the bike to you, didn’t they? If not, go back and have ‘em do it; it makes all the difference in long rides. Like Martin said, relax, enjoy, it’ll work.
P.S. Most bike shop guys are not spandex nuts, they’re good folks who understand all the flavors of bicyclists, including sporty moms like you! Have fun!
Comment from Simone
Time: June 4, 2008, 8:03 pm
Giggle, meee tooo! I had only ridden an old road bike and my mtb before i got my hands on an old but VERY nice road bike to cycle my race. First ride i took was to work, the moment I got it into work I went straight to another biker chick and said “I don’t know how to work this thing”….
Comment from Troy
Time: July 2, 2008, 8:21 am
Don’t feel bad about it. After a year on mine I still shift the wrong way at times. The fun one is when you forget to unclip your feet when stopping. I figure out where I went wrong just before I hit the ground.
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