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gEAR
ChAnging
There are two different types of gear
changer. Those fitted to the right
hand side of the handlebar control
the rear gear. This moves the chain
across the six, seven, eight or nine
sprockets on the back wheel. To
help you keep track of which gear
you are in, they are usually fitted
with an indicator. When the rear
changer is working correctly, gear
changes are almost silent and go
through very quickly. However, it’s
always best to change gear well
before you start struggling to keep
the speed up. It also helps to take
a little pressure off the pedals and
change a maximum of three gears
at a time.
If a changer is fitted to the left hand
side of the handle bar, this controls
the front chainwheel gears.
Don’t try to changer gear when
the bike is standing still or coasting
downhill. In addition, don’t try to
take a gear changer apart, just give
them a quick squirt of multi purpose
lube over the exterior of the moving
parts and then wipe off the surplus.
As for rotational changers, leave
both lubrication and fault finding
entirely to your retailer.
Indexing adjustment
If gears are slow to change up to top gear or tend to jump off when you
select bottom gear, try tightening the cable adjuster half a turn. If that
doesn’t work, try another half turn. If there’s still a problem, check the
basic adjustment, as shown on page 30.
On some bikes, the lever for changing
gear upwards has a large thumb grip.
To change up, reduce the pressure on
the pedals but keep them turning. Then
push the lever once or more, depending
on how many gears you want to shift.
To change downwards, hook your
forefinger round the bottom lever, pull it
upwards until it clicks and then release
it. If you want to change more than one
gear, pull the lever two or three times
but again, keep pedalling. while you
do so.
If you find it awkward to use this type
of changer, or cannot see the gear
indicator, try adjusting its position on
the handlebars. Just loosen the bolt
on the handlebar clamp two turns and
twist the whole changer assembly.
Easy-Fire shifters
1
3
2
