12
Braking
An efficient braking technique will
improve your riding experience and keep
you safe. Understand your brakes
function and how they react under
different conditions is essential for your
safety. Very importantly too, remember
which lever controls the front brake and
which one controls the rear brake.
▪
Left hand side brake lever pulls the front
brake
▪
Right hand side brake lever pulls the
rear brake
Always use both brakes at the same time
and practice modulating the braking force
you apply between front and rear brakes
to avoid locking the wheels. The braking
force is at its peak just before the wheel
locks.
Applying too much force on a brake
lever will cause the wheel to lock and
can result in a loss of control, serious
injury or even death.
Shifting gears
Frequent and efficient shifting increases
the chain and gears durability and can
reduces muscular fatigue.
Make a habit of starting off on a low gear
and work your way toward a higher gear
as you are accelerating, thus maintaining
a comfortable pedaling cadence.
Avoid shifting under high chain tension
such as when climbing a steep incline.
For a smooth gear shifting, briefly stop
pedaling or reduce the force being applied
to the pedals when shifting the gears.
▪
Twist the shifter away from you to shift
to a higher gear (
+
)
▪
Twist the shifter towards you to shift to
a lower gear (
-
)
Be sure to shift the shifting lever one
gear at a time. During shifting, reduce
the force being applied to the pedals.
If you try to force operation of the
shifting lever or perform multi-shifting while the
pedals are being turned strongly, your feet may
come off the pedals and the bicycle may topple
over, which could result in serious injury.
The gears can be shifted while lightly
pedaling, but on rare occasions the
pawls and ratchet inside the hub may
produce some noise afterwards as
part of normal gear shifting operation.
Using the quick release binders
Your bike is equipped with quick release
binders. These attachment mechanisms
are use on components that often require
to be removed and reattached or adjusted
such as the seat post clamp and the front
wheel.