Need BIke help!

sheep_dog

Well I just got a great deal on a bike. My uncle's friend bought this bike for $800 from the local cyclery. He soon needed money and my Uncle bought it from him for $300. He decided he didn't like it, so I took it off his hands for $300... a nice little $500 save! I was in the market for a road bike , and it couldn't have came at a better time. Here is the pic:

http://i49.tinypic.com/143p6xw.jpg

My problem is that I got this bike (like I said) from my Uncle and he doesn't know how to shift it...and neither do I! I have never had such a nice bike. It has some sort of thumb shifters. I have done a ton of research, tried to find the online owners manual, and all sorts of things but can't find these shifters / how to use them! Here is what it looks like:

http://i45.tinypic.com/4t3e39.jpg

Sorry it turned out sideways :x. Hope someone can help me!

scorpio516

They are Sora brifters. Edit: they might be 2200 brifters, but I don't think Trek uses them on drop bar bikes.

Your left hand operates the front brake, and the front derallieur. Pushing the brake lever twords the centerline of the bike will push twords the outer most (biggest) front chain ring. Pushing the thumb button will shift to a smaller chain ring.
Your right hand operates the rear brake and the rear derallieur. Pushing the thumb button shifts to a smaller cog. Pushing the brake lever twords the center of the bike shifts to a bigger cog.

If they don't do that, it's probably some misadjusted cords. If it doesn't work right, take it to a bike shop (preferably a Trek LBS). They'll set you up for probably less than $75 at worse. They'll give the whole bike a once over too.

ejwme

try pushing to the side (towards the bike's centerline) on the break levers. Shift only when the wheels are moving, and never both at the same time. To sort this out without fooling around while riding, have a second person hold the back of the bike up by the seat and moving the back wheel by rotating a pedal by hand.

don't worry, these shifters are wierd to figure out. I ended up buying a cross bike because I couldn't wrap my head around them. If you can't get used to them, take it to a bike shop and have them swap them out, it shouldn't be that expensive.

CDGolden

My suggestion is just to go ride around the block and practice how they work.

As the others said, the right hand shifter/brake operate the rear brake and rear derailleur...Right = Rear
the left side runs the front brake and front shifter

The little thumb levers should go up and down and the big levers (brakes) will squeeze towards the back of the bike to stop it and swing towards the centerline of the bike to change the gears.

On the front rings (chainrings/crankset) by the pedals, the smaller rings on the inside are easier and the bigger ones made it harder to pedal (or pedal faster depending)....on the rear cassette / cogs ( the smallest is the harder one to pedal and as they get bigger they get easier to pedal)

tying to not make it sound technical

All that said, for $300....you really scored....enjoy it

sheep_dog

That first suggestion worked great!! Thanks so much!

I love the bike, I could average 20 MPH on that thing all day!!

AngryBecky

glad you love your bike!! I just got mine this summer and I love it too!! Something that helped me was to take it in for tune ups during the first few months. I guess the chain needs to stretch out and stuff. Most of the time, I leave my front gear in the middle and 'fine tune' with my rear gears. (Unless I'm going up a big hill or something).

Can't wait to ride tomorrow!!