Diamond Back Ascent EX Gear Question

On 15 Jul 2006 15:58:09 -0700, "[email hidden]" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Got this at a garage sale and my bike riding experience is limited. The

gear shifters instead of sitting on top of the handle bars appear to be

located beneath the bars and they also look like they stack on top of
one another, two to a side. How do you shift this one or can you point
me to a link. TIA.

I'm guessing there's a trigger facing forward and a thumb lever facing back.

While pedaling push the thumb lever to go to a larger cog or chainring or pull
the trigger to go to a smaller. The one on the left controls the front shifter -
the levers on the right control the back.

Either you'll figure the rest out in a few miles or you and I both need another
hobby than typing on the internets.

Ron

Quoted message said:

Got this at a garage sale and my bike riding experience is limited. The

gear shifters instead of sitting on top of the handle bars appear to be

located beneath the bars and they also look like they stack on top of
one another, two to a side. How do you shift this one or can you point
me to a link. TIA.

These are Shimano's first attempt at "ratcheting" shifting, called
"RapidFire". They later evolved into "trigger" shifters, which were
then called "RapidFire Plus". The trigger format was so successful, it
completely replaced the earlier format, so Shimano renamed the feature
"RapidFire". Confused yet?

In any case, on both shifters the action is the same: the little button
moves the chain to the smaller cogs, the big lever moves the chain to
the bigger cogs. Since this affects the "gear" in opposite directions,
try this:

Right shifter:
Little button: smaller cog- harder gear, higher speed
Big lever: bigger cog- easier gear, climbs hills

Left shifter:
Little button: smaller cog- easier gear, climbs hills
Big lever: bigger cog- harder gear, higher speed

Also read http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears.html

This presumes everything is in working order. If the shifters don't
move the chain to all the cogs, make sure the cables move freely. If
they don't, replace them. If the shifters don't move the cables or they
don't ratchet, try spraying the internals with light oil. This often
loosens up dried-up grease and gets them working. If that doesn't work,
replacement may be the only option. Original RapidFire shifters weren't
known for their durability (RapidFailure was one perjorative), but
replacing them with older-style "thumb" or "top-mount" shifters is
still possible. Since your machine has (presumably) 21 speeds, you'll
need 7-speed shifters for the rear indexing to work. Harris Cyclery has
them: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/shifters.html#topmount

Jeff