Hand Grip Shifters
Hand grip shifters are built into the hand grip and attach to the handlebars. Unlike other types of shifting mechanisms the hand grip shifters mean you do not need to change your hand position to select different gears. The rider just simply twists forwards or backwards dependent upon their gear selection. By twisting the right shifter toward you, a lower gear is chosen as a larger rear cog is selected. Twisting this shifter away from you has the opposite effect; a higher gear is selected as a smaller rear cog is engaged. Turning the left shifter forward or away from you activates a smaller, front chainwheel, and a larger, front chainwheel is engaged by twisting it backwards. The number of gear changes
to occur at any one time corresponds with how many turns are made of the shifter. Check the diagram below for operating instructions.
Front Low Gear | Rear Low Gear |
Front High Gear | Rear High Gear |
Below the Bar Shifters
The majority of mountain style bicycles use below bar shifters. These shifters are mounted on the underside of the handlebars, usually between the grips and the handlebars.
It is a two finger operating system which uses the thumb and index finger to make the gear selection. By pushing the lower (larger) right shifter with your thumb, a lower gear is selected as a larger, rear cog is engaged. One cog can be selected through one firm push, or by continuing to push on the lever multiple cogs can be engaged. By pushing the upper (smaller) lever on the left inwards with your index finger, the chain moves to a smaller chainring. A higher gear can be selected by pushing the upper right lever with your index finger to activate a smaller rear cog. By pushing the lower left lever with your thumb the chain will move from the smaller to the larger chainring. To clarify please refer to the following diagram.
Left |
|
| Right |
Low gear front | High gear rear | ||
L | H | H | L |
High gear front | Low gear rear |
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RAOM0507 | Apollo Bicycle Company Pty. Ltd. ABN: 60 001 914 469 | Updated 23/05/07 |
