My husband bought me a used Bianchi Advantage bike but I haven't ridden a bike in 20 years and can't figure out how to shift gears - don't want to break it - where can I find instructions on-line?

Not that much to a bike like this. should be perhaps two levers to change gears with, go out peddle, change gears, try the brakes, you will get it.

It means its an 18 speed bike. The shifting is easy. Start with the left side, begin riding, keep pedaling, don't stop pedaling in ther middle of a shift, it will throw the chain. As you ride, twist the shift grip, up and back. Still pedaling? Now after you have tried that one, try the other side, its the rear with 6 gears. Up and back, keep pedaling. After you have tried each individually, try them together. And now you're shifting. Looking good
. KEEP Pedaling

Contact your local bianchi bike dealer

to me this seems a case of many things not 100% set up properly.

big singles do burn a lot of oil, so either its low or just the wrong viscosity, check with a KTM forum as a lot of users will have already had this problem and rectified it.


but the first thing i'd check first is: Idle speed (if its FI then shouldnt be a problem) valve clearances and it also depends on whether you have any mods?



a race spec pipe will always cause issues starting cold.

You may have a shift fork or two starting to go bad. When a fork gets bent, it does not move the slider gear properly. When that happens, the slider's gear dogs don't engage fully into the slots cast into the driven gears. A rattling noise occurs. When full engagement happens you get the bucking. As time goes by, the shifting pedal will get harder and harder to shift. Then you simply can't get it into or out of a gear. The bike is 20 years old, parts are getting hard to find. Finding a shop willing to work on it can also be difficult to find. The repair will probably cost between $1000 and $1700. That's pretty much more than the bike is worth. The diagram below will give you an idea of how the shifting takes place. I wish I could give you better news. Please rate my answer. Thanks.

New forks will certainly help.

Look on the brake lever for a manufacturer and model number (probably Shimano). Even if you can't establish a model number, go to the website and find the mountain bike shifter that is closest to yours, There will probably be a technical manual for it and it will describe how to install and adjust it. You'll also want to look for and understand the derailleur it controls.

http://techdocs.shimano.com/techdocs/index.jsp

Congrats on your purchase of a new bike! Shimano 105's are quality components and will last you many years. Now, to your question - first, there is no gear indicator on most quality road bikes - and really you don't need one. You should let your cadence (how fast you are pedaling) determine what gear you are in....i.e. if you are struggling to pedal then shift down and vice versa if it's "too easy" - don't worry about what gear you're in - just go by feel. As far as shifting the right shifter controls the back gears (cassette) and the left controls the front (crank).

Pushing down on the lever on the right downshifts, while clicking it up upshifts. On the left, it is opposite; down-clicking upshifts and clicking up downshifts.

Not familiar with the exact model of bike but normally you start riding in a low gear. As you wish to speed up or find it easy to push the pedals just change up in gear and keep pedaling and the gear chain will move to the next gear cog. The secret is to keep pedaling when you select a gear either up or down and the gear will change. Hope this is of benifit.