Originally Posted by
Hummeth
Big Lever = Bigger Gear
Also
Big Lever pushes the chain in that direction.
Yup, that's what I tell people to think when they first get on a road bike.
It also makes sense to push the same levers when you shift both front & rear at the same time and want to keep near the same cadence & pedal effort.
Say that you're in the small chainring but want to shift to the big ring and don't want to suddenly have to pedal a lot slower or mash harder. You'd swing the left lever to shift to the big chainring and swing the right lever all the way through one stroke, usually through three clicks and three rear cogs, and you'll end up with nearly the same gear ratio you had before.
Or, if you downshift the front to a small ring, just flick the small right lever three times to get about the same gearing as before the shift.
I often shift both shifters at the same time, or at least really close together. You'd see me swing both big levers inboard at the same time.