Hi,
I'm a complete newbie when it comes to cycling so I might be missing something very basic in the issue I'm describing below.

I got a brand new Bergamont Sweep 4.0 with Shimano Sora gear system a couple of weeks ago, and gears were shifting fine at the store. But I've now noticed that gears aren't changing either in the front chainring (chain sitting on inner ring) or in the rear cogs (chain sitting on outer cog).

While moving the shifters (and rotating pedals using hand, as I don't have enough space on the balcony to actually ride the bike while shifting) the cables show no effect (not sure if they should) of changing tension etc. Also, the front derailleur is completely stiff and doesn't move either vertically or horizontally - also not sure if this is how it should be.

I understand continuous shifting should switch the chain first to one direction and, upon reaching the outer rear cog/front ring, continue switching to the other direction. Am I right in understanding this?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Again, I suspect I'm just missing something very basic here.

P.S. I haven't yet actually managed to ride the bike - it's been standing on my balcony so far while I've been buying components etc. I would obviously take the bike back to the store and see what the issue is but I'm curious to understand the mechanics and reasons for such issues to prevent/solve them myself.

Are the shifting cables loose or do they have some tension?

It sounds like you are cross-chaining small ring/smallcog. Are you trying to shift past your gears (trying to downshift up front and upshift in the rear)?

A properly-tuned bike should be able to shift on a stand.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes it does look like I'm cross-chaining though I thought the way to correct that was to shift the chain on either the ring or the cog until it straightened out.

However looking at your hint of shifting past I might have missed something: does shifting only work in one direction? As I said in the OP I thought continuous shifting moved the chain first in one direction and then the other. Please advise on what I'm doing wrong in here.

Update: As I expected, it was just my inexperience in understanding gear movement. I somehow thought only the smaller shifter was responsible for both shifting directions. After realizing the stupid mistake I tried the whole shifter movement and it works fine.
Thanks again for your reply. I will be laughing at this a couple years from now when I'm no longer a complete rookie.

Usually - no.
Can't say how Sora works straight off, but there are usually different manipulations required to shift up and to shift down.
Can be one button, one lever. Or flipping the lever in different directions. Or ...
But so far I've never ridden a bike where you could just keep shifting in the same direction.

I think you misunderstand how the shifters work. There are separate levers for shifting in each direction. On the flat bar shifters, there is a finger lever that you pull to shift in one direction and a thumb lever that you push to shift the other direction.

Thanks for all replies. It was indeed my misunderstanding on shifting dynamics.

Good, but it does help to have a way you can continuously turn the pedals/cranks while working the shifters, as it is common that the shift cables might need some tightening over time. It's hard to get the adjustment right unless you can pedal/shift while doing it. There's plenty of youtubes out there showing how to do it.

scott s.
.

Good point, I will make sure to check those out.