trickybilly

I have bought a brand new bike to my mom. There are 3 gears front, 6 gears rear. When we try to shift from 2nd gear front to 3rd gear front the bike struggles and often fails to shift. Why?

Specs:
Front gear: Shimano fd-tz500-ds6, Rear gear: Shimano fd-tz500, tz, gs 6 speed, Gear handle: Sram mrx

10 Wheels

Take it to a bike shop for adjustment.

andrewclaus

Do you have grip shifters, the kind you twist? If so, the rear will shift one gear with each click but the front might not. Some front grip shifters have several clicks between gears. I've seen at least once cyclist get confused about that.

70sSanO

Since 3x6 bikes have not been available from most bike mfg’s for 30 years, I’m guessing the brand new bike is from Amazon, Walmart, or a similar discount store.

The tough part is deciding if you want to/can spend more to get a fully functioning bike or if the budget is going to remain as low as possible.

If you can take/send the bike back, that is your best course to take.

John

Darth Lefty 

Rather drastic for adjusting the FD, don’t you think?

Darth Lefty 

If it’s not what andrewclaus said above then it’s very likely the high limit adjustment.

70sSanO

Not if it is a Walmart bike.

Maybe I’ve been out of the loop too long and 3x6 gearing has made a comeback for bikes available at bike shops.

John

Darth Lefty 

That’s the kind of helpfulness that keeps people out of bike shops.

trickybilly

I have grip shifters. Thank you for the advice.
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[QUOTE=70sSanO;22545807] I’m guessing the brand new bike is from Amazon, Walmart, or a similar discount store /QUOTE]
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I have bought it from a Serbian bike manufacturer's official store. Although you are right, I should have looked for a better model. However this was the only "ladies bike" in the store that was matching my mom's height.

70sSanO

[QUOTE=trickybilly;22545948]I have grip shifters. Thank you for the advice.
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If by “store” you mean a brick and mortar, take it back and have them fix it to function properly.

If it is an online store, find out what support they offer. If none, then you have to decide if it is worth your effort to keep the bike.

There are a lot of things you can check to determine if this is an isolated issue or just the first one of many. If the hub bearings feel rough, the brakes flimsy, wheels are not true, these are just some of the issues down the the road.

If you are able to fix/adjust everything yourself and have the tools, it might work out if the bike will get limited use. If you can’t fix everything yourself it might be a frustrating, and more costly, experience than getting a better bike.

John

Homebrew01

Do you mean from the middle front chain ring, to the largest chain ring ?
If so, that can be troublesome sometimes because the chain has to go "up hill" from the smaller ring. The largest front ring is for going fast, such as down hill, or with a tailwind. In those situations, ease off the pedal pressure a bit when going to the larger ring until the shift has completed.

There may also be adjustment issues, such as the limit screw in too far, restricting the front derailleur movement.

Crankycrank

Here's one of many good videos on how to setup your derailleur. BikeGremlin is a forum member and lives in Serbia as well.

Russ Roth

Lots of similar bikes won't have SIS housing which doesn't help the situation either.

OP, The videos will help get it set up if you follow them, but if when you're done it still does not work you want to check the housing the cable goes through. If you can see lots of little lines under the plastic, the bike came with the wrong kind of housing. Most front derailleurs with you style shifter can work ok with it, but not all and you'll need derailleur specific housing.