New Bike Help

[Scottma]

So I bought a new bike and have commuted a few time - it's been great! I bought a 27 speed flat bar hybrid. I have been having an issue with shifting though. The following picture shows my shifter:

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/images/elite_adventure/images/IMG_8921.jpg

What's been happening is that when I go to upshift on the front derailleur, it hesitates for a while before finally shifting. Or it just grinds and never shifts, in which case I go one gear higher then back down. On the rear derailleur I have the opposite problem - sometimes when I downshift it hesitates or never shifts.

Is there some adjustment I need to make to get the bike shifting right?

Thanks!

[Matt K]

Yup, the cable has simply stretched and the derailleur is no longer lining up with the gear properly. Just twist that little black knob where the cable goes into the shifter until it lines up with the gear you want it to be in. I find it easiest to set it to the middle gear and adjust for that.

If you've got someone to hold the bike up, they can hold the bike while you twist and then spin the pedal and try shifting, it'll let you get it dialed in really fast.

[Scottma]

Great, thanks for the help!