Originally Posted by: RaskolnikovYeah, I was learning that yesterday.

But once you're used to the way they shift, it's really not so bad.

This bike should make for some great cheap transportation next summer.

[font=trebuchet ms]Braking smoothly is the tricky bit. Most of your braking effectivenes is at the front wheel. The harder you brake, the more the weight shifts forward, reducing the rear whell traction. That makes it hard to brake strongly without locking up the rear wheel. Don't get stressed about it. A bit of rear wheel skidding is not a problem. Empty parking lots make good practice areas.

Get used to initiating turns by mentally pointing the way with your finger. For a left turn, think of pointing with the finger of your left hand while still holding the handlebars. This will cause you to push slightly on the left grip, which will initiate the turn. 'Point' with the finger of your right hand to initiate a right turn. This 'push steer' or 'countersteering' technique will make following twisty roads a lot easier, because the bike responds immediately. Simply leaning in the direction you want to go is not enough to assert control of the bike.[/font]