A bicycle shift operating device basically has a base member, a shift wire take-up element and a shifting unit. The shift wire take-up element is rotatably mounted with respect to the base member in first and second rotational directions about a pivot axis. The shifting unit is operatively coupled to the shift wire take-up element. The shifting unit includes first and second shift operating members. The first shift operating member is movably mounted with respect to the base member to selectively operate the shift wire take-up element in the first and second rotational directions. The second shift operating member is movably mounted with respect to the base member to release the shift wire take-up element for movement in the second rotational direction.