Aligning the gears...

[BluesDave]

Yesterday I replaced my RH 5 speed Shimano shifter which took about 15 minutes.All the parts are new now and totally compatible with the old ones which never had a thing go wrong with them in 14 years till about 3 months ago.
I then spent the next three hours trying to align the rear gears according to what I had read in books.
It didn't work.
This morning I woke up at seven am and spent two hours watching how to align the gears on the internet and reading about it. Then when she woke up at 10 I cooked breakfast. I went into the Garden at 11 and from 11 to half past two I was trying again to align the gears and adjust the cable tension so that it does'nt get caught in my boots when riding.
I still haven't managed it and have spent two days trying to do what should take ten minutes let alone the time spent researching it.
So tomorrow I have to take it to a bike shop to have the LH front shifter replaced and all the gears aligned which will cost me the £20 I can't afford to spend and was trying to save which was why I wanted to do it myself.
The conclusion of this story is that I am so sick of living a life where the very best I can do is never actually good enough. It has always been like that.
Unbelieveable isn't it ?

 

[ianrauk]

Don't get too despondent about gears. They can be and are a law unto themselves sometimes.

 

[cyberknight]

Have you got the cable attached to the rear mech at the right angle? i replaced a rear mech last year and it did not index right and i spent ages trying , took it to the LBS who said i had put the cable through the bolt where it attaches the wrong side of the bolt so the pull was slightly wrong.

 

[BluesDave]

Yes everything is in the correct position I've checked it all and compared it to other bikes. The people who run my bicycle repair shop are blind and I am absolutely sure the guy does repairs by feel. His wife is partially sited with I think tunnel vision. Frankly I think that's amazing.
I wish a bike shop would let me work for nothing two alternate saturdays a month so that I can learn to do repairs/ set-ups properly but when they advertise the vacancies in the window they want someone with a qualification in bicycle repair, who's worked as a mechanic in a bike shop for at least two years. How many people are there like that, not very many I'd say. There are so many jobs like that where you don't stand a chance of a way in. The courses which are run in London are linked on another post and they cost an absolute fortune. All in all about four months rent. Thats a bit much.

 

[Globalti]

At the same time as you replaced the shifter, did you replace the cable outer where it curves round to the rear derailleur? If you didn't, you will probably never get the gears working cleanly because the outer gets worn and after six months you begin to get bad shifting as the friction increases.

 

[Matthew_T]

I know how you feel OP. Whenever I try to do anything complicated, I always end up breaking something or doing it wrong. For that reason, I have never taken my bike apart.

 

[jonathanw]

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkzvfCaIbyQ


This is the simplest description I have seen and is a very good start. Even though the technique in the video uses a 10 speed shimano rear mech, I use it on all my bikes and the kids ones too. Works reasonably well assuming you don't need to adjust the limit screws or B screw, which is relatively rare on new kit. Note, the barrel adjuster may be up on the gears at the handlebar end, and not at the rear end as in the video on some setups.

 

[Arrowfoot]

Thanks for the video Jon. Really helpful