another fine mess, i got myself into...

[kedab]

dear CC'ers,

i confess i am ashamed of myself. not more than a few weeks after an attempt to true a wheel resulted in spectacular cock-upery, i really should know better and leave things to those with training and skill. my 'man' instincts won't allow this to happen! they force me to do things i know i shouldn't, or at least not do until i'm sure i know what i'm going to do isn't going to end in failure/disaster! please don't cast me out like a part worn tire, i'm just a bit trying at times, i'll do better in future, promise...

after a bit of turbo training earlier, i decided i'd have a go at sorting the slight rub of the front mech on the chain when riding in gears 7 through 10. i've read a bit about 'how to' and watched a couple of vids. the height of the mech was fine, the angle of the mech also looked alright but i loosened it off and adjusted it, slightly. it didn't resolve the issue. now, those of you that read my wheel truing debacle, which i only posted the other night, will know what happens next when kedab doesn't solve a problem at the first attempt. i made more adjustments and still could not resolve the problem. so, knowing what they do but not exactly understanding how they work, i made a few adjustments to the limit screws...that's when the real problem occurred. i finished my initial tinkering and hadn't made any real progress. i clicked down to the smaller chain ring and the chain popped off...limit screw cock-upery ahoy. popped the chain back on and tried to change up to the big chain ring...nothing. the shifter felt as though it were stuck, it was stiff...so, taking some time to have another read of the interwobble and watch another video i think it's probably the tension in the shifter cable. i undo the bolt holding the cable and i loose all tension in the shifter cable, try to correct it without having a blind panic, fail miserably and here i am...i can no longer shift up onto the big chain ring to even start over...if i knew how to

can anyone give me some advice on how to go about 'resetting' what i've done? or, given what i've said, should i just give up, pack away my toolboxes, give them to charity, never pick up an screwdriver ever again and take the bike down to mark at the lbs?

if it helps, the shifters are 105's. the front mech is tiagra. the bike is my beautiful tcr.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Done exactly the same as you - my woman instincts won't let me stop tinkering Mind you, no way would I try to true a wheel.
Took the bike to the lbs, who fitted a new cable, doused the whole lot in lube, told me I will just have to live with the grating in 7th gear.
Dunno why I bothered to tinker anyway, hardly use my gears.
Take the bike to the lbs

 

[Smurfy]

Dunno why I bothered to tinker anyway, hardly use my gears.

Meet me in the single-speed and fixed wheel part of the C-C forum later.

 

[deanE]

Back to square 1. Have a look at this. http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/t...FD-4503/SI_5K80A_En_v1_m56577569830606982.pdf

 

[HovR]

1. Put the shifter into gear 1 on the LH shifter.
2. Re-fit the cable to the front mech, make sure it's as taught as you can pull it by hand.
3. You won't have been able to get the cable properly taught, so now add some tension using the adjusting barrel. This won't be the final adjustment.

4. Since you say the chain comes off the small ring, you will need to tighten the low stop screw (should be marked with an "L") until it no longer comes off.
Since you also say you can't get it on to the big ring, you will need to loosen the high stop screw (marked with a "H") until it will go on to the big ring.

5. Now you've done that, with the chain in the big ring, and smallest cog on the rear, you want to adjust the adjuster barrel for the front derailleur so there is only the tiniest gap between the chain and the outer edge of the derailleur cage.

(Step 5 is what you needed to do in the first place, tightening the cable tension with the adjuster barrel would have moved the front derailleur away from the chain.)

That's the basics of it, but there is still a high chance that there will be final adjustments of limit screws and cable tension to get it exactly right, which I fear I won't be able to describe in a way which would actually make sense!


Don't worry about making mistakes, it's all (mostly) fixable, and it's how you learn! I remember the first time I worked with indexed gears - it took me weeks of fiddling with the rear derailleur before working out what adjustments did what - Only then did I manage to get it spot on!

 

[kedab]

i admitted defeat and took it to the LBS. i did watch as he very quickly and neatly put things right. i didn't make him go slow but i could see where i was going wrong...i'd pretty much jumped in feet first and as HovR suggested, i began my tweaking in the wrong place which put me at a disadvantage straight away. i also learned that the front mech actually moves twice, going up on to the big ring and down on the small ring. shift up and the mech does its job and moves the chain, click the shifter again and the mech moves another few mm away from the chain! same in reverse when changing down. genius! i didn't know that, i do now

 

[Peteaud]

Experience is all.

 

[kedab]

shifts lovely now, it deffo needed a bit of fine tuning but not the cack handed attempt i made we're moving house at the end of the week so the tools are packed away and the bikes are safe..i will move my tinkering habit on to the new house...or not if i wish to stay married!

 

[Peteaud]

shifts lovely now, it deffo needed a bit of fine tuning but not the cack handed attempt i made we're moving house at the end of the week so the tools are packed away and the bikes are safe..i will move my tinkering habit on to the new house...or not if i wish to stay married!

Tinker not is probably a better idea

 

[Scoosh]

The only way you will learn how to do things - is by doing them (after watching vids, reading about them etc).

I was not far from where you are now in my 'mechanical' skills a couple of years ago. I used the videos on Bike Tutor, until he started charging exorbitantly for the privilege !

Now I print off the appropriate pages, take them with me and, slowly and surely , work my way through them until I get the hang of what is going on.

Through my desire to save £££ and my thought that I probably have the same mechanical aptitude as most bike mechanics (absolutely no disrespect intended here ) but what is missing is the knowledge and practice, I set about doing all my own maintenance. Through desire and a bit of necessity , I have :
changed chains, including taking out links and re-joining; adjusted front and rear derailleurs and adjusted gears; replaced gear and brake cables - and made them work properly ; done a rim-exchange on a front wheel and trued the wheel; replaced right and left shifter/brake assemblies and their associated cables; changed handlebars and rewound the tape; re-wound the re-wound tape ; changed tyres a few times; replaced brake pads and adjusted brakes; changed rear hanger from SRAM Rival to Apex; replaced chainring and cassettes; changed saddles and seatposts.

After each bit of work, I have ridden the bike (with much trepidation ), made a few more tweaks - then carried on riding and found that it was OK !

I am by no means a specialist mechanic but I've had the time - and necessity - to do some maintenance work and I feel much more confident about working on my bikes now.

Persevere and you will save loads of £££ , gain in confidence and get to enjoy it - no, really !