Clicking and skipping gears

[sabian92]

Hey,

My bike has recently started doing this - what could be causing it?

I'm not sure where the clicking is coming from but it's not the BB - I think it may be the cassette. It's clicking in (almost) every gear too, so I'm a bit stumped! Sometimes when it clicks, changing down and up again stops the clicking but doesn't actually move the chain.

Cheers.

 

[HLaB]

The first place to start is giving the cables a good clean and lube. Then do the same for the mechs, lubing the pivot points. If that doesn't work you may need to strip down & replace things.

 

[ianrauk]

It sounds like the rear deraillieur needs adjusting.
If not confident at doing this yourself then it's a 5 minutes job for your LBS.

If you are confident at having a go. Check out Deraillieur adjustment on You Tube.
There are plenty of vids that will help you.

 

[accountantpete]

You can see the cause that Ian's referring to by turning the bike upside down and turning the pedals. As you turn you should see the chain rubbing against the sprocket next to the one it is lying on. You just need to turn the adjuster a bit to centralise the chain over the sprocket.

 

[sabian92]

Ah right - sounds easy enough then. I'm a total novice when it comes to this, I'm sorry for being a pain!

Where would the adjuster be? Is it the limit screws? I keep the chain/cassette really clean and if it gets crap on it I clean it with white spirit, dry and relube every week without fail. It's only done about 170 miles in total so it shouldn't be wear and tear, but that being said Halfords did put it together...

 

[accountantpete]

These days there is a video for pretty much everything.

You need to adjust the barrel adjuster as per this video (1.57 onwards). But don't turn it as much as he does. Just enough to centralise the chain.


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjJfKO_tAo0&feature=related

 

[HovR]

170 miles? Sounds like the cable has stretched, and the indexing is slightly off (as Ian said). This happens to new cables when they are first used, but after adjusting they will normally be fine for a long while.

You can re-index the gears yourself, it's pretty simple, alternatively your LBS will be able to do it.

If you want to attempt it, then you may find this article useful. Scroll down to section 3, titled "Indexing Adjustment" for the relevant area. This video will be helpful as well - You will most likely want the latter section of the video regarding the barrel adjuster, as the high/low limit will should already be set.

Edit: Looks like accountantpete beat me to it, and posted the same video as I was writing my post!

 

[accountantpete]

somepeople are soooo sloooow

 

[sabian92]

Cheers very much - shall give this a try this week. You have been more than helpful!

 

[fossyant]

Cheers very much - shall give this a try this week. You have been more than helpful!

This WEEK - WEEK - do it NOW you lazy bumpkin !

 

[sabian92]

Unfortunately by the time I get hope from college it's dark (full days 4 days a week) so I'll have to do it Friday at the earliest :P I'll give it a go though and If i'm stuck, then I might let somebody else do it instead of me breaking it, which is inevitable.

Edit: Good news! I did it! The only problem (and this happens a lot with me...) is that by fixing it, it's caused the chain to rub on the front derailleur - it's a compact or double (not sure - I just know it's not a triple. It lets you adjust it with the shifter without actually changing gear). I need to work out how to fix that now too...

 

[theloafer]

hi sabian
some great vids here
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SkzvfCaIbyQ

 

[Gary E]

Go for it, you're on a roll.

You'll fix the front derailleur and you'll discover a clicking from the bottom bracket next followed my a seat stem issue

 

[sabian92]

Fingers crossed I'll be able to do it, although the front derailleur does seem more complicated. I can't see on that Sheldon Brown website about adjusting it though - it seems really hard.

I need to do my brakes too - the cables have stretched and the levers need adjusting. Something else to break...

 

[HovR]

Fingers crossed I'll be able to do it, although the front derailleur does seem more complicated. I can't see on that Sheldon Brown website about adjusting it though - it seems really hard.

Look for another barrel adjuster like the one you used to adjust the indexing on your rear gears. There should be one somewhere along the cable line, be it on the mech, on a cable boss attached to the frame, or on the shifters. Set the rear mech onto a gear in which the chain rubs onto the front derailleur, and adjust the barrel adjuster for the front derailleur until the rubbing ceases.

It will likely only need small a small adjustment, and you should be able to see the front derailleur move slightly as you turn the barrel adjuster to give an idea of which way you need to turn it.

If the chain is rubbing only when using the gears which cause an extreme chain line (1 on the front 10 on the back, or 2 at the front 1 at the back) then I wouldn't worry about it, as these gears are not great to use anyway as it increases wear to the drive chain.