Faulty right shifter forced abandonment of ride

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

RhythMick

Über Member
Location
Barnsley
SRAM RIVAL 22, 1 week old bike.

Bit miffed at the weekend while navigating a group around a 60 mile ride. On a particularly steep climb I tried to shift down to an easier gear but it went the other way. Figuring I must have just not caught it right I did it again - and it went up again.

Called the lads back and we tried to work out what was going on. Peeled the hood back and we could see the ratchet pulling the cable round but on the way back it clicked like it does when changing up. The derailleur moved down, then back again - occasionally changing 1 further. I was in 9 of 11 and had no choice but to head down to Holmfirth and then Brockholes and get the train back.

Anyone see this before? Is there anything I could have done at the roadside? Obviously it's going back to Planet X on Tuesday, but I have a 3 day London to Paris ride coming up and I'd hate to have to abandon that if it happens again.
 
Last edited:

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
With sram if it thinks your in the lowest gear it will change up when you try to change down, something to do with double tap.Im guessing when the mech was set up it was not in the fastest sprocket and it was indexed from there .
I am assuming you had not tested all the gears untill now ?
 
OP
OP
R

RhythMick

Über Member
Location
Barnsley
With sram if it thinks your in the lowest gear it will change up when you try to change down, something to do with double tap.Im guessing when the mech was set up it was not in the fastest sprocket and it was indexed from there .
I am assuming you had not tested all the gears untill now ?

All gears had been working perfectly until then.
 
OP
OP
R

RhythMick

Über Member
Location
Barnsley
Feedback from Planet X. Bike went to them yesterday and I got a call this morning to say it's fixed and ready for collection.

Kyle (one of their techs) explained that the shifter had lost cable tension. He fixed it by shifting to gear 11 of 11, adjusting the cable tension at the derailleur and it now changes happily all the way up and down.

I haven't yet got my head around that. I think it lost cable tension as a result of a fault and my confidence is low, will have to keep an eye on it. At least I have a way of fixing it if it happens again.

Anyone illuminate this for me ? When it happened I had hit a 15% incline and was shifting from 3rd (28) to 2nd (30) and intending to go to 1 (32). I don't see how it suddenly lost cable tension and I think it was a fault in the ratchet mechanism.
 

TheJDog

dingo's kidneys
If you were pulling it into lower and lower gears, it's possible the tension just dragged the cable through the end (which might not have been tightened enough).

The ratchet breaking on SRAM, mostly older ones as far as I know, is a permanent breakage of the ratchet teeth. If the mechanic fixed it without replacing anything, the shifter is fine.

Did you feel the cable to see if it was loose? It definitely sounds like the mechanic's explanation is the more likely one - though it's a PX mechanic's fault rather than a SRAM fault - so it does make them look slightly silly.
 
OP
OP
R

RhythMick

Über Member
Location
Barnsley
If you were pulling it into lower and lower gears, it's possible the tension just dragged the cable through the end (which might not have been tightened enough).

The ratchet breaking on SRAM, mostly older ones as far as I know, is a permanent breakage of the ratchet teeth. If the mechanic fixed it without replacing anything, the shifter is fine.

Did you feel the cable to see if it was loose? It definitely sounds like the mechanic's explanation is the more likely one - though it's a PX mechanic's fault rather than a SRAM fault - so it does make them look slightly silly.

Yes, but obviously not well enough. Lesson learned.
 
Top Bottom