figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
A video guide has already been posted. The questions suggest it hasn’t been watched.
Front Derailleur
- Thread starter MonsterEnergy
- Start date
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Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Watch the video
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OP
MonsterEnergy
Well-Known Member
what and where is the cable clamp.If you've moved the front mech down towards the chain ring, that will have slacked off the gear cable tension. Same could have happened if you rotated the clamp.
You now need to loosen the cable clamp holding the front gear shifting cable, pull all the excess slack through, then re-tighten it. Make sure you do this when the shifter's in gear one (the smallest chain ring) or you won't be able to do it properly. To fine tune the cable tension so that the mech cage is centred over each of the chain rings when shifting gears, you then need to use the barrel adjusters on your front shifter on the handlebars.
Before you ask how to do this.... have a google for videos/guides on indexing front derailleurs (process is basically the same as for rear derailleurs). It can take a little while to get it spot on so you don't get any chain rub on the cage in any gear combo, but it is do-able!
Don't be disheartened if it takes you a while or seems difficult. I made a right pigs ear of these sorts of jobs first time I tried them, but they do get much easier and now it's just a routine easy fix. Once you've got the knack of it, you'll be streets ahead of most people who can't "do gears".
Downside is if your mates find out they'll all be asking you to fix their bikes for them
What would happen if i started riding my bike and just left the cable with a little slack?
figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
The derailleur works by being pulled by the inner cable. The inner cable is pulled by the shifter that you have on the handlebar. When you push the shifter it pulls on the cable, which pulls on the derailleur and it moves. If the cable is slack, when you push the shifter all it will do is take up some of that slack - the derailleur won’t move. In fact the shifter will feel all loose and floppy.
Have you watched the video?
Have you watched the video?
Did you have a look at the video? It will help you much more than anything we can explain here.
The cable clamp is the bolt that holds the cable at the derailleur. If the cable is loose the shifting will not work very well, if at all.
Watch the video and all our explanations will make sense.
ChrisEyles
Guru
- Location
- Devon
Follow the cable to the front mech... The cable clamp is the bit clamping the cable in place!
If you leave the cable slack then either a) you'll be stuck in the smallest chain ring and your front shifter won't do anything (if it's really loose) or more likely b) your front mech won't line up properly with the chain rings leading to lots of chain rub on the cage, and you won't be able to access the largest chain ring.
Honestly the videos people are helpfully linking will explain it better than any of us can in words. Sometimes it doesn't make perfect sense until you have a good fiddle with the bike and see what does what yourself (I'm very much a learn-by-doing person myself).
Good luck, don't give up!
If you leave the cable slack then either a) you'll be stuck in the smallest chain ring and your front shifter won't do anything (if it's really loose) or more likely b) your front mech won't line up properly with the chain rings leading to lots of chain rub on the cage, and you won't be able to access the largest chain ring.
Honestly the videos people are helpfully linking will explain it better than any of us can in words. Sometimes it doesn't make perfect sense until you have a good fiddle with the bike and see what does what yourself (I'm very much a learn-by-doing person myself).
Good luck, don't give up!
OP
OP
MonsterEnergy
Well-Known Member
But the videos don't work im afraid, which is why im asking...I just want in a few simple words, how to get rid of the slack.
So what exactly do i have to do with the Cable Clamp to fix it then?
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MonsterEnergy
Well-Known Member
where is the front gear shifting cable?
ChrisEyles
Guru
- Location
- Devon
Loosen it off, pull through the slack cable, tighten it again, simple!
ChrisEyles
Guru
- Location
- Devon
C'mon mate... It's the (only) cable that connects to the front mech at one end and front shifter at the other!
Do you mean you can't open the videos, or you can't follow the videos?
OP
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MonsterEnergy
Well-Known Member
loosen wot off?
OP
OP
MonsterEnergy
Well-Known Member
OP
OP
MonsterEnergy
Well-Known Member
so i need to loosen the clamp, and then pull the wire until no slack, and then re-tigten?
is that wot u r saying
is that wot u r saying
