Help Needed Gears Slipping

[RoubaixCube]

The Cost of the bike is immaterial unless you have the infamous grip shifter,my winter hack has 8 speed Sora that is well used but works because it was set up right

It was the twisty shifter (I don't even know what those things are called )

The bike is sitting in my shed

 

[cyberknight]

It was the twisty shifter (I don't even know what those things are called )

The bike is sitting in my shed

cheap fix is to change to thumb shifters and separate brake levers

 

[Ajax Bay]

what if the spare wheel is out of true slightly. If I took a measurement from say the valve opening on the spare wheel to the current axle in 4 places oclock - 1/4 past , 1/2 past and 1/4 to. Do you think this would be accurate?

You will be able to see whether it's aligned (or misaligned) by eye - with the wheels alongside one another, whether the other wheel is true or not.

make sure any hanger bending is done with the rear wheel clamped firmly in place in the frame to brace the dropout. And start out very carefully, checking and re-checking the alignment in different axes, so you can calibrate the bending effort needed to achieve the right increment without going too far

The hanger is aluminium alloy - in correcting a misalignment one's aim should be to make one bending correction, not lots of little ones - the reason is to do with work hardening. For the OP: if you establish it is misaligned then with an aluminium frame and hanger I would reconsider whether your decent LBS might be a good call. For them, with the tools, it is a quick and easy job.

only job I won't attempt is truing wheels - It looks a weird and wonderful art.

IMO minor trueing of a wheel is 'easy' compared to correcting frame/hanger misalignment.

 

[Foghat]

in correcting a misalignment one's aim should be to make one bending correction, not lots of little ones - the reason is to do with work hardening.

Not according to Park Tools, whose instructions for using their hanger alignment tool state:

When bending hanger, it is best to bend in small amounts and recheck. The amount of error is actually one-half the gap between gauge and rim. As the gap is closed, it increases at the reference point 180 degrees away. Bend a bit, recheck both sides, and then re-bend a bit more. Generally, it is best by having the DAG-2.2 arm next to the chainstay. This allows you to use the stay for leverage and control the amount of bending either inward or out. Repeat bending and checking until the gap is less then 4mm.

A bigger concern than anything untoward that may arise from several small adjustments in the same direction is the risk of doing an almighty bend way past where you want to get to and having to bend back again, perhaps doing this to-ing and fro-ing several times if you don't calibrate your bending effort by adopting the technique Park describes.

Many aluminium hangers can be surprisingly stiff and resistant to straightening, even with the leverage afforded by the specialist tool. Consequently, until one has calibrated one's effort by starting off with less force, checking for movement, then trying with more force and re-checking, there is a considerable risk that the unanticipated resistance could lead to too much force and an overbend that needs correcting, which would be more detrimental to the integrity of the hanger than having got there in a few smaller bends all in one direction.

 

[Stu Smith]

**Update**
Now up and running smoothly.
Checked the New rear mech hanger. One of the guys at the club had a alignment tool which he kindly lent to me.
The hanger was only very slightly out, towards the outside. Just a slight push inwards with the tool then re checked hey presto all is well.
125 mile done since the re-aligning, no issues with skipping gears.

 

[Broadside]

What alignment tool would people recommend?

Wiggle have an X-Tools for £24, or the Park Tools one for about £62.
For home use is the X-Tools one good enough?

 

[C R]

What alignment tool would people recommend?

Wiggle have an X-Tools for £24, or the Park Tools one for about £62.
For home use is the X-Tools one good enough?

I got the x-tools one, and for my purposes was OK. The position of the measuring pin is not lockable, though, so you need to be careful it doesn't shift.

 

[Stu Smith]

What alignment tool would people recommend?

Wiggle have an X-Tools for £24, or the Park Tools one for about £62.
For home use is the X-Tools one good enough?

Some of the reviews in fact most of them, state the X - Tools one, has quite a bit of play when its screwed into the hanger.
Some have got round it by wrapping tape around the threads.
C R maybe able to help more on that.

The one I was luckily enough to be able to borrow, was in fact a Park Tools one. I checked my other bikes whilst I had the alignment tool, they both needed a slight adjustment.

I have invested in a Park Tools alignment tool and shared the cost with my cycling buddy..

 

[C R]

Some of the reviews in fact most of them, state the X - Tools one, has quite a bit of play when its screwed into the hanger.
Some have got round it by wrapping tape around the threads.
C R maybe able to help more on that.

The one I was luckily enough to be able to borrow, was in fact a Park Tools one. I checked my other bikes whilst I had the alignment tool, they both needed a slight adjustment.

I have invested in a Park Tools alignment tool and shared the cost with my cycling buddy..

It is a bit sloppy on the spindle, but there's a grub screw that can be tightened to address that. It is useable, but you need to be aware of the limitations. OK for occasional home use.