I give up, totally messed up gearing

[gavroche]

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SkzvfCaIbyQ


You may find, that once you know the order that adjustments need to be made, its more straightforward than you fear. Video above may help

I have watched that video time and time again and still couldn't get it right.

 

[jonny jeez]

View attachment 150817 It's a Cannondale Caad 10, and can be seen in the previous owners bedroom or spare room. It was allegedly always kept in here. And I don't doubt it as he paid a fortune for it, £1399.

I've got the gears something like now, so I'm off out on it and a think.

Nice bike by the way.

it should run like a dream.

this is my first stand, works absolutely fine for everything I need (other than the sitting down stuff)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oypla-Mech...TF8&qid=1478883756&sr=8-3&keywords=bike+stand

 

[jonny jeez]

I have watched that video time and time again and still couldn't get it right.

odd, I watched it once. did it and have never returned to the video.

I'll happily tweak my indexing mid ride if needed (which most often means I am about to lose a cable) and have fettled other bikes on the run.

I recently swapped my inners and outers and needed to adjust about two days afterwards. I disconnected, reset the barrel, reconnected and tweaked to perfection in the dark at the side of the V&A in London...in the rain!

i think resetting the barrell is often a rookie mistake.

 

[wonderloaf]

NEVER wash a bicycle upside-down. Water will run into the top and bottom headset bearings and rust them.

Thanks for advice, will stop immediately!

 

[jonny jeez]

Changing inners and outers gives an enormous sense of well being.

Its a very satisfying job with an immediate result that you can really feel.

Swapping all of the cables (including re-wrapping bar tape) is one of my favorite fettles.

 

[jonny jeez]

NEVER wash a bicycle upside-down. Water will run into the top and bottom headset bearings and rust them.

Top Tip.

 

[jonny jeez]

The gears are intermittent, what you could get last time you can't have this time and it misses or gives no indication of chenging. It makes no odds on going up or down or what big ring your in.

its also worth cleaning and lubing the coiled up spring that's hidden within the upper arm of the rear mech. You will probably need to see it from the other side of the bike (if you dont have a stand)...GT 85 spray will help clean and lube.

If this is knackered it might stop the arm moving up and down the block efficiently.

the spring is under the letters XT in the image below, yours may be a little more hidden.

 

[ianrauk]

I have watched that video time and time again and still couldn't get it right.

Strange. It's the video that demystified gear adjustment for me.
I just suppose some people are more mechanically minded then others and I'm one of those that is less mechanically minded.

 

[ColinJ]

Strange. It's the video that demystified gear adjustment for me.
I just suppose some people are more mechanically minded then others and I'm one of those that is less mechanically minded.

I find it strange too! Indexed derailleur gears are pretty simple to understand if you just sit back and think about how they work ... Having understood how they work, it should be obvious what you have to do to adjust them.

The actual shifters are a different matter (unless you have Old Skool down tube levers)! I recently serviced my right Campagnolo Chorus shifter and that WAS complicated but (as usual these days) Youtube has the answers if you search hard enough.

 

[ColinJ]

I picked my first obe up from amazon for about £20...its the single most used tool that I have in the workshop...i actually have two now, one that I can sit at for cleaning that lifts the rear wheel off the ground a tad.

Everything is so much simpler at eye level with free turning wheels.

You just made me realise that I could use my Tacx turbo trainer to do that! It lifts the rear wheel off the ground and there is no resistance on the wheel until the mechanism is engaged by depressing a foot pedal.

 

[roadrash]

there is no better video out there for learning to index the rear derailleur, clear and precise,i always recommend it

 

[Globalti]

its also worth cleaning and lubing the coiled up spring that's hidden within the upper arm of the rear mech. You will probably need to see it from the other side of the bike (if you dont have a stand)...GT 85 spray will help clean and lube.

If this is knackered it might stop the arm moving up and down the block efficiently.

the spring is under the letters XT in the image below, yours may be a little more hidden.

I'd be surprised if this was causing the bad shifting, especially on a newish bike. I've messed with old Shimano derailleurs that have given years of service in the wet and mud of Lancashire with constant soakings in mucky water and washings and I've always been amazed at the smooth, play-free action of the springs and paralellogram pivots. They seem to be plain pins pressed into the alloy derailleur body and since the movement isn't much they seem to last forever. The only bits of Shimano derailleurs I've ever needed to refurbish, apart from the pulley wheels, is the main frame pivots and once, the cage pivot.

As I've written above, my money is on a worn or dirty or rusted cable outer inhibiting the shifting or a bent hanger, both problems I'd expect to inherit with a second-hand bike.

 

[S-Express]

NEVER wash a bicycle upside-down. Water will run into the top and bottom headset bearings and rust them.

What difference does it make which way up the bike is? The headtube remains largely at the same angle whichever way up the bike is.

 

[Ian193]

You just made me realise that I could use my Tacx turbo trainer to do that! It lifts the rear wheel off the ground and there is no resistance on the wheel until the mechanism is engaged by depressing a foot pedal.[/QUOTE

That's what I did when I tried to sort my rear derailleur out after bending it or the hanger when I had a spill on loose gravel the other week. I still need to get LBS to look at the right hand brifter I think it's cracked

 

[jonny jeez]

You just made me realise that I could use my Tacx turbo trainer to do that! It lifts the rear wheel off the ground and there is no resistance on the wheel until the mechanism is engaged by depressing a foot pedal.

Bingo!!