# Gear indexing w/barrel adjuster - which direction?!



## EasyPeez (6 Oct 2015)

Hi,

I'm about to attempt to index the gears on my bike and am a bit confused. 

The instructions in my Haynes manual say to turn the barrel adjuster "away from the bike frame to tighten the gear cable and encourage the derailleur pull the chain up to the bigger sprockets" and "towards the frame to loosen the cable and allow the chain to move down the cassette to higher gears more easily". This seems to make sense according to the 'righty-tighty, lefty-loosey' edict that my dad taught me as a boy...

But then watcthing this video he clearly does the opposite - turning the adjuster in towards the frame to tighten the cable, and away from the frame to loosen it.

So which is correct?! Am guessing it must be the video as it's obviously working for him!
He uses 'clockwise' and 'anti-clockwise' to describe his actions but this kind of adds to the confusion as whether the turn you are making is clockwise or anti obviously alters depending on whether you are behind the mech or in front of it when adjusting it!

So if someone can please confirm whether it's a turn of the adjuster _away from the frame_ or _towards the frame_ to tighten I'd be very grateful. Thanks :-)


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## Tim Hall (6 Oct 2015)

To tighten the cable you need to turn the adjuster so the path the wire has to take is longer. This means you unscrew the barrel adjuster, so the path is longer by however many threads you unscrewed it. How that fits in with away from the frame or towards it I don't know.


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## steve50 (6 Oct 2015)

Anti clockwise or left to tighten the cable and obviously clockwise to loosen as per the video.


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## winjim (6 Oct 2015)

Forget about tightening or loosening. Just remember that the mech moves in the direction you screw the adjuster.


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## roadrash (6 Oct 2015)

all covered in here 


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


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## screenman (6 Oct 2015)

RMA first.


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## Tim Hall (6 Oct 2015)

screenman said:


> RMA first.


Return Material Authorisation?


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## winjim (6 Oct 2015)

The confusion could come from the positioning of the mech _within_ the frame, meaning that _towards the frame_ actually means turn the adjuster outwards, to the right, which would tighten a screw, but in this case _slackens_ the cable, moving the mech to the right, towards the smaller sprockets.


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## screenman (6 Oct 2015)

Tim Hall said:


> Return Material Authorisation?



Call it what you want Tim, but the first thing you should always start with before adjusting your rear mech is to make sure it is correctly aligned. Having checked I would imagine 30+ bikes I am yet to find one that was properly aligned before I adjusted it.

So from now on RMA = Rear Mech Alignment. Well at least in my little world it will.


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## Andy_R (6 Oct 2015)

screenman said:


> RMA first.





Tim Hall said:


> Return Material Authorisation?


Nah...its a PIDKY


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## mjr (6 Oct 2015)

The problem with left right instructions for screwing is that some people think of the top and others think of the bottom. Ask Miss Goodbody.

If you get any instructions that talk of such things, find more instructions!


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## jonny jeez (6 Oct 2015)

EasyPeez said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm about to attempt to index the gears on my bike and am a bit confused.
> 
> ...


I really wouldn't worry too much, just turn the adjuster if the rear mech wont shift up as you do, then try the othr direction. you'll know really fast which is the right direction as the indexing will almost immediately complain and start to rattle then skip.

trim it back and forth until the gear shifts up one, then back it off a little untill andy rattle goes away.

*edit...should say "Any rattle"...sorry Andy, no offence


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## Andy_R (6 Oct 2015)

jonny jeez said:


> I really wouldn't worry too much, just turn the adjuster if the rear mech wont shift up as you do, then try the othr direction. you'll know really fast which is the right direction as the indexing will almost immediately complain and start to rattle then skip.
> 
> trim it back and forth until the gear shifts up one, then back it off a little untill *andy_r*attle goes away.



Oi!!!


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## jonny jeez (6 Oct 2015)

Andy_R said:


> Oi!!!


I've tried other ways to be rid of you and this seems to be the only one that works!!


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## howard2107 (6 Oct 2015)

Select highest gear on the rear mech (smallest sprocket) remove gear cable.
Set lower limit by turning the pedals and pushing the mech towards the wheel onto the lowest gear (biggest cog) adjust the lower limit screw until the chain runs smoothly without either trying to jump into the wheel or trying to move down to next cog.
once this is set, let the mech come down onto the highest gear (smallest cog) and set the high limit screw so that the chain doesnt try to move onto the frame or up to the next cog. In either position the derailleur should be sat directly below the cog, in the case of Shimano some recommend it should be about a half to 1mm to the left, but its about trial and error.

That is high and low limits set.

With the mech in the highest gear (smallest cog) screw the barrel adjuster fully in (clockwise), then reconnect the cable to the mech, pull it finger tight and tighten the screw back up.

To index them, make sure that the chain is running smooth in the highest gear (smallest cog), and whilst running select the next gear up the cassette, the chain will either do nothing, or may try to change to the next gear, in either case screw the barrel adjuster out (anti clockwise until the chain moves into the next gear, and keep turning a bit at a time until it runs smooth in that gear, once you have achieved this it should change up and down without any fuss through the full range of gears, you can fine tune by adjusting the barrel adjuster a bit at a time, and by a bit, i mean an eighth to a quarter of a turn at a time. It can be a bit frustrating to get it right especially at your first attempt, and once it is under load when riding, you may need to make minor tweaks to get it spot on.

However, all of this is a waste of time if any of your cables are worn, the chain is stretched, or there is any damage to the components. So make sure all is well, clean and lubed or you will never get it right.

It is well demonstrated on you tube as others have said.


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## EasyPeez (14 Oct 2015)

howard2107 said:


> Select highest gear on the rear mech (smallest sprocket) remove gear cable.
> Set lower limit by turning the pedals and pushing the mech towards the wheel onto the lowest gear (biggest cog) adjust the lower limit screw until the chain runs smoothly without either trying to jump into the wheel or trying to move down to next cog.
> once this is set, let the mech come down onto the highest gear (smallest cog) and set the high limit screw so that the chain doesnt try to move onto the frame or up to the next cog. In either position the derailleur should be sat directly below the cog, in the case of Shimano some recommend it should be about a half to 1mm to the left, but its about trial and error.
> 
> ...



Thanks for that. So much clearer than the explanation in the Haynes book! I can't get wifi in my shed so am not able to watch videos while working on the bike but after printing your instructions I could refer to them and managed to get it all sorted in less than half an hour. Not sure if it was just beginner's luck or what but adjusting the indexing with the barrel was very straight forward and it seemed to fall into place after a few turns with no faffing at all. Thanks again


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