Another New One

[Gert Lush]

Hello again, I'm sorry that I didn't reply sooner I have just got back from holiday. I spent a lovely week walking the Purbeck Hills. Cycling around there would have killed my legs.

Ok......from the beginning, yes you have eight gear sprockets but the derailleur was only designed for 7 so may not have enough movement to cover the full 8 gears. As your gears are friction shifters rather than indexed, it is possible that by adjusting the high and low screws on the rear derailleur you can cover all 8.When you describe one gear as being a bit dodgy, it may be to do with the High and Low screws as above - but more information will help.
If the puncture is slow it may be easy to repair it and save a few £ rather than buying a new inner tube (but I would advise repairing it and then using it as a spare to take with you when cycling)
Bar taping is an easy task (YouTube is your friend) and tape can be bought for anywhere between £5 and £50. I buy imitation cork tape off eBay from China - it costs about £4, comes in a good length and I find it as good as stuff that would cost 3x as much here. (But it does take a few weeks to arrive)
Wheels not spinning quite true probably means they have slight buckles in them - truing wheels is easier than it looks (read Mickle's post at the top of the mechanical page) Ideally a truing stand should be used, but you can true reasonably well by using the brake blocks as your reference point or by fixing a cable tie so that it runs in line with the rim (cut to length so it just touches the rim and make sure the wheel is straight in the frame/fork first)
Worth just checking that there is no lateral play in the axles - which could also cause a wheel to not run true. The wheel should spin freely and smoothly without undue noise and with no sideways movement.
Enjoy riding and learning how to maintain your bicycle.

That's what I thought! In regards to the dodgy gear, it doesn't seem to go into it easily, the chain rattles around on the sprocket and then sometimes it seems to slip when I'm using it, I had tended to ignore that gear.

I was going to repair this inner tube anyway if I could, seems pointless to throw it out. I've watched some videos on both bar taping and truing. I think I might be able to manage both but I'll just have to have a go.

 

[Gert Lush]

That's a pretty looking thing. How tall art thou? I think the saddle could be higher...

I am 5' 10", I did some research into bike heights before I bought this and according to an online thing it says this should be good frame wise. I have since put the seat up and even raised the handlebars a little bit because I was feeling that I was slipping forward on the seat and was putting a lot of pressure on my arms/wrists. Again I don't know if this is a normal thing that happens on this type of bike or not.

 

[Gert Lush]

Rule #26 // Make your bike photogenic.
When photographing your bike, gussy her up properly for the camera. Some parameters are firm: valve stems at 6 o’clock. Cranks never at 90 or 180 degrees. Others are at your discretion, though the accepted practices include putting the chain on the big dog, and no bidons in the cages.


Rule #41 // Quick-release levers are to be carefully positioned.
Quick release angle on the front skewer shall be an upward angle which tightens just aft of the fork and the rear quick release shall tighten at an angle that bisects angle between the seat and chain stays. It is acceptable, however, to have the rear quick release tighten upward, just aft of the seat stay, when the construction of the frame or its dropouts will not allow the preferred positioning. For Time Trial bikes only, quick releases may be in the horizontal position facing towards the rear of the bike. This is for maximum aero effect.

Please could you point me in the direction of these rules. It seems I have a lot more to learn that expected. Thanks

 

[mjr]

Please could you point me in the direction of these rules. It seems I have a lot more to learn that expected. Thanks

They're satire, like Alf Garnett.

 

[Gert Lush]

They're satire, like Alf Garnett.

Ohhh.. Before my time I'm afraid

 

[machew]

Please could you point me in the direction of these rules. It seems I have a lot more to learn that expected. Thanks

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/

 

[mrandmrspoves]

Ok so we will assume that the "dodgy gear" is either highest or lowest on the rear.
If it is lowest gear (biggest cog) you need to ensure that when the gear lever is pulled fully towards you the cable is tight enough to pull the derailleur all the way on to the cog. You can check this by putting it into this gear position and then tugging the cable to see if it moves the derailleur further. If pulling the gear cable moves the derailleur further, move the gear lever all the way away from you and turn the pedals to engage highest gear. Now loosen the gear cable clamp on the rear derailleur and pull the cable tight, then tighten the clamp and test it carefully. (If your gear cable has a cable adjuster use that rather than the clamp - but pre indexed gears didn't tend to have a barrel adjuster for the gears) To test it, lift rear wheel off ground, pull gear lever towards you as far as it travels and then rotate the pedals slowly to see if the gear engages correctly. If it doesn't engage correctly, it will mean that your Low limit screw needs loosening slightly. Be careful that you don't loosen the limit screw too much or you risk the derailleur going into the rear spokes.

If the problem is engaging high gear it is the reverse of above. This time you check that the cable is slack enough to allow the derailleur to move all the way on to the small cog. If it doesn't, the gear cable could be too tight or binding because it is dirty inside. So this time, put the gear cable as far forward as it will go and tug the cable as far as it will go. If this is enough to enable the gear to engage correctly it suggests that the cable is sticky and should be replaced (rear cables should be replaced quite frequently as they tend to gum up due to their exposed position) If despite tugging the cable, the gear still doesn't engage correctly you should unscrew the H screw slightly.

 

[si_c]

Just to reiterate what others have said a little, it is likely that you need to adjust the low limit screw on the rear derailleur to get the 8th gear to engage if you are using friction shifting.

From what I understand the exage stuff had friction and indexed shifting, so if you are using indexed gear selection then you should be able to toggle something on the lever to switch it, and that should let you select the last gear, no matter what you do, you won't persuade an indexed system to select more gears than it is designed for. Friction shifting however doesn't have this constraint.

It is of course possible that with the rear derailleur that you have it may not have enough reach to get to the 8th cog, in which case you might have to replace it, a new Shimano Sora derailleur costs about £10, so depends how much you want it to work.

 

[Gert Lush]

@mrandmrspoves @si_c Thanks for the help! I actually just panic bought some integrated shifters from eBay and I also bought some nice red handlebar tape so once the shifters arrive I'll replace them (with help from Youtube), hopefully and then once they are on have a fiddle with the gearing on it.

Also, I bought a new tyre and inner tube and found my puncture repair kit so will repair the old one and keep it around. It's been a while since I've changed a tyre but I managed it and only bent the one spoon!