Can't select every gear

[Mart79]

My wife bought me a bike recently. Don't know where from as Halfords seemed to be constantly sold out.

Anyway, its a great looking bike, and is used quite often. However when I first put it all together and took it out the chain kept slipping/jumping because the guide was slightly out of alignment. (chain was already in the gears cassette, and the instructions stated it was already aligned and didn't need adjusting)

Anyway, as said the chain kept slipping under hard pedalling so I slightly adjusted the guide. I now notice if I select the hardest / smallest cog the chain will not engage that gear, I have tried readjusting and it either won't engage or it will engage but slips /jumps or when i do manage to get it so it doesn't jump gear, I then can't select the easiest / biggest cog.

Or shall I tell the wife, thanks but no thanks and go buy a Carera from my local Halfords

 

[si_c]

Gears just need properly indexing - there are plenty of video tutorials on how to do this, such as this one. Worth spending a little time getting it right - no need to buy a new bike, a second hand bike is invariably better value than new.

What bike is it that you have?

 

[tom73]

Try this all you need to know from how it all works to how to index them.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkZxPIZ1ngY

Calvin should get you sorted

 

[Mart79]

It's a bike she bought from Amazon I am lead to believe, 'Probike ZZ5'

Thanks for the video link, I will have a look and solve my gear issue. However I have just played about with 2 of the screws on the rear selector guide (no idea of the correct name) and it now lines up with the smallest cog. Bit late to take it out to test now.

 

[Mart79]

Had a watch of the videos, and attempted to sort it out following the instructions, no matter what I do it will not stop jumping out of the smallest cog. Think it will book it in to my local Halfords and have them solve the issue as I was beginning to lose patience when I tried adjusting.

 

[NottsLad]

Sometimes if the teeth on the cog are worn this can happen. In my teens I rode everywhere on the smallest cog in the cassette, except for uphill, and after about 5 years the teeth looked like shark's teeth rather than the usual shape. The chain then started to jump in that gear, even though the derailleur was correctly adjusted. The solution was a new cassette.

 

[BrumJim]

A quick search on this forum suggests that Probikes are reasonable for the price, if a little likely to wear some components out a bit prematurely. Probably as good if not marginally better than the Halfords equivalent.

And, on the subject of Halfords, the mechanical service can be somewhat variable. There are, no doubt, some very good bike mechanics working for them, but there are also some shockers. Try a local bike shop instead, where you are more likely to get a correct appraisal as to what is going wrong.

 

[Lovacott]

If you don't have a stand, tie a rope or strap around the saddle and suspend the bike from a garage truss or under the stairs from a balustrade (that's what I do).

You need to have the rear wheel off the ground so that you can pedal and run through the gears as you make adjustments.

 

[Mart79]

Thanks guys, just waiting for the car to be mot'd then I've got an appointment with halfords for them to do a free safety check where I am hoping thry can solve the gear issue. Could be an expensive day as I bet the wife a tenner my car would pass its mot. 🤔😔