Derailleur/shifter questions

[Shut Up Legs]

Hi all,

I'm replacing my shifter cables and adjusting both derailleurs (for tourer bike) for the 1st time (I knew I'd get around to trying it one day ), and have some newbie questions, so hope they don't sound too dumb . I've put both new cables, cable outers, and ferrules on, and it seems to be OK, and I can even use both shifter levers to move the RD and FD, although I haven't done the adjustment of these, yet. By the way, I did search these fora for answers to these questions, but didn't find anything suitable, hence this thread, so please don't be offended if I inadvertently repeated an earlier question by someone else.

1. The shifter cable set I bought has 6 ferrules, and as far as I can see, 2 of these ferrules (plastic) are for the STI shifter ends of the cable outers, while 3 of the others (also plastic) are for where the cable outers enter the down tube barrel adjusters and where the rear cable outer for the rear shifter cable enters the barrel adjuster on the RD. Then there's a metal ferrule which I guessed is for where the rear cable outer rests on the right chain stay. So my question here is: why are 2 of the 5 plastic ferrules differently shaped? These 2 have a ridge along one side of the outside of the cylinder, and the ends of the ferrules where the cable exits had a narrow plastic tube which looked like it was designed simply to be cut off with a utility knife. Are these 2 different because of the shape of the entry hole in the STI shifters, or something? If it's any help, the shifter cable set I bought is the Shimano Road Shift Cable Set (polymer-coated cables with black cable outers).
2. How are the barrel adjusters installed? I can't see any mounting screw/bolt for any of them.
3. One of my barrel adjusters won't turn, so is there a way to fix this? I've tried pulling on it before turning, but it just won't budge.
4. Right now, perhaps because I haven't adjusted the shifters yet, when I use the inner/small levers to shift either the RD or FD down, i.e. to release tension, I get some resistance, and the shifter makes a loud clicking noise. Is there any way to reduce this? It certainly wasn't this obvious before I replaced the shifter cables. Is it simply due to not having the cable tension high enough? As I mentioned, I haven't yet done the RD/FD adjustments, and haven't yet used a cable stretcher to tension either cable.

Thanks all in advance for any knowledge you can provide to cure my ignorance .

 

[accountantpete]

I think you have a Dura Ace 9000 cable set by the sounds of it which came with differing varieties if ferrules.

You should have:

2 plastic ferrules on the end of the gear cable leading into the shifters.

2 plastic ferrules with narrow tubes - these go on the other end of the same gear cable and feed into the down tube stops with the narrow tube bit pointing to the seat (to keep crud out).

1 plastic ferrule for the rear mech cable (where it meets the chainstay)

1 metal ferrule for the same cable (where it meets the rear mech)

I'm not sure about the barrel adjusters - are they the inline adjusters or the ones that feed onto the shifters perhaps.

I'd keep the cable tensioned when clicking the shifters as otherwise the nipple comes out of its housing and jams the mech.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Thanks for the comments, Pete . The barrel adjusters are mounted on the down tube, and 1 of these 2 is stuck and won't turn. So how are these actually installed, and how can I fix the stuck one?

 

[Tim Hall]

The barrel adjusters normally screw into a tapped lug, brazed onto the down tube. If it won't turn it's likely the thread has seized in the tapped lug. Apply a bit of penetrating oil (can you get Plus Gas in Australia?) and wait half an hour. Grip the turny bit (stop me if I'm getting too technical) with a pair of pliers and give it some welly. You might be able to push the plastic knurled knob out of the way and get hold of the underlying metal. Once you get it free it might be a plan to clean the threads in the lug by running a tap (M4 I think) through.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Thanks, Tim, I'll give it a try .

 

[Shut Up Legs]

A follow-up question: someone on an Australian forum mentioned that when you clamp the FD cable, you need to run the cable over a small metal protrusion that's on the FD cable clamp, then bend the cable downwards before clamping it. Apparently this stops the cable being crimped when you shift to the small chain ring. How important is this? I couldn't help noticing that the cable had been clamped in a straight upwards orientation by the bike mechanic, the last time I got them to replace my shifter cables. So did the mechanic get it wrong, or is this a common way to clamp the cable?