How to adjust gears?

[Deleted member 20519]

So here's the story, I brought the bike into my LBS on Friday and I specifically asked them to fit a new gear cable, adjust the gears once said cable was fitted and locate the grinding noise coming from my back wheel.

I call them today and the bike's ready to collect, I ask the guy if the grinding noise has been fixed and he tells me yes, the back wheel needed trued. Sure, not sure how that works but fine.

I head down to the shop, the bike's hanging up on the wall looking lovely next to all the lovely pieces of carbon. The guy comes over to me and takes it down, everything's looking fine. I ask him if the wheel's fixed and he says yep, he trued it and adjusted the brakes - he fitted the new gear cable and adjusted them too. Great! Fifteen quid changing hands and a chat and I'm on my way.

Outside, have a check over the bike to make sure it's all good. The wheel grinding is *not* gone, the gears are *not* adjusted but apart from those two things which is the reason I booked it into the shop in the first place, it's all okay.

Now, I hope you enjoyed my story but I want the gears to be fixed. I'm not too pleased about the rear wheel, I think it's the hub, so I might just take it down to the shop tomorrow and book it in again. The issue with the gears is that when I'm pedalling and stop, the chain goes into ultra-slack mode and loses all of it's tightness and then it takes half of a pedal revolution before the chain tightens up again and I can continue pedalling. I'm fairly sure this can be fixed with a simple derailleur adjustment but there's one problem - I don't know how.

So, you kind people of the Know How section, how do I fix this issue and stop the chain from going slack when I coast?

Thank you!

 

[accountantpete]

That grinding noise is the hub and the pawls are shot by the sound of it.

What hub are we talking about.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

That grinding noise is the hub and the pawls are shot by the sound of it.

What hub are we talking about.

Standard wheels that came with my bike, the description only states 'aluminium hub'. http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/700-touring-screw-on-rear-9653781/#infos-detaillees

 

[accountantpete]

That is not good - my only suggestion is that the pawls may be a bit gunked up. Take the wheel off and try squirting WD40 at the freehub from every angle and then give it a go.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Anyone know how to adjust the gears? Commuting tomorrow and I need it working.

 

[Broadside]

I agree with Pete, the chain going slack when freewheeling indicates a freehub problem, could be knackered but I would try the wd40 trick first to wash it out and free things up. You haven't got a lot to lose before a replacement may be necessary.

You mentioned that you asked the LBS to fit a new gear cable on a new bike, why is this? What advice do you need on gear adjustment?

 

[Deleted member 20519]

I agree with Pete, the chain going slack when freewheeling indicates a freehub problem, could be knackered but I would try the wd40 trick first to wash it out and free things up. You haven't got a lot to lose before a replacement may be necessary.

You mentioned that you asked the LBS to fit a new gear cable on a new bike, why is this? What advice do you need on gear adjustment?

The ends on the gear cable were frayed when I removed it due to shifter issues and my mucking about didn't help, there was no way to get it back together. I've been fiddling with the barrel adjuster on the derailleur and that seems to have helped a bit, I need to fine tune it to perfection now! I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Broadside]

Well good luck with that. There are some good video links on this forum which I have used before but in essence tuning a derailleur is simple; change in to top gear (smallest sprocket) on the rear, stop pedalling (with bike upside down or on a maintenance stand) then click the shifter once to change in to the next gear and twist the barrel adjuster until it slips in to that gear smoothly. That is it.

 

[actonblue]

If you had a new cable fitted the gears should have been adjusted.
Accountant pete is right your problem lies with the free hub.
Until that is addressed then no amount of gear adjustment will solve this problem.

 

[Maz]

As stated above...freehub is the cause of the temporary slack chain. I had the exact same problem.
Lubing might help as a short-term fix. How old is the back wheel?

 

[compo]

I know it is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string but how long should a freehub last?

 

[Maz]

I know it is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string but how long should a freehub last?

Mine lasted about 3 years (year-round, all-weather use) before the freehub started playing up big time.

 

[ushills]

The issue with the chain loosing tension is the freehub. Replace that and the problem should go away, hopefully its a shimano freehub then replacement is easy.

 

[accountantpete]

I know it is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string but how long should a freehub last?

Depends on the make. Shimano Campagnolo and Mavic hubs can last for years because they are made out of good quality materials. The pawl spring in Campagnolo hubs defies belief -it is so thin yet so robust.

 

[Broadside]

I know it is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string but how long should a freehub last?

I got 7,000 miles out of the stock freehub on my Specialized Secteur Sport, but looking back I was getting a funny occasional clunking/cracking noise from 4,000 miles which I reckon was the first sign of trouble.