regular service at bike shop

[cyberknight]

+1 for bicycle tutor .

Get yourself a book on repair as well, i use Zinn and the art of road bike maintenence personally and a tool kit , you can pick one up for around £30 with most of the basics and you will save a fortune in bills.

Last week my shifter that changes the chainring(front gears ) cable came out of the housing in the actual gear shifter and i manage to reinstall it , god knows how much a shop would have charged .In fact i bet they would have tried to sell me a new brake/shifter set (STI road shifters ) at £100 a pair + fitting .

Take your time and start with the basics then work you way up as you gain confidence as it can be fun and i feel proud that i can keep my bike on the road without having to visit the shop unless really necessary .

 

[Cycle power]

Further to my opening post. I have now got my back brake adjusted and working fine. I have almost got my gears. I put the chain on the smallest cog [In my case 7th gear] i flick my gear shift to 6 and adjust the gear cable tension until the chain jumps on to cog 6 adjust to 5 then adjust to 4 then to 3 but then it won't go to 2 and one. If i give the cable more slack it throws all the other gears out.
Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong.

 

[subaqua]

Further to my opening post. I have now got my back brake adjusted and working fine. I have almost got my gears. I put the chain on the smallest cog [In my case 7th gear] i flick my gear shift to 6 and adjust the gear cable tension until the chain jumps on to cog 6 adjust to 5 then adjust to 4 then to 3 but then it won't go to 2 and one. If i give the cable more slack it throws all the other gears out.
Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong.

have you set the high and low limits properly before you try and adjust the indexing.

http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-rear-derailleur/

failing that it may be a bent rear mechanism hanger.

 

[Cycle power]

Hi Subaqua. Them will be the two screws that stop the chain jumping off into the frame of the bike? Yes i done them. It's when the gears hit 3 and i want to go to 2 and 1 the cable is very tight and as i say if i adjust the cable it throws the gears out.

Now i have just got to grips with the basics i hope it aint a bent rear mechanism.

Thanks for the advice thou.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

It seems to me there can be a number of possibilities aside from problem with the rear mech. Perhaps the most likely are:



1) Lower limit screw set wrong. As subaqua suggested. However if 1 and 2 are still difficult to shift into when the L limit screw is backed way out, then this is not it.

2) Cable / housing / shifter rusty, damaged or blocked by road grime. You should be able to identify this by seeing whether shifting into 1 and 2 is still not smooth when the cable is unclamped at the rear mech, while maintaining some cable tension with just your fingers there. If not smooth you should similarly be able to isolate whether it is the cable or shifter by feeling whether the cable can travel smoothly within the housing. Sticky cable / housing can be lubricated if not damaged, although they are inexpensive to replace. Shifter is the problem if you have difficulties shifting into 1 and 2 even with limited cable tension at the shifter. According to Dawes spec it seems you might have these thumb shifters? If they are then probably can't be dismantled, if so I would try a rigorous rinse followed by a blast of WD40, if still no good replace (again 7 speed Shimano compatible shifters can be bought cheaply).


This is not really related to the problem you have I think but I find following Shimano's suggestion of SIS (i.e. indexing) adjustment usually work well by setting cable tension "between" the 5 and 6 gear in your case by following the method at the top right corner of this and similar document.

 

[fossyant]

Cycle power - you are doing the right thing by learning.

I always set indexing by the middle sprockets then test shifting into each gear with the bike off the ground.

Make sure the cables are free of gunk and the mech is thoroughly cleaned - check for gunk stopping the limit screws etc. Can you still manually push the mech over to gear 1 and two - i.e push it not the shifter so you are ruling out shifter problems.

 

[Cycle power]

Thanks guys. I'm going to have to check tomorrow due to the light. It's when i move the shifter to two it just springs back as if the cable won't streach that far and pulls the shifter trigger back.
I will check for gunk etc and i will check to see if i can manualy push the mech over to gear one and two.

Cable housing, gear shifter looks to be fine. Bike only 8 months old used every day and left out to the elements at work as work will not provide sheds or cover. I do try to wash it and rub surface rust off every now and then and lube often.

They are the thumb shifters i have btw record ace from new.
Fossyant thanks for the encouragement in a sort of way I'm glad i have learnt somthing new this week .

Thanks all once again

 

[Headgardener]

I know this is probably a silly question but you are changing down on the chainrings (at the front) at the same time as changing down at the back? Because it doesn't do the chain a lot of good running the chain from big ring to large sprocket and small ring to small sprocket. Sometimes the 1st and 2nd gears ar unavailable if the chain is on the big ring at the front.

 

[Cycle power]

Thanks for the input Headgardener. I only have 7 gears so i just have the one chain ring at the front. I have managed to get from 2 to 7 now. The cable is just to tight to move it onto first and if i adjust the cable tension where the cable comes out at the bottom of the derailleur it throws all the other gears out and I'm back to square one.
I have only ever used first gear once so i can live with 2 to 7 not ideal i know but seems i did not know anything about these gears a week ago I'm claiming success. It has saved me 30 odd pound i would imagine and helped me do some basic stuff on my bike. I'm lubricating it and getting rid of surface rust on cables and on my chain this week. But i know allthough i don't use first gear it will niggle me and i will be at the cable and derailleur again in the near future but this time i will almost know what I'm doing.

Cheers.
C.P

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

I have bought tools and learned and sometimes the hard way, to do most repairs. Last year I learned how to remove the cassette, clean and re attach, which I was very proud of.


I can now strip the bike down completely, apart from the bottom bracket, so when I clean my bike I take it all apart, the brakes, gears etc, completely apart and clean it all, re grease and put it back together.

I have done this mostly because I need to go to work on the bike every day so getting it to the LBS requires a day off from work etc as none will do the stuff I need on a Saturday, fair enough, so I have learned to do as much as I can.

This weekend I changed one of the gear cables, which again was a first for me.

I still take a day off if I need a wheel re trued, although I now have a spare wheel, or I need a bottom bracket.

The more you learn about the bike the more you know it inside out, and my latest SRAM chain, has the power link, so I can now remove the chain while doing the service which is just bloody superb !

 

[Davidc]

Good advice above, and I'd add the Sheldon Brown website for good advice.

One of my bikes gets LBS serviced 4 times a year - they included lifetime free servicing with the bike. I believe they charge £35 for the same service normally. It's just basic lubrication and a check up, but on the last two they've trued a wheel they didn't supply, and set up the hub bearings on the other wheel, which I hadn't got round to doing. Both done as well as I'd have done them. They also once adjusted the rear mech, which had been working perfectly beforehand and needed setting up correctly afterwards.

Apart from that I do all my own maintenance*. It's much cheaper, usually better done, and I enjoy doing it. If you enjoy things mechanical you'll end up getting more out of cycling if you learn to do your own.

*Apart from rebuilding wheels.

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

Gradually learning how to maintain your own bike and aquiring any specialist tools to do the job will be beneficial (when I first started work I recall buying one Campagnolo tool each payday ), not only saving money in the long term but the knowledge gained may prove invaluable for any roadside repairs that may arise. Understanding the mechanics will also help general wear and tear along the ‘prevention is better than the cure’ theory. There are many online forums and even you tube videos that you will find useful; anything that you are unsure about then I suggest the ‘measure twice cut once approach’; this may reduce any silly, costly mistakes.

As for service charges, a quality LBS should list what they charge and what you can expect done, most will provide two kinds of service, along the lines of listed as ‘Standard’ and ‘Full‘. Expect charges to vary, as will what is done of course, some stores may do more than others and charge for it as a result. Most LBS mechanics are vocational types who take pride in their work and often do far more than what is charged for, so if you are a cyclist who chooses not to do any of their own maintenance (and many prefer not to) then it’s well worth the effort hunting down a store with one of these vocational mechanics.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk