My gears are rubbish

BigLee1

I bought a Tek Pilot 1.2 `06 model a while ago & compared to my 9 year old XT equipped mountain bike the gears are rubbish. Its the first road bike I`ve owned & the combined brake & gear levers were strange at first The problem mostly is the rear derailleur won`t drop into the higher gears as fast as my MTB will & sometimes need another click on the lever then may drop 2 Is it me who doesn`t know how to use them properly or what? I`ve sprayed a little GT85 down the cables to see if that makes it any better, but no It`s a Tiagra lever with a 105 rear mech.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Lee

Simon Notley

Sounds like they just need a bit of tweaking, could be as simple as just giving the adjustor where the cable meets the rear mech a couple of quick twists clockwise.

BigLee1

Thanks Simon, I`ll try that Hope it works as I`m getting frustrated with what is otherwise a good bike

Monty Dog

Assuming you mean it won't shift to a smaller sprocket on the rear - 9/10 this is usually due to dirty/crudded-up cables. Its often the short piece of out or the rear mech, or where the cable goes under the BB. If you can release the rear gear cable and slide the outer away from the mech - put some chain lube on the cable and then refit. Reclamp the inner, tighten the cable adjusters and re-set the indexing. Check www.parktool.com if stuck. If that doesn't work, make sure the outer cable runs from the STIs are not kinked and it may be worth changing the inner cable.

John.T

On most STI units the cable is not released until you let go of the lever. If you are holding it across then it will not change.
It could also be that the indexing is not quite right. Try screwing the rear cable adjuster in a small amount.

method

They just need adjusting.

general rule of thumb, if it doesn't change - cable too loose, if it changes on its own or jumps two cogs - too tight.

If you can't change in to either you smallest or largest cog, check your limit screws as well.

I wouldn't bother going through Monty Dog's suggestions until you are certain you have cable tension right.

BigLee1

Thanks for the replies folks!
I`ve discounted dirty or worn cables as the bike has only done 300 miles & I did as suggested by taking the cables off the guides & lubing down the sheathes etc.

I think the cables & other bits have now broken in & so are a bit looser so need adjusted back to normal operation it was the adjusting that stumped me a little! :oops: I thought the adjusters did the same thing wherever they were positioned on the cable. I`ll do some experimenting

John.T

At 300 miles it is just normal settling in and cable adjustment should sort it. These things should be sorted out at the free service that most LBS's will give. A good idea to know how to do it yourself though.

BigLee1

Sadly I bought the bike from a shop 100 miles away so it`s a bit too much IMO to do a 200 mile round trip for a free service