A few minor problems

thebigbear

Hi i'm new hear.

I bought a bike to get my fitness up. I was getting slightly annoyed everytime the coach replaced with another blatantly worse prop at around the 60 minute mark. I now im overwieght and pretty unfit but rugby i enjoy and to be taken off and replaced by someone who bench presses about a quarter of what i can got on my nerves.

I'm only 16 so i bought a bike thought it cant do me any harm. After finding the bike i wanted i bought it. It was a carrera virtuosso from halfords. Its a very nice bike for the price.

The problem i have is this every time i get going up hill and i change down if im finding it hard or up if easy the gears slip. The crank arms jerk forward with such a force that i usually end up slipping forward and hitting my manly area.

I love cycling, i found the love of it from work. I work at halfords building and repairing bikes so i know what to do to replace all the parts i just dont know whats wrong. And just because i work there doesnt mean im and idiot or obnoxoius.

Also any ideas on how to build up my fitness would be great.

Thanks in advance.

term1te

Sounds to me like either you have an old chain on a new cassette (or new chain old cassette), but that would jump like that all the time not only when you changed gear, or the rear derailleur is not adjusted properly or very stiff. Try lubricating the moving bits on the derailleur and trimming it until the chain moves freely between the gears. Put the chain on the middle gear of the cassette, whislt turning the pedals by hand, adjust the screw where the cable enters the derailleur until the chain is dead centred when it first touches the cogs. Hopefully that will leave your "manly area" intact for the guys in the scrum.

thebigbear

thanks very much for your advice. I will have a close look at the components and then if either of them are dodgy replace them .

keef66

when changing down a gear to make it easier going uphill you have to be careful to take the pressure off the pedals otherwise you'll get an unholy clunk each time. Same principle but less so going the other way.

On the other hand, if the chain is skipping some of the teeth on the sprockets each time, something needs adjusting

bice

Maybe a stiff link in your chain?

thebigbear

hi ive just had a look at the chain taken it off and measured the gaps and it looks like it needs replacing. Also the cassette looks pretty worn. Should i replace just the chain or both?

fizz

How many miles has your bike done ?

Sounds like to me like a setup / adjustment issue rather than worn parts, but if you're going to replace the chain you should do the cassette and front chain rings as well, as a new chain will wear just as fast on a worn cassette / chainrings.

thebigbear

many many miles

ris

if the chain is worn then the cassette is probably not going to be too friendly to the new one. if you can do it then replace them both.