Setting up my own gears?

downfader

My Kona Jake's tiagra needed adjustment so I thought I would read up a little and adjust them myself (they werent shifting right on the front derailer)

Only trouble is "PING!" and the cable shot through and I cant get it even remotely as it was.

Do I need some kind of special tool set to sort out my own gears? I'd love to get a bit of indepth knowledge on this but books and online videos dont seem to show what I have to do. Gears appear to be a black-art so if anyone has any tips I've love to hear them.

I could take it down the LBS but its prolly a 17 quid charge to reattach the cable.

explosifpete

First pull the cable lightly and shift down on you left hand shifter to expose al the cable,
then with you hands move the front mech in to the outside ring (you will need to move the chain over aswell)
keep holding it as it is sprung, then thread the cable though/under the retaining bolt, tighten the bolt (the cable will be be crimpped where it was) you will then need to use the barrel adjusters to set up the cable

downfader

Bah.. I still cant get it in the right place. No barrel adjusters though as this is on tiagra hoods. I'm going to take a break from this, I just end up losing my patience with it tbh.

Why are gears so bl**dy hard :oops:

k-dog

There must be barrel adjusters somewhere - you need them to set the gears up.

If they're not where the cable leaves the hood then they could be either a few inches away (inline type) or at the cable stop on the downtube.

It's not that hard once you get the knack and is a great skill to acquire - there's not much worse on a bike than sloppy shifting.

desweller

The barrel adjuster should be on the derailleur.

Setting up gears is a whole lot easier if you have a workstand!

k-dog

The adjuster is on the rear derailleur - but not on the front - it's just a clamp for the cable at the shifter end. For the front the adjuster will be in one of the places I said.

desweller

Oops - sorry, misread!

My preferred method for tackling front mechs is to wedge a suitably sized piece of wood between the frame and mech to hold the mech in a slightly over-shifted position on the middle or bottom ring. This is because I can't place as much tension on the cable as the mech return spring. Then I pull the cable through the clamp as hard as I can with a pair of long-nosed pliers and tighten it up. Works for me but on the other hand I do a lot of DIY so there's always bits of wood lying around.

Sort of tricky to describe with only words. If anyone else has a better technique I'd love to learn it!

downfader

DesWeller wrote:

Oops - sorry, misread!

My preferred method for tackling front mechs is to wedge a suitably sized piece of wood between the frame and mech to hold the mech in a slightly over-shifted position on the middle or bottom ring. This is because I can't place as much tension on the cable as the mech return spring. Then I pull the cable through the clamp as hard as I can with a pair of long-nosed pliers and tighten it up. Works for me but on the other hand I do a lot of DIY so there's always bits of wood lying around.

Sort of tricky to describe with only words. If anyone else has a better technique I'd love to learn it!

I thought about that last night, but then I was just about to watch Family Guy and that was more important

I'll have another pop after tea, and if I still cant get it to shift and balance right then I'll be off down the LBS.

Meds1962

Do a search for either Park Tools website or Sheldon Brown. They have easy to follow guides on this and anything else you need to know about bike maintenance.

Once you've done it a couple of times you'll find it not rocket science.

You do need a workstand otherwise it's probably easier to go to your lbs if you know they are good.

downfader

I've been using the turbo trainer to set them up, LOL!

I forgot about the sheldon brown site.