Cable stretch

brh77
brh77 Posts: 242
edited August 2009 in Road beginners
Hi-

I have racked up 100km or so on my new bike, and my gears are jumping all over the place- I am pretty sure this is cable stretch, and wanted to know if this seems too early in its mileage for this to have happened? (I am quite heavy) and if I can do anything about it myself?

Cheers

Ben

Comments

  • psymon
    psymon Posts: 1,562
    cables can stretch from the first pull on the lever fresh out the box. so 100 miles reasonable. you can wind out the barrel adjusters on gear shifter pods to fine tune gear indexing. or release all the tension ie bottom cog at the back and front, undo the 5mm bolt on the mechs and pull the slack cable through and re tighten. lbs is good to as all this is way easier on a bike stand.
  • jairaj
    jairaj Posts: 3,009
    +1 yeah could well be cable stretch, usually a twist on the barrel adjusters sorts the problem out. take care only a 1/4 turn at a time tho.
  • balthazar
    balthazar Posts: 1,565
    Literally, it isn't cable stretch – steel cables don't stretch to yield in these circumstances – but the lengths of cable housing settling into the ferrules (the metal sockets at the ends of the housing). If the cable housing is poorly cut, it can cause continual niggling problems. On new bikes, however, this is unlikely as they are usually factory cut. Once it is corrected, the way the other respondents described, it will probably be fine for good.