Gears still rubbish - what should i do?

Kerbdog

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Boardman Comp HT and noticed on my 1st ride that the gears were skipping about a bit, so i took it back to Halfords to get it fixed. After a bit of messing about i finally got the bike back and was told it had been fixed. I had a qucik blast about the car park and all seemed well.

So yesterday i went out for a longish ride (about 18 miles) on some old railway paths near where i live and it seems the gears are not not fixed, in fact they seem slightly worse. The chain came off the crank twice - once when i was changining to the largest cog and once on the smallest. Also when on the middle cog on the front, using the largest three or four gears on the back (biggest cogs), the chain slips, gear changes are sluggish and noisy and it can take around 5 seconds between hitting the trigger and the chain moving.

There is also a strange intermittent metallic rattling noise which seems to be coming from the front end (although its hard to pin down) when i get up a bit of speed. This is happening mainly on the middle cog on the front and the smallest three of four at the back. I initally put the sound down to gravel hitting of the spokes, but it seems to happen in these gears even when on Tarmac. Any ideas as to what this could be?

So anyway, does anyone have any opinions as to what i should do about the gears. My options are to take the bike back to Halfords again (im not overly optomistic they will actually be able to sort it out), take the bike to a LBS for them to sort it out (how much would that be roughly?), or try to recitify the problem myself with the help of online guides etc.

Im inclined to try and sort the problem myself. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be and if it is easy enough to sort out and also how i would go about it? Also if anyone could let me know of a good LBS in and around Durham it would be greatly appreciated.

Any other advice is welcome and appreciated.

On a plus note and despite the gears/chain issue i had an enjoyable ride yesterday covering the 18ish miles in around 1hour 35 mins, but boy is my backside sore today!

Cheers, Rob

MountainPete

The rattling is most probably the chain rubbing against the chain guide on the front derailleur. It happens when the chain is at an 'angle' e.g. middle cog, extreme ends of the cassette. The fact that you're only hearing it at the low end on the cassette suggests that it could do with a bit of tweaking though - ideally you'll only get the noise at both the largest and smallest gears, if at all.

ride_whenever

Either read park tools and sort it yourself.

Or go to your lbs with some cash and a pack of biccies and ask them to show you how to do it, generally easier way as you'll pick up a few tricks hopefully.

nwmlarge

sounds to me like you are making extreme angles with your chain rather than shifting up and down the front rings where appropriate

jake_tenfloors

Sounds to me that your limit screws on your derailer arn't set up correctly which is causing the chain come off on your top & bototm ring.

What halfords store did you get it from??

I'd take it back and ask them to look at the limit screws & just explain that the chain is coming off.

How olds the bike? Because with it being a new bike the cables & such do stretch & bed in. Have you taken it back for its 6 week check as that is what its for.

Jake

Kerbdog

@jake_tenfloors

I got it from Halfords at the Arnison Centre, Durham. The bike has already been back once, after my 1st ride. Here they adjusted the cable tension and sent me on my way. I went round the car park and straight back in when the gears wouldnt change at all at the front. They tried to fix it agian, and i had similar results, round car park and straight back in. So i left the bike with them and picked it up the next day, seemed ok with a quick blast round the car park, but problems surfaced as described above. I have had the bike just over a week and done around 50miles on it.

@nwmlarge

This may be the case, but i thought i had read that this was only an issue when using large front/large back or small front/small back. Is it not ok to use the whole range of the cassette when on the middle cog?

I might give Halfords one more chance to fix it, but to be honest they dont fill me full of confidence that they know what they are doing.

Rob

nwmlarge

if it's doing it throughout the middle ring then perhaps the rings are bent or the front mech is wonky or set too low/high

mea00csf

well, as you're gears aren't set up correctly now, you may as well have a bash at setting them up yourself. It isn't rocket science, and you'll get a good understanding of how they work.

If the owrst happens and you can't figure it out and you make a total mess of it, the worst that will happen is you'll have to take it to the bike shop and they'll have to do exactly the same stuff as if you havne't even tried

Kerbdog

Which rings could be bent and how would i go about straightening them, or if that is the case will i need to go into Halfords and create a fuss until i get parts replaced?

Spent the morning reading the Park Tools guides (hope my boss isnt watching) and i think im gonna have a go at sorting this myself, like mea00csf says whats the worst that can happen (visions of me in the garage with a lots of broken bike parts scattered around - kinda like when Father Ted tries to get the dent out of the car! lol).

Think the plan of action is start from scratch and treat it like im installing everything for the first time - i will let u know how it works out for me.

Any final advice or tips for me.

Rob

supersonic

Have a go at setting them up yourself. Cables stretch from new, so the gears can need readjusting 2 or 3 times within the first few rides.

You an use the full range of the cassette in the middle cog, but sometimes you will get a slight bit of rub.

Skonk

If you end up deciding to take it back to Halfords, you could try taking it to a different branch of Halfords if there is one reasonably close.

It may just be that the guy at your local store just isn't very good and you may have better luck at a different store.

neal79379

I had exactly the same problem with mine! :x Then there was an issue with a juddering from the rear brake, then the coller"popped off" in the fork. I went back to Halfords and kicked up merry hell and managed to get a free upgrade to the Pro F/S. They know there are some issues with a percentage of the Comps, so don't let them tell you otherwise. If you ain't happy, make it known!

supersonic

Honestly, most of this stuff is just bedding in and readjustment from new.

Shatner

supersonic wrote:

Have a go at setting them up yourself. Cables stretch from new, so the gears can need readjusting 2 or 3 times within the first few rides.

This.

If the cables have stretched it'll only take a couple of mins to readjust the gears. Loads of guides online that can talk you through it.

Kerbdog

Yeah, the bike rides fine other than the slightly dodgy gear changes every now and then so i dont think its anything as bad as neal79379 suggests. Gonna have a look at things over the weekend and will report back with how i get on.

Since i dont have a bike workstand does anyone have any cunning suggestions as to how i can fashion something to make working on the bike a bit easier. I was looking at ordering a cheap Draper workstand off ebay but it wont be here by the weekend. Anyone know if these are any good (or at least worth the pricely sum of £16)?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRAND-NEW-HEAVY-D ... 286.c0.m14

Cheers,
Rob

MTB_Man

Kerbdog wrote:

There is also a strange intermittent metallic rattling noise which seems to be coming from the front end (although its hard to pin down) when i get up a bit of speed. This is happening mainly on the middle cog on the front and the smallest three of four at the back. I initally put the sound down to gravel hitting of the spokes, but it seems to happen in these gears even when on Tarmac. Any ideas as to what this could be?

Cheers, Rob

I've noticed this noise when doing some speed on my Boardman Pro HT. It's kind of a metallic buzzing noise / sensation. Almost feels like it could be something to do with the front wheel (disc brake?).

If I figure it out, will let you know.

andy46

MTB_Man wrote:

Kerbdog wrote:

There is also a strange intermittent metallic rattling noise which seems to be coming from the front end (although its hard to pin down) when i get up a bit of speed. This is happening mainly on the middle cog on the front and the smallest three of four at the back. I initally put the sound down to gravel hitting of the spokes, but it seems to happen in these gears even when on Tarmac. Any ideas as to what this could be?

Cheers, Rob

I've noticed this noise when doing some speed on my Boardman Pro HT. It's kind of a metallic buzzing noise / sensation. Almost feels like it could be something to do with the front wheel (disc brake?).

If I figure it out, will let you know.

i also get this when really going for it, let me know if you figure it out :?

MTB_Man

Went out again tonite and put my head low when giving it some stick on the tarmac. Really sounds like something is vibrating really fast on left of my handlebars - couldn't quite figure it out. I thought it may be the shifter or brake levers, but it wasn't. Will continue to try and find the cause.

geordiefreerider

What rear mech do you have ? I recently fitted a xt shadow and I cant for the life of me get it quite right, well I can in the workshop I can set it up perfect click clunk click clunk etc but im finding it needs adjusted after every ride, never had that bother with my old style xt mech !

The noise from your disc sounds like a slight warping of the disc which can be trued by hand if you look while spinning the front wheel you may be able to see a slight rub, I get the same noise sometimes and its a pain but thats disc brakes for ya, if you know what your doing its an easy fix or take it back to halfords and ask for stuart, he seems to me the only one who knows what he's talking about and he's a helpful lad !

Kerbdog

So i had a look at things on Friday. Didnt actually take me long to diagnose the problem. Turns out the middle cog was quite badly bent and out of shape. Now i have only ridden the bike on old railway paths so im pretty sure i didnt do it.

Anyway called Halfords on Saturday morning all ready for a bit of an argument and ended up talking to that guy Stuart who runs the bike dept. He told me to bring the bike in and he would have a look. So i dropped it off on Sat and after a quick look he is going to replace the cogs (which he has had to order in so no bike for a week or so), sort out the gears and give the bike a good check over, no questions asked.

When i told him this was the 2nd time the bike had been back he seemed a bit annoyed and suggested he would be giving whoever had looked at it the last time a bit of a hard time.

geordiefreerider i think you are right - i have now spoke with 4 of the staff (including the manager) and this stu fella is the only one that seems to know what he is doing. He also seems to be the only one happy to help. Funnily enough, the first time i went in, before i bought the bike, i was talking to this other strange little fellow who told me he ran the bike dept. Lying litlle git!!!

I also mentioned the metallic noise that a few other people seem to be getting as well. He said he will look into it and try and sort it out. When i pick the bike up i will let you know if he has managed to pin point the problem and fix it.

Rob

bails87

How bent was the chainring? Most modern chainrings have teeth that look bent and twisted, they're designed to help shifting.


And even if it does get sorted now, it's still worth being able to setup gears yourself, I learnt off the Park Tools site, and could now do it pretty quickly, you've just got to understand the effects of the stop screws and cable tension.

Kerbdog

Yeah it was pretty bent. When looking from above and spinning the pedals, the chain was visably moving by maybe 5-10mm to the side over the affected section of the cog (hope that makes sense). It was a section of about 50mm of the middle cog that was bent towards the largest cog.

I think you are right about getting to grips with the adjustment and general maintenance myself. I have had a good look at the Park Tools website which seems to explain things pretty clearly. All i need now is to get my bike back!

Rob

MTB_Man

I'm pretty sure it's the shifters causing the vibrating on mine. At certain speeds/tarmac it seems the X9's are prone to vibrating really fast and causing a kind of buzzing noise.

Kerbdog

Got the bike back today with new chainring and new chain. The guy even put a power link in (and gave me 3 spare ones). He said he was unable to recreate the strange metallic noise with the bike in the workstand, but reckoned it might be the disks and, if it is, could go away when they bed in properly.

Gonna go out for a ride tomorrow and see how the gears are adjusted this time (3rd time lucky and all that), will have a listen to the shifters when i get that noise.

bails87

Good to hear they've sorted it.

I don't see how the shifters could possibly be making a buzzing noise, are you sure its not just the sound of the tyres buzzing on the tarmac coming up through the forks into the bars?

The shifters don't do anything different at 30mph than they do at a standstill, so sounds like an odd cause, unless its somehow the sound of the air moving around them.

MTB_Man

bails87 wrote:

Good to hear they've sorted it.

I don't see how the shifters could possibly be making a buzzing noise, are you sure its not just the sound of the tyres buzzing on the tarmac coming up through the forks into the bars?

The shifters don't do anything different at 30mph than they do at a standstill, so sounds like an odd cause, unless its somehow the sound of the air moving around them.

Well it seems (to me) that when speed is increased on tarmac, the tyres start to send a vibration then this makes the shifter (underside/thumb I think) vibrate. It seems to happen on mine.

It's much like something vibrating in a car like a plastic panel, wont buzz at low speeds, but at the right speed when vibrations picked up from the tyres it can make certain things rattle / buzz. But if you go faster, the buzz stops -and if you go slower and it also stops.

I'm replacing my X.9 shifters for X.0's this week and putting on a Ritchey WCS carbon handlebar which should help with vibration dampening. Will report back if it fixes it.

mac_man

MTB_Man wrote:

I'm pretty sure it's the shifters causing the vibrating on mine. At certain speeds/tarmac it seems the X9's are prone to vibrating really fast and causing a kind of buzzing noise.

I get a metallic buzz/ringing sound on my bike - which has X5 shifters and rear mech, but the front mech is Shimano. It sounds like a ringing sound and not the chain catching on something - it's too high pitched for that, or like a gear that's not slotted in properly.

Like you I only get the sound on tarmac. Usually in the highest gears from what i recall.

MTB_Man

mac man wrote:

MTB_Man wrote:

I'm pretty sure it's the shifters causing the vibrating on mine. At certain speeds/tarmac it seems the X9's are prone to vibrating really fast and causing a kind of buzzing noise.

I get a metallic buzz/ringing sound on my bike - which has X5 shifters and rear mech, but the front mech is Shimano. It sounds like a ringing sound and not the chain catching on something - it's too high pitched for that, or like a gear that's not slotted in properly.

Like you I only get the sound on tarmac. Usually in the highest gears from what i recall.

Tis a mystery .

At first I thought it may have been the plastic reflectors they stick on the spokes vibrating through the wheel, but I took them off to no avail. Well, still waiting for my X.0's and carbon bar - so will see if that does anything

skullthaw

single speed? :twisted: