New Parts or New Bike?

Templeton

After not having had a bike for many years I decided to get back into cyling mostly for health/fitness reasons. Not wanting to waste too much money in case a didn't really enjoy it I bought a cheap and cheerful Rockrider 5.1 from decathlon.

6 months on and I'm really enjoying it, but there is one thing that annoys me about the bike, the gears. They're a twist grip shifter, which I really don't like, and the gears don't always engage straight away.

So the question is do I look to buy a more expensive bike, or is it worthwhile upgrading the whole gearing mechanism on the current one?

The current bike as a whole suits my needs, it's just the gears let it down. So what's you're opinions? Does anyone know if the Rockrider 5.1 is suitable to be upgraded?

In case it makes any difference the vast majority of the time I'm using country park type trails, no extreme terrain or anything of that sort.

Thanks.

BigShot

Someone will be along shortly to advise on the parts vs bike issue, but I'll chip in with a couple of points.

1> Twist grip gear changing is EVIL. I absolutely hate it and despite giving it a couple of chances I could not be persuaded to use it.

2> The imprecise/slow shifting could be an adjustment issue.
http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-front-derailer/
and
http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-rear-derailleur/
might be helpful on that front.
(Small adjustments and only change one thing at a time... I didn't do that the first time I tried to adjust gears and it took me AGES to get them sorted after.)

Templeton

Yeah the main change I want to make is to get rid of the twist grip and go onto the quick fire type of shifter.

And the gears have been adjusted a several times. I can get it changing lovely and smooth in the garage, but as soon as I get to the bottom of a hill the thing doesn't want to know!

BigShot

Apologies if this sounds like I'm treating you like a simpleton... but are you easing off the pedals a bit before changing gear?
When you're trying to shift under a heavy pedal load the chain can struggle to get across quickly.
Just a thought.

Are you shifting just before the hill or when you're already trying to get up it and the chosen gear has gone a bit hard to turn?

Again - sorry if this is really basic stuff, but it could be a technique thing.

butcher of bakersfield

You could pick up some cheap shifters for next to nothing. A little over a tenner for some budget ones if you shop around, or alternatively 2nd hand from ebay. New grips - about £7, or less..

Then put some money aside each month for a new ride, while still being reasonably happy with what you've got for the time being. No point in spending big money on it, no matter how sexual those components look in the shop. There's plenty of stuff out there that'll do a good job for a fraction of the price.

Templeton

No that's quite alright big shot, you may be onto something there.

It's only ever the front gears that play up, not had any problems with the rears. The hill it usually happens on gradually increases in gradient. At the bottom i'm usually in the middle gear at the front and 1 or 2 on the rear, then about half way up I need to change onto the smallest front gear and that's when it doesn't want to change, the chain just tends to rub along the derailleur.

Wappygixer

It may be that your gears need a tweek.
Did you take your bike back for its 3 month safety check?
You will struggle getting shifters as the 5.1 is only 7 speed.The gears it comes with are normally ok and I see very few issues with them.Granted the front chain rings don't change super quick as they are not ramped but this is a £130 bike.
As Bigshot says you need to ease off before you change gear as changing under load is a big no no.
Did your bike come with Shimano or SRAM grip shifts?I know both were used from time to time.
If you want some thing better and for not much more money than you paid then look at the Rockrider 5.2, its a great bike for £200.
What it your nearest store?If its Stockport feel free to pop into the Workshop and I'll do my best to help, just ask for me the Workshop manager

BigShot

If it always happens on the same hill, have you considered switching down to the granny ring and one of the smaller sprockets right at the start so there's no need to drop down a chainring further up? It doesn't solve whatever's causing it, but as a workaround it should do the trick.

Depending on exactly what sprockets and chainrings you've got, I'd guess the middle ring and 1 or 2 would be around about the same gear as the granny ring and 3 or 4.

I never feel right dropping off the middle ring unless my eyes are popping out (probably something to do with the expression "begging the granny (for mercy?)" that used to be bandied about in my formative years on bikes) but if it saves the need for an inevitable shift later on it might be worth it.

On my bike if I change to the granny ring and change up (i.e. to a higher gear, not to a bigger sprocket) 3 times at the back the gear feels pretty much identical. The same shift but only 2 times at the back gives a slightly easier gear. If there's something tough coming I'll do that early to save messing about later. It becomes second nature eventually too.


It does sound like something that could be solved with just the right tweak and a slightly different approach to the hill... though no amount of tweaking or technique changes will make twist grip gear shifters any less evil. :P


http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
Have a play.

Templeton

Cheers Wappy, thanks for the offer but my local store is the Nottingham one.

I have took it back for the 3 month check and the gears were adjusted then. But since then I've adjusted them a couple more times myself, but maybe it is just the way I'm riding :oops:

They are shimano shifters on the one I've got. I've seen that they stock some Shimano shifters for the 7 speed, so think I might change over to these for the time being, and then save a few pennies and look at getting a new bike in the spring.

cooldad

Have a look on Ebay or Retrobike - plenty of cheap 7 speed shifters.

stevecane

Buy a decent bike, the last thing you want is a catostrophic failure at speed...

S

stuisnew

BigShot wrote:

If it always happens on the same hill, have you considered switching down to the granny ring and one of the smaller sprockets right at the start so there's no need to drop down a chainring further up?

I don't think this is your problem necessarily but a word of warning - a small-small gear combination is not rear mech friendly and should be avoided at all costs! You can get (almost) the same 'difficult-ness' of gear but using a better combination.

See what small-small or big-big (technical terms ) does to your rear mech - it will kill it and your shifts will be horrible.

Just thought i'd throw that in there.

Uchiga

Sounds like your front mech position adjusters are out...

Save up little by little to buy a slightly better bike if you ever want to get more serious about it you'll have a bike to be more serious on and if not well you can be perfectly happy on a bike that does its job a lot nicer than what you have currently.