Problems with gearing...

Kerrmit1992

Hi guys,

Today I have spent a good portion of the morning attempting to adjust the gears on my talon 3 for smooth noise-free shifting. No matter how much I adjust I seem to only have problems with the rear derailler. The bike is happy to shift between gears 1-6 quite smoothly, however, it doesn't seem to want to come down the way from 8-7 and sometimes 7-6. I need to go from 8-6 and back up to 7 if I want that gear. I hope that's not too confusing lol

Can anyone tell me if its just my poor adjusting or if its something else?

Thanks
Craig

supersonic

Take the cables out, clean, and start again.

Kerrmit1992

Ok mate, I'll give that a bash tomorrow, Thanks

Is this a common problem? what else could be the cause if this doesn't work?

It's only a talon 3 I have so I imagine the rear derailer might not be of the best quality lol.

Thanks
Craig Kerr

cooldad

99.99999999% (scientifically accurate statistic) of all shifting problems are due to cables.
I buy Shimano SP41 outer by the metre and Shimano stainless inners by the bunch and just replace them.

Kerrmit1992

I don't know what come as standard on the Talon 3, but they havc been on there for two years so may give them a change over instead of just cleaning them.

Thanks
Craig

thelonegroover

cooldad wrote:

99.99999999% (scientifically accurate statistic) of all shifting problems are due to cables.
I buy Shimano SP41 outer by the metre and Shimano stainless inners by the bunch and just replace them.

This could be the 1 in a billion thats not cable related.

Kerrmit1992

Knowing my luck, that is most likely lol

cooldad

Thelonegroover wrote:

cooldad wrote:

99.99999999% (scientifically accurate statistic) of all shifting problems are due to cables.
I buy Shimano SP41 outer by the metre and Shimano stainless inners by the bunch and just replace them.

This could be the 1 in a billion thats not cable related.

I am willing to bet £1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 that it is.

Kerrmit1992

Haha, well I've ordered all the cables and stuff so just waiting on it arriving, I'm shocked at how inexpensive it was :-) lol

thelonegroover

Not quite a quadrillion pounds though!

Ouija

If it works in all other gear except one or two it's usually a sign of cable binding. If you've got a derailleur with a big loop of cable coming off the frame and into the back of the derailleur then it's usually this part that causes dodgy shifting as the combination of a sharp curve and road dirt/rust tends to build up in it so that the amount of cable moved at the shifter end of the bike doesn't transfer fully to the derailleur. Often, only after you've pressed the up or down shifter twice does the cable 'unstick' and move, like a tectonic plate, and then jumps two cogs instead of one.

Replacing the loop with a new one and a new inner cable (preferably low friction Teflon/PTFE) will fix this. The alternative is to convert the derailleur into a direct pull design (no, or minimal loop) with something like the Avid rollermajig or Rose bikes WCW Easy Roller.