Sora question

Slo Mo Jones

Apologies for the beginner language and question

The front shifter is 2012 Sora and is designed for use with a triple, while I run a compact. In the small ring the shifter should be as it would be to be on the granny ring of a triple. With the shifter as it should be to be in the middle ring of a triple, my bike should be in the big ring. Stop me if I'm getting too technical.

The front mech is not moving the chain far enough with one "click" when I want to move from the small ring to the big ring. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. When not, I have to force another click out of the shifter when it clearly doesn't want to shift again (as it's been set up deliberately for a compact). This does get me onto the big ring, but it wedges the shifter slightly, so that it needs a very, very strong push on the thumb lever to get me back into the "middle" of the shifter, which is a pain in the ass.

What do I do to make a single click with the shifter enough to reliably get me into the big ring? Is there a screw I can tighten somewhere that will solve my problem? The front mech is sora I think, although it's a Tiagra chainset. That wouldn't cause the problem would it?

I bought a cycle maintenance book the other day. It is sh!te. So if anyone can recommend a good one as well, that would be great.

paul_onabike

It sounds as though the small limit screw for the front derailleur needs to be slackened off to allow the the cage to move out a little further. They are the two small screws which sit together on the top of the front mech. You need to unscrew (anti-clockwise) the outermost one a quarter of a turn at a time - then try to change gear each time until it works correctly without having to force the gear shifter. Your setup at the moment is putting too much tension on the cable in the big ring setting - that is why your front mech is moving.

andy_wrx

Rather than that, it sounds like the cable is slightly slack.

The two screws limit how far left and right/in and out the mech can move : it's currently correct, as you can (albeit with force), get into the bigger ring - adjust it more and it will overshift, the chain will go over the big ring and come off.

Instead, it sounds like it's not moving enough per click of the shifter, because the cable is slack

You should have an adjuster on the cable, usually where the cable outer ends at the downtube (normally left side, the right one for the rear gears), or sometimes there's an inline adjuster inserted into the cable near the shifter.

Try screwing that 1/4 turn at a time so that it makes the cable tauter

Google Park Tools Gear Adjustment and you should find a how-to

You need to sort it, because forcing the shifter into its triple-position 3rd click the way tou're doing is likely to break something

Good luck !

Slo Mo Jones

Thanks guys. Will have a fiddle and see how it goes.