Tiagra Downshifts

drewesq

Hi all

I'm pretty new to all of this <12 months, so please forgive any mistakes!

I bought a Caad X last year, for me it has been great, it is comfortable and it has let me really enjoy my cycling. However, I have had an annoying issue since I got the bike last year that I can't seem to get right and wondered if it was something I could get advice from here about...

When downshifting on the rear, I don't always get the gear, if I do 1 click it sometimes gives me the gear and sometimes I have to do another half click for it to find the gear. It has only really become more of an issue recently as mu riding has improved and I'm doing longer distances and it sucks becauses it forces me to lose a lot of speed and momentum when I need it to say climb a hill.

I don't have this issue on my MTB, so I don't think it is my technique at fault, also when the bike was set up it was done professionally and I have even taken it back to the pros for this and all I can say is when it is on a stand the gears work perfectly.... they just don't when I am riding

Does anyone else have this issue, or better yet, has anyone else managed to fix this issue?

Really hope I can get some help with this

Thanks

Andrew

Chris James

I don't know why it would work on the work stand but not on the road, but shifting problems are always either as a result of cable tension, cable cleanliness or gear hanger alignment.

If you are struggle to change to 'downshift' (do you mean move to an easier gear (i.e. bigger cog) then it sounds like your cables have stretched a bit, or probably the ferrules bedded in. This makes sense if it is something that has developed since you first bought the bike. I don't know how mechanically savvy you are, and whether you have re-indexed the gears already. If not, then try a small (1/4 or 1/2) turn anticlockwise on the barrel adjuster at the rear mech and see if that improves matters.

Sometimes the extra pressure of pedalling can affect shifting slightly compared to just spinning on a work stand.

Also try looking at your bike from behind - do the two jockey wheels line up with the cog on the cassette? If there are wonky then your derailleur hanger could be out - this often happens if the bike has been dropped on the gear side, but even new bikes are not always perfectly aligned. My cross bike is 9 speed though and they are not THAT sensitive to alignment. I would have expected the bike shop to check that though.

If your bike has had dodgy shifting from near new then it is unlikely to be the cable cleanliness that is a problem. Also that tends to show itself up when releasing tension, i.e. changing to smaller cogs at the back.

211dave112

I think that Chris' post covered everything.

I recently had a similar problem and it was due to the gear cable binding on the cable guide located under the bottom bracket. Changing up was fine as you are pulling the cable tightly but when changing down the cable would 'snag' and the tension on either side of the guide was ever so slightly different - not allowing the mech to move down enough to change gear. A few drops of your chosen lubricant on the guide may help - it certainly did for me.

drewesq

Sorry not to have replied before.

Unscrewing the rear barrel adjuster has resolved the issue. Thank you very much I am a much happier cyclist now...