New Bike 1st and 2nd gear problem

Mizter

Got a new bike recently and adjusted the gears today for the first time, it was a shop floor bike, not new in box. Ive not had it out a ride yet. Was doing first adjustments today, gears, new grips, saddle adjustments, oiling chain etc.

Anyway its a claud butler cape wrath 04 29er with 27 gears.

So I got the all the gears working fine without rubbing front derailer, but my problem is when I go into 2nd or 1st gear ( biggest front sprocket and 2nd and 1st biggest rear sprocket) the chain comes off the bottom jockey wheel on the rear derailer. Its as if the rear jockey wheel is not adjusting to the chain going from left to right properly, if that makes sense, as in these two particular gears that is when there is the most lateral distance between the rear and front gears

Im not sure what I need to do to fix this issue, can anyone offer some advice.

I can post some pictures if needed, let me know

The Rookie

You shouldn't be riding in those gears due to the chain angle' it can cause many problems.....

Mizter

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19659250#p19659250]The Rookie[/url] wrote:

You shouldn't be riding in those gears due to the chain angle' it can cause many problems.....

Really, I thought all gears should work fine, although I know 1st and 2nd is not gears people would use very much

avalanche_expert

Although your bike is 27 speed, you aren't actually meant to use all 27 combinations. A lot of those gear ratios will cross over with each other. The point of 3 at the front and 9 at the rear is to give you a wide range between the lowest and highest gear.

As a rule of thumb when in the smallest chain ring at the front only use the largest 4 cogs or so at the rear. When in the big chain ring at the front, stick to the smallest 4 or so at the rear. When in the middle chain ring at the front you have more choice at the rear but I'd still avoid using the extremes such as the largest and smallest and stick within 6 or 7 in between.

Basically when you feel yourself shifting to the big cogs on the back, drop down at the front. When shifting to the small cogs on the back shift up at the front. This is good practice and avoids crossing the chain, which will help your chain last longer and make for much better gear selection and easier shifting.

Ideally you want to keep the line your chain follows as straight as possible

Chunkers1980

I wouldn't go that far.

I just go by the rule small front not 2 small back, big front not 2 big back. The rest are all good

Mizter

ok thanks

larkim

But despite all the valid comments about not using those gears (because of the strain on the chain), there should be no reason why your bike *can't* get into those gears without an issue.

Usual advice is to follow the parktools guide from start to finish to set up the rear mech properly. If that doesn't work, then come back to ask for more assistance.

The Rookie

Shame you didn't actually read what he posted isn't it......

It does go into those gears......

larkim

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19659959#p19659959]The Rookie[/url] wrote:

Shame you didn't actually read what he posted isn't it......

It does go into those gears......

I did read. He says that when he shifts into big / big the chain comes off the bottom jockey wheel. Accepting that those gears should be unused, I'm guilty of doing that on all of my bikes occasionally, as are the rest of my family. On none of those bikes does this cause the chain to come off the bottom jockey wheel.

Therefore, something sounds wrong and needs fixing.

I appreciate that I am a technical numpty, but chains coming off jockey wheels is not normal, afaik.