Nightmare gears!

rouleur23

Hi,
just trying to set up a new bike and having spent a total of around 3 hours trying to align the rear der' I am beginning to think the chain may well be a 9spd where I need a 10. The chain was new in a drawer but not in a shimano box so it may well be 9 spd (even tho I have no reason to have 9spd in the house). I can't see any other reason for it being impossible to sinc. I measured the narrowest part of the links and got 4mm. is that correct?
Wheel is in correctly and the cassette is new too.
At the beginning of setting up the bike (new cables of course) I turn the barrel screw all the way in as per normal. I stretch the cable a little before commencing and re-tighten the cable at the base of the derailleur. But, when I start the test the gears, I get to about the 3rd gear up and the mis-alignment suggest the barrel needs to be closed down more?? But there is no adjustment in it as we expect to go with the barrel screw the other way no?

Doing all three ventoux climbs this coming weekend and need to know if at 4mm the chain may well be a 9 spd. Either that or the hanger is out of line!

thanks folks

Pascal

http://www.famouscyclingcols.com grinding it out against gravity!

nicklouse

there are no chains that narrow.

what are you trying to measure with?

you really need a vernier.


9spd can be 6.6-6.8 mm and 10 from 5.88 to 6.2mm

sungod

doubt the chain is the issue

i'd suspect wheel not seated fully in dropouts or mech hanger bent

jimbohorizontal

Check the lower limit screw. I had the same issue as you this weekend just gone, got the jockey wheels nicely aligned with the bottom sprocket and I saved some of my hair.

rouleur23

Thanks for replies.

To 1st reply. Chain is 4mm at narrowest point. Should have said that. Oops!

2nd. Wheel seated all the way. Will swap hanger and see.

3rd. The limiter will have no say in the operation once the chain is off the bottom cog no? I am not 100% on this and would love to know before I change hanger. And some hair came out too!

www.famouscyclingcols.com France-Morocco-Spain

mamba80

Shimano is 5.88 at the rivet/outer side plate.
Are you sure the chain is nt directional? the newer 10sp 5700/6700 & 7900 chains all are, the slot in the side plate should face inward, look carefully and you ll see the writting on the chain that tell you what you ve got.
5600, 6600 and 7800 are not.

assuming you are setting it all up as per shimano tech docs then all i think of is the cassette is badly worn/hanger bent as you say.

nicklouse

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19697788#p19697788]rouleur23[/url] wrote:

Thanks for replies.

To 1st reply. Chain is 4mm at narrowest point. Should have said that. Oops!

not a good place to measure as the all use the same width teeth and the plates are only marginally thinner.

and it is the widest part that limits use and can cause issues on cassettes.

andrewjoseph

undo the cable pinch bolt, unwind barrel adjusted about two full turns, pull cable tight and tighten pinch bolt.

you now have some adjustment both ways.

jimbohorizontal

I thought the same about the lower limit screw but after getting that set correctly, I didn't even have to touch the barrel adjuster.

chris_bass

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19698213#p19698213]JimboHorizontal[/url] wrote:

I thought the same about the lower limit screw but after getting that set correctly, I didn't even have to touch the barrel adjuster.

the limit screws just set how far the mech can go at the extremes, has nothing to do with the indexing once out of the hardest or easiest gears.

keith57

If the chain moves from the 1st small cog to the next ok, and then a few more, but is then out of alignment further up the cassette then it's most definitely that the hanger is out of alignment. Get or borrow the proper tool to check this. Don't just change the hanger, the frame may also be out a little, new hangers can be too!!

I helped a mate with this once and the tiny screws holding the removable hanger in place in the frame were a bit loose. We tightened these and shifting was then fine again. Happens a bit on new bikes before their 1st service.