Gear cable/ shifter broken ?

Hendrix2430

Hi all

I have a bit of a problem with my commuting bike unfortunately. Hopefully you guys can enlighten me... While adjusting my gears late last night (chain wouldn’t go into the smallest sprocket), I must have messed with the limiting screws and barrel adjuster too much. I managed to get the chain to go into the smallest sprocket but I believe I snapped the gear cable at the shifter. I heard a snap and now the shifter isn’t working properly.

At the moment, the chain is stuck in the smallest cog. Moving the derailleur by hand moves the chain up the cassette, and holding the right hand shifter engaged keeps the chain in this position. However, disengaging the right hand shifter makes the chain drop back down to the smallest cog.

Do you have any idea what could be wrong? If the cable was snapped surely I wouldn’t be able to keep the chain up the cassette with the shifter engaged?

For what it’s worth I pulled the hood covers up and it appears the right hand shifters cable is a bit frayed as it enters.

I hope it’s just the cable needing replacing and not the shifter that is broken!

Thanks!

keef66

Sounds like the cables's frayed inside the shifter and it's about to snap completely. Retrieve it, and any stray strands of wire and fit a new cable. I'm guessing that will resume normal service

Hendrix2430

Thanks for that. I’m taking to the shop tomorrow... hoping you’re right and it’s not the shifter.

The Rookie

The cable clearly hasn't snapped if it's still moving the front mech!

It sounds to me more likely you've snapped the pawl off inside the shifter, that's what holds the cable under tension after you've shifted and then let go of the lever. If so that means a new shifter.

It could be the inner cable stretched a bit with some failing strands but it should still click up on the shifter (unless you've set the high stop too low).

In the motor trade a mechanic would call you a F~*k up fiddler, because when you fiddle with stuff, you...... well you can guess the rest!

Alejandrosdog

The Rookie wrote:

The cable clearly hasn't snapped if it's still moving the front mech!

It sounds to me more likely you've snapped the pawl off inside the shifter, that's what holds the cable under tension after you've shifted and then let go of the lever. If so that means a new shifter.

It could be the inner cable stretched a bit with some failing strands but it should still click up on the shifter (unless you've set the high stop too low).

In the motor trade a mechanic would call you a F~*k up fiddler, because when you fiddle with stuff, you...... well you can guess the rest!

Bit harsh

BTW do inner cables stretch?

cougie

He says the cable had broken and he can move the mech by hand ?

If that's the case just replace the cable - leave it in the highest gear and tighten the cable and you shouldn't have much to do.

Failing that - take it to the bike shop.

The Rookie

Hendrix2430 wrote:

holding the right hand shifter engaged keeps the chain in this position.

That is NOT a snapped cable, clearly.

And he doesn't say its snapped.

Hendrix2430 wrote:

shifters cable is a bit frayed as it enters

Alejandrosdog wrote:

BTW do inner cables stretch?

Not by a detectable amount, the issue is the outer compressing (Cable, cable in ends, ends in frame stops) and being attributed to the inner stretching.