Difficulty in getting high gear

Paul120

I am having a problem getting my bike to shift into it's highest gear. It's a 20 year old Ridgeback Adventure K4.

I had the bike fully serviced a few months ago, and everything seemed fine. Now I can't get the gears to shift to the highest one. If I turn the bike upside down [I don't have a bike stand] and go through the gears they all work fine and it shifts into the highest gear very well - try and change whilst riding though it and it won't engage. I have a Shimano 3 x 7 setup.

Any ideas?

dj58

Take a look at this https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbk5RcH0bbQ

Paul120

Thanks for the link. The difficulty I have is that if I start adjusting the gears I will make things worse. What I can't understand is why the gears change correctly when the bike is upside down - but not when I am riding it.

gethinceri

Because it's upside-down. A derailleur is designed to work when the wheels are on the ground

david7m

Paul120 wrote:

Thanks for the link. The difficulty I have is that if I start adjusting the gears I will make things worse. What I can't understand is why the gears change correctly when the bike is upside down - but not when I am riding it.

Make a note of what you've done, then if makes things worse, revert back. Eg 1/2 turn out H screw.

Matthewfalle

Gethinceri wrote:

Because it's upside-down. A derailleur is designed to work when the wheels are on the ground

but what if he lives in Australia, eh? Then your plan is all out to mishap, mah boy, eh.

Paul120

Sorted. Obtained screwdriver and fiddled with the H setting. It now seems to work OK. Thanks for all the helpful comments.