slipping gears - help

rkdj
rkdj Posts: 50
edited September 2009 in Road beginners
help guys !!

when i am cycling along my gears have started to slip or jump - rear gears only thank god!! happens without warning but is really annoying - how do i fix this
older, balder, faster, slimmer, better

Comments

  • careful
    careful Posts: 720
    Could be several causes. Does it jump every time the same bit of chain comes round (maybe about every 2 revs of the pedal)? If so then most likely cause is a stiff link. Try to find where this is and wiggle the chain sideways a few times - as if trying to bend it (but not too hard). Other causes might be:
      the chain needs cleaning/lubricating the gears need adjusting - check if the jockey wheels line up exactly with the sprocket the sprockets and/or the chain are worn out you have fitted a new chain with an old cassette or vice-versa
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    careful wrote:
    Could be several causes. Does it jump every time the same bit of chain comes round (maybe about every 2 revs of the pedal)? If so then most likely cause is a stiff link. Try to find where this is and wiggle the chain sideways a few times - as if trying to bend it (but not too hard). Other causes might be:
      the chain needs cleaning/lubricating the gears need adjusting - check if the jockey wheels line up exactly with the sprocket the sprockets and/or the chain are worn out you have fitted a new chain with an old cassette or vice-versa

    What he said. ^

    Most probably cause is the gears aren't correctly aligned. Usually requires a few turns on the little barrel adjuster on the rear mech to fix.

    Next more common problem is a worn out chain or worn out cassette.


    Either way - if you're not too mechanically inclined, a quick trip to the bike shop will sort you out.
  • Buckled_Rims
    Buckled_Rims Posts: 1,648
    I agree with all the above....

    However, my "exactly" the same problem was caused by the gear hanger being bent out by approx 2 mm. I must have knocked the gears on a tree or rock. This was on a mountain bike by the way, not a road bike.

    Took me 2 weeks of fiddling on to realise it wasn't the gears or chain or cassette - Doh!
    CAAD9
    Kona Jake the Snake
    Merlin Malt 4
  • rkdj
    rkdj Posts: 50
    thanks for that - off home to spend an hour so in the garage!!
    older, balder, faster, slimmer, better

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