Rear derailleur fettling frequency

davidwilcock
davidwilcock Posts: 123
edited September 2013 in Workshop
Hi

How often would you need to adjust your rear derailleur typically? Every 100 miles I get a clicking noise from it, then some chain slip and imprecise shifts. I'm on sora if that changes things. The main frustration is that visually it seems to be in good alignment but when riding, its clear its not right. This makes adjustment a bit of a trial an error process. Once its perfect, 100 or so miles later its back to the same problem

Does quality of groupset make a difference to how often you have to tinker with it?

Thanks
David

Comments

  • alihisgreat
    alihisgreat Posts: 3,872
    I use 105 and can't remember the last time I touched it? Think I tightened the barrel adjuster a bit? on a new bike you're going to be fiddling for a while due to cable stretch.. but my 6000 mile old cables obviously don't have that problem.
  • joshlg103
    joshlg103 Posts: 4
    if it's happening that often and you can't seem to find anything specifically wrong with your mech the problem could be down to a build up of dirt mainly in your cassette but also on your chain and jockey wheels. try giving your cassette a good deep clean and degreasing your chain and re-lubing it.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,532
    sora should be just as reliable as more expensive models

    remove the rear wheel and check that the rear mech hanger isn't loose, just see if you can wiggle the rear mech

    if the shifting problem is when going from larger to smaller sprockets, dirty/worn cable/outer can cause this

    if you're having to repeatedly turn the barrel adjuster to increase tension (turning it anticlockwise) check for...

    loose cable clamp on the rear mech

    if there's an adjuster on the downtube, is it rotating a bit from road vibration, make a mark with a pen so you can check

    is it a new bike or have the cables/outers been changed recently? it takes a while for all the ferrules to fully seat, this causes a slight loss of cable tension

    loose/damaged cable stop
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny

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