crashbanggg Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 I foolishly told a mate I would try and fix his gears on his bike ready for uni on Saturday, however I've had no time to have a proper look and won't have long tonight either, hence why im asking here to try and reduce time spent messing around trying to work out what's wrong! It's a fairly ancient rigid mountain bike with what must be equally as ancient trigger shifters. The rear gears are fine, however the front gears don't feel as though they are indexing(At the shifter end) and therefore wont change up when pressed (Though will just about change to the middle ring when the shifter is pushed all the way in and held). The only thing I can think to do is pull the cable further through at the mech end, would that potentially work? / What could I try? I hope that makes sense? I F****** hate gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Yeah, sounds like there must be a load of slack which the lever's taking up first before being able to make the cage move. Also have a look to see that the mech hasn't been knocked or bent as that'll also cause issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashbanggg Posted September 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Nice one il have a play in my lunch break and hope for the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashbanggg Posted September 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Ok, just had a play, and not much improvement. I've tightened the cable which has made the cage move further, however the shifter still doesn't 'Click' even though it is comfortably going into the position of the middle ring (Though not quite far enough for the big ring). Could it be knackered shifters? (Shimano STI shifters) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat hudson Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 (edited) remove cable from clamp on mech adjust "low" reach adjuster in until inner of the mech cage is almost touching the chain when pedal'd in lowest cog front - biggest cog rear reattach cable making sure it is pretty much as taught as poss shift all the way up adjust "high" reach adjuster so outer mech cage almost touching chain in biggest cog when chain is in smallest cog on back fine tune it with the adjuster on the shifter. also if the shifter doesn't click, it could be that the mechanism inside is a bit sticky so give it a blast through with gt85 whilst shifting up and down. if that doesn't sort it you could have to take it apart and give it a propper clean out. i would advise against this(if you can get away with it) though as they are quite fiddly. Edited September 13, 2012 by mat hudson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 Surely if you do that for the high and low adjusters the chain would be touching the cage when you change gear at the rear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat hudson Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 (edited) no, the idea being you get it nearly touching on the cage when your for example in 1-1 so when you change into a higher gear at the rear you have as much empty cage as possible to change in to. perhaps i explained it badly. surely there is a youtube video tutorial, come to think of it. http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/front-derailleur-adjustments Edited September 14, 2012 by mat hudson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 no, the idea being you get it nearly touching on the cage when your for example in 1-1 so when you change into a higher gear at the rear you have as much empty cage as possible to change in to. Ah, ok, you're absolutely right. My brain obviously wasn't switched on properly this morning! For some reason I was thinking about it arse about face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashbanggg Posted September 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 Thanks for the help guys, however I didn't have time to have even half a look at the bike! I just left it so it stays in the middle ring by adjusting the High/ Low screws which he seemed happy with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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