8/9 Speed Set Ups!

[Krisboats]

yeah you can thats no problem. if you want all your gears to work then i would suggest you change into the biggest rear cog (gear 1) then push your mech arm upwards so the chain goes slack and just have a look at how many links you need to take out.

i'll get a pic of mine for you in a minute

Edit: heres the picture of how close mine runs

another idea if you don't mind not having full functionality of your gears is to lock your rear mech out. I never used gears 1,2 or 3 so i shortend the chain so it was nice and short in my riding gear and my chain always slipped off from my biggest gear because the chainline was so far out so i only had gears 4-7 working anyway. I locked my rear mech out and it doesn't clank rattle or bounce on my frame anymore and i can still use all of my working gears.

if you want to lock your mech out you'll need to do the following

1. undo the rear mech from the mech hanger
   
2. spin the C clip round (the little c shaped clip around the threaded bit of you mech, where it screws into the hanger) then get a screw driver an pop it off
   
3. lift off the little bit with your b-tension adjustment screw in it and your spring should boing out (it might not make a boing noise but just fly out)
   
4. replace the metal bit (with the b-tension screw attached to it) with a washer or 2 depending on how many you need for your mech to correctly tighten to the hanger
   
5. place washers over the mech axle and start screwing back into the frame
   
6. just before it is fully tightened you'll need to work out what position your mech needs to be in, just keep trying until you find the right place for it to be able to shift through the gears properly (you'll need to put it in place and tighten it then try shifting gears and undo and adjust it accordingly)
   
7. once its in the right place do it up fairly tight and your sorted
   

if you decide you want the spring back in the mech it is VERY hard to put back in as its so fiddly. i personally will buy a new mech if for some daft reason i don't want it locked out anymore, but i love it so i can't see it happening.

also as a point of reference the mech in my picture above is locked out and the space between the mech and my chainstay is about 2 & 1/2 - 3 cm

Edited October 29, 2005 by Krisboats