Beautiful morning for a bike ride... but where's me gears??

[Simon L]

Morning all. Did 12 miles on my morning commute, mostly downhill
towards the Severn Estuary. Lots of frost and orange and red and a
thick layer of fog over the river (you could just see the top of the
bridge poking through).

Last time I had my MTB out it had 27 gears. This morning I had three
and a bit... both the shifters seemed really sluggish, like there isn't
enough tension in the springs or cables to return the buttons to their
'normal' position.

What do you think, new cables? New shifters? A whole lots of WD40 (OK,
proper bike grease.)?

Cheers..

 

[Simon Mason]

"Simon L" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Morning all. Did 12 miles on my morning commute, mostly downhill
> towards the Severn Estuary. Lots of frost and orange and red and a
> thick layer of fog over the river (you could just see the top of the
> bridge poking through).
>
> Last time I had my MTB out it had 27 gears. This morning I had three
> and a bit... both the shifters seemed really sluggish, like there isn't
> enough tension in the springs or cables to return the buttons to their
> 'normal' position.
>

Probably got iced up as it was below zero C. Try taking out the inner
cables, dry them and then put them pack with a thin layer of light oil.

--
Simon Mason
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

 

[MSeries]

Simon L wrote:
> Morning all. Did 12 miles on my morning commute, mostly downhill
> towards the Severn Estuary. Lots of frost and orange and red and a
> thick layer of fog over the river (you could just see the top of the
> bridge poking through).
>
> Last time I had my MTB out it had 27 gears. This morning I had three
> and a bit... both the shifters seemed really sluggish, like there isn't
> enough tension in the springs or cables to return the buttons to their
> 'normal' position.
>
> What do you think, new cables? New shifters? A whole lots of WD40 (OK,
> proper bike grease.)?
>
> Cheers..

Iused my fixed this morning, 2 miles of descending with my brakes on.
No gears, no problem.

 

[John Hearns]

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 00:58:56 -0800, Simon L wrote:

> Last time I had my MTB out it had 27 gears. This morning I had three and a
> bit... both the shifters seemed really sluggish, like there isn't enough
> tension in the springs or cables to return the buttons to their 'normal'
> position.
>
> What do you think, new cables? New shifters? A whole lots of WD40 (OK,
> proper bike grease.)?
New bike.
Tell the Manage

 

[POHB]

I think my computer was iced up this morning, apart from the thermometer.
It said I was doing zero MPH when the thermo said it was below zero degrees
C.
When the temp creapt up to about 1 C the speedo crept up to about 5 MPH.
Is this a common problem with wireless comps?

"Simon Mason" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> Probably got iced up as it was below zero C.

 

[Richard]

POHB wrote:
> I think my computer was iced up this morning, apart from the thermometer.
> It said I was doing zero MPH when the thermo said it was below zero degrees
> C.

Perhaps it was actually displaying degrees Kelvin, because of course at
absolute zero everything /is/ stationary.

R.

 

[Simon L]

I 'spose batteries work less well when they're cold. My (wired) speedo
was on the blink this morning too.

 

[dkahn400]

POHB wrote:
> I think my computer was iced up this morning, apart from the thermometer.
> It said I was doing zero MPH when the thermo said it was below zero degrees
> C.
> When the temp creapt up to about 1 C the speedo crept up to about 5 MPH.
> Is this a common problem with wireless comps?

Yes, seems to be.

--
Dave...

 

[Mike K Smith]

MSeries wrote:

> Iused my fixed this morning, 2 miles of descending with my brakes on.
> No gears, no problem.
And the 2 miles of ascent tonight?

 

[Phil Cook]

Mike K Smith wrote:

>MSeries wrote:
>
>> Iused my fixed this morning, 2 miles of descending with my brakes on.
>> No gears, no problem.
>And the 2 miles of ascent tonight?

He's got a gear low enough, that's why he was descending with the
brakes on!

--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

 

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

"Simon L" <[email protected]>typed


> I 'spose batteries work less well when they're cold. My (wired) speedo
> was on the blink this morning too.

Liquid Crystal Diplays don't like getting cold either...

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email protected]
Edgware.

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Simon
L ('[email protected]') wrote:

> Morning all. Did 12 miles on my morning commute, mostly downhill
> towards the Severn Estuary. Lots of frost and orange and red and a
> thick layer of fog over the river (you could just see the top of the
> bridge poking through).
>
> Last time I had my MTB out it had 27 gears. This morning I had three
> and a bit... both the shifters seemed really sluggish, like there isn't
> enough tension in the springs or cables to return the buttons to their
> 'normal' position.
>
> What do you think, new cables? New shifters? A whole lots of WD40 (OK,
> proper bike grease.)?

New cables, probably. Also remove the derailleur mechanisms from the
bike, disassemble the jockey wheels, thoroughly clean, and reassemble.
Shifters are rarely (not never) the problem.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

For office use only. Please do not write or type below this line.

 

[David Martin]

> > What do you think, new cables? New shifters? A whole lots of WD40 (OK,
> > proper bike grease.)?
>
> New cables, probably. Also remove the derailleur mechanisms from the
> bike, disassemble the jockey wheels, thoroughly clean, and reassemble.
> Shifters are rarely (not never) the problem.

I had problems with thumbies at a prolonged -10, but a good lube
helped.

As Simon says, it is more likeley to be the cables than the shifters.