Uawadall said:
I've gotten most of the lower gears to shift. I'm still reading the info provided and trying to figure out what I did wrong with the from derailleur. The barrel adjusters tighten and loosen again, but the left shifter is very stiff and doesn't move the front derailleur at all.
BTW, is it possible to use a bike with one shifter not working correctly without damaging the bike?
Well, in addition to the good suggestion by
CAMPYBOB that your cable(s) may need to be lubed/cleaned OR (simply) changed ...
Presuming you have adjusted the front derailleur's height, what YOU need to do is
- to loosen the bolt on the front derailleur
- while pulling lightly on the front derailleur's cable
- press the lever's inner paddle (the thumb lever on Campagnolo shifters) until it stops "clicking"
- now, while minimizing the slack in the cable to the best of your ability, secure the front derailleur cable
- and then, see if pressing inward on the larger lever (the "brake" lever) moves the front derailleur
YOU can test-and
/or-assess the cable-and-shifter before you secure the cable to the front-or-rear derailleur by actuating the shifter AND simply holding a portion of the cable where it exits the housing -- it should move freely ...
Checking the cable when it is not connected will give you a sense of how much resistance is in the shifter+housing+cable assembly ...
The resistance should be minimal-to-non-existent.
IMO (
others have disagreed on this point), replacing the parallel stranded housing with coiled brake cable housing (
the ends need to be "finished" by deburring otherwise you will simulate the ends of a parallel stranded housing!!!) OR (
if you have deeper pockets) AZTEC-or-equivalently-expensive cable housing should minimize the likelihood of fraying the cable near-or-inside the shifter.
BTW.
While it is generally less efficient for the rider to have a non-functioning shifter, you certainly do not need BOTH shifters to be functioning to ride your bike ... damage will only occur if the shifter places the derailleur in a position which is adverse to the drivetrain otherwise functioning properly ...
As you may-or-may-not know, SRAM has chosen to eschew the front derailleur on MANY of its configurations ...
If your front shifter is actually "broken" then you can either replace it OR "lock" the front derailleur over one-or-the-other-chainring by adjusting the inner stop, accordingly, OR (
as a "final" option) simply remove the front derailleur.