don't mess with it!!!!

[dbackmtg]

I recently posted a thread, "useless six gears". I have a story to go with this.
I got my new bike home and took it for its first ride and found that the chain rubbed on the front derailer in the top and bottom front sprocket. I figured, what the hell, I'll tinker with it a little bit. I screwed in and out the adjustment screws and tested it a couple of times. Imagine that, it got worse. then I tinkered with the cable tension, I have no idea why. Whow, now it was even worse. Of coarse I never payed attention to the original settings. Next I unscrewed something on the derailer itself and it sprung back towards the bike. to get this corrected I loosened the cable and the mounting bracket for the derailer. I marked the mounting bracket position which at this point I might as well not have, for the bike was unrideable. I turned in for the evening and decided I would come out with the manual in the morning.
The morning brought no better luck. I might as well read the french part of the manual. What I had was a brand new bike with 1 mile on it that was unrideable.
Two days later I was on my way to the LBS. It took the gentleman 1 1/2 hrs to get things back to normal. He told me he sees this every now and then,....... mostly from kids. Needless to say I will never tinker with something I know little about again. Please tell me there is someone else out there that has done this or something like it. Thanks for listening

 

[wheelist]

I recently posted a thread, "useless six gears". I have a story to go with this.
I got my new bike home and took it for its first ride and found that the chain rubbed on the front derailer in the top and bottom front sprocket. I figured, what the hell, I'll tinker with it a little bit. I screwed in and out the adjustment screws and tested it a couple of times. Imagine that, it got worse. then I tinkered with the cable tension, I have no idea why. Whow, now it was even worse. Of coarse I never payed attention to the original settings. Next I unscrewed something on the derailer itself and it sprung back towards the bike. to get this corrected I loosened the cable and the mounting bracket for the derailer. I marked the mounting bracket position which at this point I might as well not have, for the bike was unrideable. I turned in for the evening and decided I would come out with the manual in the morning.
The morning brought no better luck. I might as well read the french part of the manual. What I had was a brand new bike with 1 mile on it that was unrideable.
Two days later I was on my way to the LBS. It took the gentleman 1 1/2 hrs to get things back to normal. He told me he sees this every now and then,....... mostly from kids. Needless to say I will never tinker with something I know little about again. Please tell me there is someone else out there that has done this or something like it. Thanks for listening

Get yourself a good book on MTB maintenance. Then tinker away to your heart's content. In the long run you'll save a fortune on LBS bills, and on a long run you'll be able to make a repair that will see you home!

Wheelist

 

[Retro Grouch]

It took the LBS mechanic 1 1/2 hours????

Your experience is a worst case scenerio of what happens when you diddle with front derailleurs ***** nilly. They can be a little bit picky, particularly with triple cranksets, but they aren't that hard.

The key thing to remember is that every adjustment that you make affects all of the subsequent adjustments. If something is goofed up and you don't set it right, all of the finageling that you do after that is just wasted time.

The easy solution is to completely disconnect the shift cable, pull up the Park tool directions, and start from the very beginning as if you were installing the derailleur for the first time. It doesn't take anywhere near 1 1/2 hours either.

 

[RickF]

Get yourself a good book on MTB maintenance. Then tinker away to your heart's content. In the long run you'll save a fortune on LBS bills, and on a long run you'll be able to make a repair that will see you home!
Wheelist

Front deraillerus are much more difficult to get right than rear derailleurs. I agree that if you do not know what you are doing, then it is best to leave it alone; however, with a little training it is possible to unravel the mystery and master the necessary skills. Many LBSs offer maintenance classes. They are well worth attending, especially the class that covers the drivetrain. While good books help, having someone show you exactly what is involved makes the book much more understandable.

There is an art to getting the front derailleur in the right position. After that, the adjustment of the limit screws and cable tension are straightforward, but if the derailleur is not in the correct position, then no amount of tinkering with limit screws or cable tension will help.