Need a little help.

[Poundsy]

Hello. Im a reasonably new cyclist trying to get back into the swing of things after an absence of maybe six years or so. I got a Raliegh Incognito at the start of the year, and after a night ride i noticed on the way home that there was a peculiar reluctance to change into the lowest gear on the rear deraillieur.

Ive put it off for about two weeks and then decided to fix this minor annoyance in time for a ride this friday, and I managed to rid myself of this grating irritation, tightening the cable slightly and a bit of adjustment on the rear of the two adjustment screws, though maybe a bit toooo much....

However, now the rear derailleur from fourth to seventh gives almight creaking noises when changing up and theres a massive gap between selecting gear and it changing with a crunch. This of course makes it totally unpredictable and when attempting to change with more than a little amount of strain on the chain it goes tension-moment of slack-crunch into new gear- tension instead of a constant smooth change.

How can i change my sickly piece of kit into the goddess it once was?

(Using shimano seven speed C030 gears, trigger shifters.)

 

[boudreaux]

Hello. Im a reasonably new cyclist trying to get back into the swing of things after an absence of maybe six years or so. I got a Raliegh Incognito at the start of the year, and after a night ride i noticed on the way home that there was a peculiar reluctance to change into the lowest gear on the rear deraillieur.

Ive put it off for about two weeks and then decided to fix this minor annoyance in time for a ride this friday, and I managed to rid myself of this grating irritation, tightening the cable slightly and a bit of adjustment on the rear of the two adjustment screws, though maybe a bit toooo much....

However, now the rear derailleur from fourth to seventh gives almight creaking noises when changing up and theres a massive gap between selecting gear and it changing with a crunch. This of course makes it totally unpredictable and when attempting to change with more than a little amount of strain on the chain it goes tension-moment of slack-crunch into new gear- tension instead of a constant smooth change.

How can i change my sickly piece of kit into the goddess it once was?

(Using shimano seven speed C030 gears, trigger shifters.)

www.parktool.com repair section has the drill on adjusting derailers. Start at the beginning with a loose cable and rear shifter in the small cog position. Mindless fiddling usually just makes it worse,and a really worst case would get the chain or derailer into the spokes.

 

[keanu122]

The main thing you need to do, is adjust the RD cable tension. Once the tension is set, then adjust the upper and lower limit screws. And voila, you're back to riding a sweet shifting bike.

 

[boudreaux]

The main thing you need to do, is adjust the RD cable tension. Once the tension is set, then adjust the upper and lower limit screws. And voila, you're back to riding a sweet shifting bike.

Actually you adjust the limit screws first. Try the repair section at www.parktool.com As I said about mindless fiddling.....

 

[keanu122]

Actually you adjust the limit screws first. Try the repair section at www.parktool.com As I said about mindless fiddling.....

How would you suggest adjusting the upper limit when you can't get there because there is not enough cable tension? There is no need to hold it there by hand. Just open up the limit screws, then adjust the tension, then lower down the limit screws. I didn't realize that I had to spell it out, but I guess so. The thing that makes bad shifts is incorrect tension anyway. The limit screws just keep the chain on the cogs and off the axle or spokes.

 

[boudreaux]

How would you suggest adjusting the upper limit when you can't get there because there is not enough cable tension? There is no need to hold it there by hand. Just open up the limit screws, then adjust the tension, then lower down the limit screws. I didn't realize that I had to spell it out, but I guess so. The thing that makes bad shifts is incorrect tension anyway. The limit screws just keep the chain on the cogs and off the axle or spokes.

Why doncha go to www.parktool.com and learn to do it right .First thing they say is that any tension on the cable will impeed proper adjustment of the hi limit. Tension and proper indexing come later.

 

[keanu122]

But my way is faster. Let me explain. As you said, "any tension on the cable will impeed proper adjustment of the limit screw." This means that you will indeed have to adjust the tension first, so why not adjust the tension properly at this point, since it is entirely possible to do so. It just wastes time to adjust the tension twice. The park tool experts are not experts on the finer points of bike tuning, their instructions are for idiots. The right way isn't always the best way.

 

[boudreaux]

But my way is faster. Let me explain. As you said, "any tension on the cable will impeed proper adjustment of the limit screw." This means that you will indeed have to adjust the tension first, so why not adjust the tension properly at this point, since it is entirely possible to do so. It just wastes time to adjust the tension twice. The park tool experts are not experts on the finer points of bike tuning, their instructions are for idiots. The right way isn't always the best way.

No question who the idiot is here.

 

[keanu122]

No question who the idiot is here.

No question who is a real mechanic here.

Bourdeaux, do you have a website? I think you should start an informative website of your own, because you have a lot of info to offer, but its hard to grasp it all in a forum.

 

[daveornee]

Hello. Im a reasonably new cyclist trying to get back into the swing of things after an absence of maybe six years or so. I got a Raliegh Incognito at the start of the year, and after a night ride i noticed on the way home that there was a peculiar reluctance to change into the lowest gear on the rear deraillieur.

Ive put it off for about two weeks and then decided to fix this minor annoyance in time for a ride this friday, and I managed to rid myself of this grating irritation, tightening the cable slightly and a bit of adjustment on the rear of the two adjustment screws, though maybe a bit toooo much....

However, now the rear derailleur from fourth to seventh gives almight creaking noises when changing up and theres a massive gap between selecting gear and it changing with a crunch. This of course makes it totally unpredictable and when attempting to change with more than a little amount of strain on the chain it goes tension-moment of slack-crunch into new gear- tension instead of a constant smooth change.

How can i change my sickly piece of kit into the goddess it once was?

(Using shimano seven speed C030 gears, trigger shifters.)

The Park Tool Repair site already discussed is good.
You may have cable and cable housing issues as well.
Take a look at the information regarding them on Sheldon Brown's site:
http://sheldonbrown.com/cables.html
Cables and housings don't improve with age and often have degraded just "sitting".
English is my first language, but my fingers have a mind of their own:}