Trek 520 gears slipping

[xar1540]

Hi, I have a 1996 vintage Trek 520 tourer that i bought second hand and use for commuting. The seller said it needed a new cluster and chain as the gears slipped under heavy load. That was done and i still got slipping. My bike mechanic said that as the SIS guide in my 7 speed bar end shifters was worn and to use friction shifting, unless i wanted to upgrade to a 9 speed set up as the 7 speed shifters were no longer available. The catch was that I would need a new wheel to accommodate the 9 speed cluster. I ended up having all this work done, which cost more than i paid for the bike originally. I specified a heavy duty wheel and a Deore LX derailleur but for some reason the mechanic ended up installing a Alivio derailleur but did install a great DT Swiss wheel. It was fine for a while but the slipping started again. It turned out the derailleur was slightly out of alignment and was OK again but now it has started again. It's driving me crazy not being able to depend on not being thrown forward when I am pedaling hard. I am a bit rough with my bike but I don't think the derailleur has been bent again. I am booked in for another service in a week but wanted to clarify a few things.

Would a Deore LX derailleur be more durable than the Alvio?
I have noticed there is a bit of play in my rear wheel bearings. Could this be a factor in the slipping?
Any other factors that can cause slipping?

I thank you in anticipation.

 

[xxamr_corpxx]

Bah! I hate it when second hand things go wrong (having bought all my stuff 2nd hand except clothes).

Try this:

http://sheldonbrown.com/autoshift.html

 

[Peter@vecchios]

Hi, I have a 1996 vintage Trek 520 tourer that i bought second hand and use for commuting. The seller said it needed a new cluster and chain as the gears slipped under heavy load. That was done and i still got slipping. My bike mechanic said that as the SIS guide in my 7 speed bar end shifters was worn and to use friction shifting, unless i wanted to upgrade to a 9 speed set up as the 7 speed shifters were no longer available. The catch was that I would need a new wheel to accommodate the 9 speed cluster. I ended up having all this work done, which cost more than i paid for the bike originally. I specified a heavy duty wheel and a Deore LX derailleur but for some reason the mechanic ended up installing a Alivio derailleur but did install a great DT Swiss wheel. It was fine for a while but the slipping started again. It turned out the derailleur was slightly out of alignment and was OK again but now it has started again. It's driving me crazy not being able to depend on not being thrown forward when I am pedaling hard. I am a bit rough with my bike but I don't think the derailleur has been bent again. I am booked in for another service in a week but wanted to clarify a few things.

Would a Deore LX derailleur be more durable than the Alvio?
I have noticed there is a bit of play in my rear wheel bearings. Could this be a factor in the slipping?
Any other factors that can cause slipping?

I thank you in anticipation.

Slipping as in staying on a cog and skipping or chain moving to another cog. As for 9s barends...use 8 of 9 cogs on that otherwise 7s wheel(unless it's a freewheel or uniglide).

'May' be a chainring as well...

RD are both fine altho the LX has a longer cage for bigger gear range. Loose bearings would not make anything slip. Also sounds like you need a better wrench...they should be able to solve this thing.

 

[daveornee]

Hi, I have a 1996 vintage Trek 520 tourer that i bought second hand and use for commuting. The seller said it needed a new cluster and chain as the gears slipped under heavy load. That was done and i still got slipping. My bike mechanic said that as the SIS guide in my 7 speed bar end shifters was worn and to use friction shifting, unless i wanted to upgrade to a 9 speed set up as the 7 speed shifters were no longer available. The catch was that I would need a new wheel to accommodate the 9 speed cluster. I ended up having all this work done, which cost more than i paid for the bike originally. I specified a heavy duty wheel and a Deore LX derailleur but for some reason the mechanic ended up installing a Alivio derailleur but did install a great DT Swiss wheel. It was fine for a while but the slipping started again. It turned out the derailleur was slightly out of alignment and was OK again but now it has started again. It's driving me crazy not being able to depend on not being thrown forward when I am pedaling hard. I am a bit rough with my bike but I don't think the derailleur has been bent again. I am booked in for another service in a week but wanted to clarify a few things.

Would a Deore LX derailleur be more durable than the Alvio?
I have noticed there is a bit of play in my rear wheel bearings. Could this be a factor in the slipping?
Any other factors that can cause slipping?

I thank you in anticipation.

Is the lever moving when the change happens? (not holding the cable in the desired position)
Are the RD pivots smooth & non-wobbly?