HDW Posted August 7, 2014 Share Good evening guys and girls, I am hoping someone can help me here. My rear derailleur (XT, about 1 year old) started giving some shifting problems, end I started playing around with the adjustment screws. I kind off k now what I'm doing, but here's the problem: The highest my gear on the back will go is to the 3rd biggest sprocket at the back. I've adjusted the lower adjustment screw to the max, but to no avail. It seems that my derailleur just won't line up at the back with the biggest ring on my cassette. There was no big falls, and over the weekend it was still working fine. Anyone got any advice on how to fix this maybe? If I shift all the way down, I get to my smallest gear at the back, and still have three "shifts" left in the shifter, which obviously doesn't do anything apart from click in the shifter. Am I missing something with the cable tension? Many thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanbean Posted August 7, 2014 Share You've probably bent your hanger. G e r h a r d Odendaal and HDW 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDW Posted August 7, 2014 Share I am afraid it is terminal. Go to your LBS tomorrow and buy a new bike. Send the old one to me for distribution to a charity.Aahh, makes sense now, thanks! Are you going to sell it to buy another pair of Crocs? Wil6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDW Posted August 7, 2014 Share You've probably bent your hanger.What I thought as well, and the thing is, the bike was in the shop on Wednesday, and it was working perfectly... When I got it back after having something done, this problem came up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LourensD Posted August 7, 2014 Share Sounds like the cable tension is out. Try playing with the barrel adjuster on the shifter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogo@ Posted August 7, 2014 Share Agreed, sounds like cable tension. Find the 'neutral' ie middle of the range position of the barrel adjuster and then try working from there, using conservative adjustments... If you've got gears 'over' at one end of the range and not reaching the other end of the range, then at least one of your problems will be cable tension. You'll also need to check your limit screws again if you fiddled with those. Have a look at the section on dérailleurs on www.sheldonbrown.com for an excellent guide on how to get this right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted August 7, 2014 Share You've probably bent your hanger.Nope. Sound like a case of slipped cable syndrome. Treated many of these trail side on unsuspecting riders who suddenly can't shift anymore. Shift into top gear (10th) on the RD, tighten the barrel adjuster on both the derailleur and the shifter (so that the little knobbies are completely in the barrel adjusters, and all tension has been removed from the cable) and then loosen the bolt that holds the cable in place on to the derailleur. At the same time, put a bit if lube into the cable housings and shuffle the cable housing around to distribute the lube along the cable. Adjust the limit bolt so that the derailleur sits in the proper position for 10th gear. Then pull the cable as tight as possible, and reattach to the derailleur. Route the cable so that it rests on the uppermost side of the bolt, so that when you tighten the bolt it in turn pulls the cable tight as well (if you put it on the bottom of the bolt, it'll fray the cable when you tighten the bolt, and loosen the cable tension at the same time) You've now taken up all the slack that was there before, and can start adjusting cable tension to get the shifting right. Remember to adjust the upper limit screw so that the derailleur doesn't shift past 1st gear. If you have a top normal rear derailleur (where the derailleur naturally sits under 1st gear when all tension is released) then substitute 10th with 1st and do exactly the same operations. If that doesn't fix it, then it's more than likely a dropout hangar. But the fact that you still have shifts left on the smallest gear points to cable slippage. G e r h a r d Odendaal, nickelass, Vangar and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divernick Posted August 7, 2014 Share Cable is too loose. Shift the shifter all the way into the smallest gear and until it stops clicking. Then pedal until the chain is in smallest gear. The. Loosen the bolt which holds the cable to the derailleur. Once loose, pull the cable tight and re fasten the cable clamp bolt. 5mm Allen key, in case you're wondering. Try it now. If it still doesn't go to the biggest cog, try unscrewing the barrel adjuster on the derailleur or shifter 1 or 2 turns and try again. If you try this a bit and it still won't go high enough, unscrew the L limit screw a turn or 2 to allow the derailleur to move closer to the spokes. Here's where you need to be a bit careful as you don't want the derailleur getting tangled in the spokes. Captain Fastbastard Mayhem 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted August 7, 2014 Share Sounds like the cable tension is out. Try playing with the barrel adjuster on the shifter Agreed, sounds like cable tension. Find the 'neutral' ie middle of the range position of the barrel adjuster and then try working from there, using conservative adjustments... If you've got gears 'over' at one end of the range and not reaching the other end of the range, then at least one of your problems will be cable tension. You'll also need to check your limit screws again if you fiddled with those. Have a look at the section on dérailleurs on www.sheldonbrown.com for an excellent guide on how to get this right!Right to a point, but if there are gears left and ir just won't move beyond a certain point then it's more than likely a slipped cable in addition to the barrel adjusters. The fact that it was okay beforehand points to slipped cable syndrome, as no matter how useless an LBS mech is, I doubt they've had adjusted the barrel adjusters when shifting was performing fine before and after the service. If they even touched the shifters at all to begin with. gogo@ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pure Savage Posted August 7, 2014 Share Undo the cable to start, then set limits, then re attach the cable and tighten the cable till desired shifting. Captain Fastbastard Mayhem 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pulse Posted August 7, 2014 Share As most other posts, sounds like cable slipped. Captain Fastbastard Mayhem 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted August 7, 2014 Share For a step by step, read my post. As all (most) others have said, it's a classic case of cable slippage. Edited August 7, 2014 by cpt armpies mayhem Pure Savage 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G e r h a r d Odendaal Posted August 7, 2014 Share Nope. Sound like a case of slipped cable syndrome. Treated many of these trail side on unsuspecting riders who suddenly can't shift anymore. Shift into top gear (10th) on the RD, tighten the barrel adjuster on both the derailleur and the shifter (so that the little knobbies are completely in the barrel adjusters, and all tension has been removed from the cable) and then loosen the bolt that holds the cable in place on to the derailleur. At the same time, put a bit if lube into the cable housings and shuffle the cable housing around to distribute the lube along the cable. Adjust the limit bolt so that the derailleur sits in the proper position for 10th gear. Then pull the cable as tight as possible, and reattach to the derailleur. Route the cable so that it rests on the uppermost side of the bolt, so that when you tighten the bolt it in turn pulls the cable tight as well (if you put it on the bottom of the bolt, it'll fray the cable when you tighten the bolt, and loosen the cable tension at the same time) You've now taken up all the slack that was there before, and can start adjusting cable tension to get the shifting right. Remember to adjust the upper limit screw so that the derailleur doesn't shift past 1st gear. If you have a top normal rear derailleur (where the derailleur naturally sits under 1st gear when all tension is released) then substitute 10th with 1st and do exactly the same operations. If that doesn't fix it, then it's more than likely a dropout hangar. But the fact that you still have shifts left on the smallest gear points to cable slippage. Wish I was in your riding group Captain Fastbastard Mayhem 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted August 7, 2014 Share Wish I was in your riding groupLol. Thing is I get made fun of cos of the bag I carry. Chock full or spares, tools and pretty much anything else. Until one of those random tools (lube included) is needed! Then all I hear are grumbles, mentions of kitchen sinks and muted thanks.... lol. G e r h a r d Odendaal and deanbean 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted August 7, 2014 Share Also means extra super secret training for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G e r h a r d Odendaal Posted August 7, 2014 Share Haha you should also include a credit card machine in that bag, you will make lots of money out there on the trails Mayhem! Captain Fastbastard Mayhem 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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