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Mountain bike help

edited January 2010 in Troubleshooting
Know there's a few bikers here so hopefully someone can help.

Having an issue with gears. Shimano setup - Can only select gears 5, 6 and 7... Tried adjusting the + and - screws on the derailer but its made no difference. Any ideas?

Comments

  • [cite]Posted By: Medders[/cite]Know there's a few bikers here so hopefully someone can help.

    Having an issue with gears. Shimano setup - Can only select gears 5, 6 and 7... Tried adjusting the + and - screws on the derailer but its made no difference. Any ideas?

    Turn it off then on again
  • Have you checked your reciept.........it might be a 3 gear bike?

    Hoped I have helped ;-)
  • Sounds like cable stretch. Try taking up any slack in the cables. Loosen the bolt and pull the cable through till it is tight. Warning - this isnt as easy as it sounds! A shop will probably charge £20.00 to put this right. Might be worth taking it in.
  • [cite]Posted By: Medders[/cite]Know there's a few bikers here so hopefully someone can help.

    Having an issue with gears. Shimano setup - Can only select gears 5, 6 and 7... Tried adjusting the + and - screws on the derailer but its made no difference. Any ideas?
    Maybe you're too heavy for the bike?

    Or what DaveMehmet said.
  • Check the cable tension and quality and have a look at the gears. If the the teeth of the gears are worn down in parts the chain may have trouble gripping it. If you end up buying new cable make sure you have some sort of crimping tool to put the end ons.

    Can I have a guess what your new years resolution is?
  • [cite]Posted By: Friend Or Defoe[/cite]Can I have a guess what your new years resolution is?

    Yeah, to get my gears working again...

    Thanks for all the sensible suggestions
  • [cite]Posted By: Medders[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Friend Or Defoe[/cite]Can I have a guess what your new years resolution is?



    Thanks for all the sensible suggestions

    Here to help mate! ;-)
  • [cite]Posted By: Medders[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Friend Or Defoe[/cite]Can I have a guess what your new years resolution is?

    Yeah, to get my gears working again...

    Thanks for all the sensible suggestions
    No probs mate.
  • As people have said cable tension is the main cause. I fyou've got a 7 gear rear cassette then maybe using the barrel adjuster, placed where the cable comes into the rear derailleur, this might get you a few more gears but most probably you'll have to pull the cable through. Youtube has loads of videos:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j1gSwhsVN8

    As for changing rear cassettes, it's probably not that. Loads of crap bike shops will say you'll need this and that but you generally don't; remember when you look at gears on a bike the teeth are engineered into different shapes to aid changing gear, unless your bike has been misused the gears are probably fine. Generally gear changing issues are to do with cable tension, gear allignment and possibly the need for a new chain.
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  • It could be a bent derailleur this would cause difficulty in changing gear.

    As Colin and FOD said could be cable tension...
  • Had similar problems when replacing cables it's almost always due to a very tight cable. You might need to replace the inner cable if you don't have any slack on the rear derailleur.
  • [cite]Posted By: Medders[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Friend Or Defoe[/cite]Can I have a guess what your new years resolution is?

    Yeah, to get my gears working again...

    Thanks for all the sensible suggestions
    No worries.

    Have you tried blowing the dust off the chain?
  • [cite]Posted By: Dazzler21[/cite]It could be a bent derailleur

    ...

    That wouldn't be the only thing that was bent on the bike.
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