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Morning all looking for some help and advice, I am an engineer used to be in the RAF and can fix complicated planes however when it comes to gear adjustment and servicing my back I seem to be woefully inadequate. Especially when it comes to gear problems with the rear mech, it all seems to be some kind of evil magic when I try to make adjustments.
I am riding a giant talon 1 29er shimano xt 10 spd rear mech and deore shifters. The bike has just been in for its first service at LBS although not that local 60 miles away and they have managed to make the problem worse not better so I am going to have to look at it myself before the weekend's trail centre activity.
The high and low adjustments are fine but when I get to the middle of the range 4th to 7th gear generally bike will not shift up when I put a single click on shifter and sometimes will not come back down either, this is the area I am typically using the most on trials and it is a nightmare when you need to quickly shift and nothing happens.
So to the point at hand, anyone know of good guides to use or advice on the specific problem I have and how to go about fixing it?
Not impressed by my not so LBS maybe I should name and shame them it was the first free 6-8 week service on the bike and was done in under 20mins Cytec mechanics and a great reputation, I was busy spending £200 on accessories in the shop and simple disassembled the bike and put it in the car when I got home problem was still there and worse, dam it always test ride before you leave the shop!!
Thanks all lets see how much abuse I shall receive and hopefully sensible advice.
Rich
[url= https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shimano.com%2Fpublish%2Fcontent%2Fglobal_cycle%2Fen%2Fus%2Findex%2Ftech_support%2Ftech_tips.download.-Par50rparsys-0020-downloadFile.html%2F&ei=yQL6UbmDBMP5kgXgqICIDw&usg=AFQjCNEX6QuvAzWe3-gAqMHBK7Nv-r3NlA&sig2=fuBrlSPwdVSxwRlyRUIl_Q&bvm=bv.50165853,d.dGI&cad=rja ]Some Instructions[/url]
[url= http://techdocs.shimano.com/techdocs/blevel.jsp?ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181679&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302051947 ]and some more[/url]
Is everything straight? Hangers, cage etc. This can cause you problems.
Is everything done up tight?
After checking it, there could be some cable stretch so you might be able to tune it with the barrel adjust on the shifter.
Best way to do it is get it in a workstand (or hand the saddle from something - rope loop from above works) and go through the gears, look at the alignment and see if it's off (look with eyes not fingers!) then make any micro adjustments from there.
Going from 4th to 7th sounds like you don't have enough cable tension, but then going back down sounds like too much... have you had a look at the cables to see if they're moving freely? when in the biggest ring on the back is the B limit screw wound in so the top jockey wheel is too close? pinkbike has some good set up guides with vids.
I will get the bike strung up tonight and start checking, I will look at alignment of the mech been doing a lot of riding and the bike has already had a few bumps and bruises im not so forgiving on the machine and should put more time into maintenance but I would rather be riding it in all my spare time.
Sounds like cables IMHO but it could be all sorts of weird things. If its new, the cables shouldn't be too mucky, but check for any tight bends / kinks along the way.
The other thing I would check is the 'b-tension' screw. Sometimes if that's not screwed down enough, the derailleur will catch on some gears. It's usually the bigger sprockets but you never know.
Edit: I missed Rizla's response.
Cables is something thats always skimped on with off the peg bikes. Id replace the cable (inner and outers) and take it from there.