Adjusting derailleurs - frustrations

[Mars]

waughie said:

For the future the easy way of indexing gears:

Put the bike in the smallest sprocket at the back and middle at the front.
Put shifter in corresponding gear.
Loosen cable at mech pull through till tightish and retighten the bolt.
Start pedalling and shift up 1 gear.
If it doesn't change up wind the barrel adjuster on the mech out. (tension the cable)
If it changes up more than one cog wind the adjuster in. (removes tension)
Go back to little sprocket and repeat.
Once you have set this one the rest should in theory be set properly, although they may need a little tweek.

I did exactly that. In addition (actually before I did anything else), I tweaked the end-stops until the gears fell onto the big and small sprockets without hesitation, and then tweaked them again until the chain ran without fouling. I got that right and could get it to change up 4 gears (of 9) then it would skip one. Loosen off the cable and it wouldn't change off the smallest sprocket or would take an age and eventually just "catch".

I really do understand all the theory and I really do have a mechanical "bias" but I obviously don't know the tricks that the chap at Cult Cycles did because he went about it with a methodical look in his eye - he knew what to start with (he started with the lower end stop - same as me) and just adjusted until it all fell into place. There was no "experimenting" in his application - only tried and tested method.

Sometimes I am happy to just accept someone does something for a living because they're good at it. I know the theory of building a brick wall but I wouldn't dream of actually building one. I used to service my Caterham and yet I can't be bothered to do the same with the Scooby because I need it every day. I don't need the bike every day but after a couple of hours of not getting it right there came the time when a tenner in the hand of a pro made sense.

I'm not irked - if I had time I'd be curious but not irked. Just happy to experience the rifle-bolt gear-change again.