not going in first gear (biggest cog)

[j4ckos mate]

hi

my bike has Shimano FD-2300 and Shimano Sora RD-3500 SS - Black front and rear on it,

it doesnt stay on the biggest cog at the back unless i keep my right hand swept to the left on the changer, as soon as i take my hand off it jumps back to second.

how do i cure this, is it with the screws or has the cable become slack?

i noticed there is a cable gland on the back that looks like you can turn it to adjsut it , is it that?

[graememac]

More than likely your cable has just stretched. Turn the barrel adjuster on the derailluer anti clockwise to take up the slack. Do it by half a turn and then see if it's made a difference if not turn it another half a turn until it solves the problem. Do not adjust the screws as they set the limit for your cassette

[j4ckos mate]

barrel adjuster, is that the little black wheel with a serrated edge,
i expect its the same principal as adjusting the brakes, ok will have a go.

[j4ckos mate]

whilst were on the subject.

the front one, doesn't always jump back on to the bigger cog at the first attempt,

is it the same situation for that

[neenaw]

j4ckos mate said:

whilst were on the subject.

the front one, doesn't always jump back on to the bigger cog at the first attempt,

is it the same situation for that

Yes. If the cable has stretched then it won't shift up into the biggest ring as well. Again you need to adjust the cable. If it has a barrel adjuster, screw it out half a turn and see if it's any better and keep going half or quarter of a turn at a time until it's right.

[j4ckos mate]

cheers lads,
bikes in the kitchen tonight i think!

[neenaw]

If you have any problems with it, check out this site here as it's full of good advice:

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

[outnumbered]

The right answer of course is that the biggest sprocket is for girls, and you should just MTFU.

[dandam]

outnumbered said:

The right answer of course is that the biggest sprocket is for girls, and you should just MTFU.

[j4ckos mate]

i end up selecting the4 small cog at the front.
and then pedal like billy-oh because im in the wrong gear, changing down and ive lost momentum and the hill is hard work then.


i definitely need to anticipate alot more than i am doing

[Justin Cyder]

Experiencing a similar issue on a just rebuilt with brand new cables Rockhopper & Shimano Deore. Essentially, it's indexing correctly in the lowest & highest gears but not in the middle, so third to fourth to fifth & vice versa it's not going then jumps two when you change again.

I spent an hour on it on Saturday, the cable is correctly tensioned I think & I'm slightly stumped & would happily take advice.

[upsidedownmark]

To check the (outer) limit screw setting, put the bike in the innermost gear, and shift all the way out without pedalling. This will give you cable slack to unhitch the cable from the frame. Now turn the wheel and let it shift all the way out. The limit screw can then be set appropriately without the indexing interfering.

Now hitch up the cable again, and set the inner limit screw by grabbing hold of the exposed cable (usually along the bottom of the downtube, and shifting it all the way in 'by hand' while the lever is shifted out. Again, you're looking to set the limit independently of the cable tension adjustment.

Once that's done, set the cable tension to shift correctly in the middle of the cassette.

You *should* then find that it will go up and down the entire block without any issues - sometimes a little fine tuning is needed to get it to shift equally well in both directions, and compromise a little over the block.

If you can't get 1 sprocket at either end of the cassette, the cable tension is likely wrong by a whole shift worth..

If you still have jumping and bad shifts at one part of the block and not another, there's something more fundamental wrong:
- Correct spacers used in the cassette (all sprockets even distance apart) ?
- Correct number of sprockets (bit far fetched, but..)
- Mech and Levers match (all shimano 'x' speed should be compatible, but for instance while shimano and sram are compatible, the mech must match the lever as they pull different cable ratios).
- Levers damaged / worn out?
- Cables sticking (unlikely if they're new).

[neenaw]

Justin Cyder said:

Experiencing a similar issue on a just rebuilt with brand new cables Rockhopper & Shimano Deore. Essentially, it's indexing correctly in the lowest & highest gears but not in the middle, so third to fourth to fifth & vice versa it's not going then jumps two when you change again.

I spent an hour on it on Saturday, the cable is correctly tensioned I think & I'm slightly stumped & would happily take advice.

It might be worth checking to see if the rear mech hanger is bent.
I had a similar thing on a previous bike and couldn't figure out why it would index correctly on part of the cassette but not the rest of it. Turns out the hanger was bent slightly.
If you need a replacement they are only about £10 or so.

[Justin Cyder]

Ok, thanks guys.

[TKF]

j4ckos mate said:

i end up selecting the4 small cog at the front.
and then pedal like billy-oh because im in the wrong gear, changing down and ive lost momentum and the hill is hard work then.


i definitely need to anticipate alot more than i am doing

So are you trying to pedal in the big cog at the front and the big cog at the back?

[WinstonWolf]

Justin Cyder said:

Experiencing a similar issue on a just rebuilt with brand new cables Rockhopper & Shimano Deore. Essentially, it's indexing correctly in the lowest & highest gears but not in the middle, so third to fourth to fifth & vice versa it's not going then jumps two when you change again.

I spent an hour on it on Saturday, the cable is correctly tensioned I think & I'm slightly stumped & would happily take advice.

All Shimano manuals are available online, they give you the exact procedure to index your mech perfectly every time

Another top tip, respect your Queen

[j4ckos mate]

All sorted nice clean bike and a dirty kitchen now!!

[Gizmoish]

Similar thing... Is there a way to remove kinks from a gear cable?