Road Bike Not Shifting Properly
The problem will be the shifters derailleurs or cables.
Road bike not shifting properly. Fear of shifting is a real thing. In north america it won t be too long before spring arrives which is one of the peak bike buying seasons. A major bike industry only facebook group recently focused on gear fear in fact as one of the reasons standard double ring road bike sales may be dropping while 1x gravel and road mtb rigs are picking up. The most obvious and common causes for poor shifting are down to poor adjustment and the most common thing to go out of adjustment is cable tension.
From the full faced helmet downhill mountain biker to the lycra clad cross country rider. Turn the b screw clockwise to make the gap larger and counterclockwise to close the gap. But what sparked today s topic wasn t that online discussion. Shifting explained for beginners if you haven t a clue how many gears your bike has how many you actually need or even how to use them properly don t worry you re not alone.
If you re shopping for your first road bike knowing how to shift will make test rides easier and more valuable since you can get a better feel for the bike. Most of the time a bike will shift properly with the upper pulley wheel 5 6mm away from the lowest cog. It is furthest away from the centre line of the bike or closest to the frame fork. The best way to get a hang of what your gears feel like is to take your bike to a safe place away from traffic like an empty parking lot and shift through all the gears in the front and rear to.
The global mountain bike network is the best mtb youtube channel with videos for everyone who loves dirt. I walk through the steps to isolate and locate. If your rear shifting isn t working properly and your bike has suffered a knock in a crash or while loading into a car for example then there s a good chance your hanger is bent. On the rear axle the lowest gear 1 st is the largest sprocket and the highest gear 5 th 6 th 7 th depending on how many sprockets are on the cassette is the smallest sprocket.
On modern mountain bike shifters barrel adjusters are mounted on the shifter right where the cable housing exits the shifter body. Cable tension and limit setting.