New bike shifting woes - what's the deal???

[RolliePollie]

I need some expert advice. I've had my new Madone for almost 2 weeks and have ridden her about 175 miles. She's already been back to the shop twice for derailleur adjustments. I just got back from a ride and the same problems are back. I'm getting really frustrated and I don't understand what's going on.

I have a triple with 10 in the back, all Ultegra except I think the cassette is 105. So I'll call the biggest cog in back #1 and the smallest #10. #1 is fine, but #2 and #3 skip and jump back and forth between each other. The chain won't engage on the cogs and I cannot use them at all. 3 and 4 do the same thing in the small and middle ring. I can get it to latch on to 4 if I shift through to 5 and then shift back to 4. Then it's fine through 10. This is just not workable for hill climbing because I have to quickly skip from 4 through 3 and 2 and I lose all my momentum. Plus there's lots of clanging, banging, clunking and other horrible bad shifting noises.

So just now, I turned the bike upside down and counted as I shifted through all the gears, starting at 10. But it appears I only have nine gears. It's skipping between 2 and 3 on one shifter click, plus the first shift up from 10 to 9 does nothing.

Is the indexing messed up? How do I get my LBS to fix this? Am I just a huge idiot and I'm doing something wrong? The last time it was in the shop, they said it shouldn't be going out of adjustiment like this, so I'm assuming this is not normal new bike behavior. Please help!!!!

[Grog]

It's normal for the cables to stretch a bit and for things to get out of whack. However, after it's fixed, an Ultegra derailleur should work fine for a bit. Maybe they just need to do it again, more carefully... (And test-ride on the road.)

Good luck!

[Xrayted]

Actually, why did you think you had 10 in the back? When you shift, is it clicking for 10 or 9 gears? I'm curious only because if you don't match the number from the front to the cassette, it won't fall correctly no matter how you adjust it. It will jump between gears because it can't quite line up. When tightened, it will work for a short time and then be out of whack again almost immediately. We had a bike shop replace Kit's rear cassette and they didn't count the # of gears before the change. Guess what? They had it wrong and couldn't get it set. They put on the correct cassette and no problems after that.
Check your brifters (or whatever set up you have for changing gears) and see how many clicks you get compared to the cassette. Good luck.

[RolliePollie]

Thanks...at least it doesn't sound like it's me doing something weird. I'm afriad the LBS is going to think I have Munchausen Biproxy...you know, that thing where parents make their kids sick to get attention from the Dr.!

I have 10 clicks and 10 cogs on the cassette...but it shifts like this:

1
2-3 together in one click
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
one more click, but nothing happens

So I guess I'm riding to town today. Luckily, the ride to the LBS is mostly downhill so the shifting issues won't be much of a problem. The ride home is all uphill, so hopefully they can get it adjusted!

[pardes]

I'm afriad the LBS is going to think I have Munchausen Biproxy...you know, that thing where parents make their kids sick to get attention from the Dr.!

THAT is sooooo funny and I know just how you feel. As much as I love my Trek, it continually has shifting problems....maybe not as severe as your problems but it grinds and complains, sometimes misses gears, sometimes drops the chain. I just roll it into Bikeline now and Howard tweaks it well enough to get back on the road. It originally had a double and I had a triple put on and it's never been happy since. However, I still love the thing even though my new GT Transeo winter bike shifts much more smoothly and quietly.

Good luck with your bike. Just be firm and polite and eventually you'll find a mechanic that will fix the problem.

[Misandal]

RolliePollie,

I'm so sorry to hear about your persistent shifting problems. I swear to you, my Ultegra components have been completely trouble-free since I got my Madone in May. It sounds like your cables maybe weren't stretched properly before installation or your bike shop just isn't doing a very good job with the adjustments. When you pick it up next time, test it in the parking lot, with the mechanic out there too, and make sure you are 100% satisfied before you leave there. It should shift quickly and definitively, with no hesitations or skips. If it does not shift to your satisfaction, take it right back inside.

[Xrayted]

You should not have 10 clicks for 10 gears. You should have 9. Take it back in like everyone said and get it checked. I went over 600 miles without needing any adjustment. Even then, it was tiny. Something is out of alignment at the very least.