Help!

[Python]

Hi Deb. My bike is a Raleigh Mixte, possibly early 1980s model. She only has a rear derailleur. He didn't tighten the lever itself, but tightened the cable on the derailleur itself - a bit too much I think.

I've just come back from a 5 mile ride - wasn't going to go out tonight but got my arm twisted by my son as there was a major fire somewhere so I got dragged out to investigate Turned out it was a load of old tyres in a farm about 2 - 3 miles from where we live.

I'm able to change gear to the smaller cogs easily enough, it's going the other way onto the bigger cogs that I have a problem shifting to. I'm going to give the bike the once-over after I finish my coffee and see if I can get the gearing to run a bit easier.

The back brake just needs the cable adjusted slightly. The bike is still stopping OK but not as good as it was this morning. I think he's set the wheels slightly different because even my sensor for the computer is catching so I'll have to reset that as well. I think I was happier the way the bike was but the tyres were badly cracked on the side wall and it was only a matter of time before they gave up the ghost.

[DebW]

Hi Deb. My bike is a Raleigh Mixte, possibly early 1980s model. She only has a rear derailleur. He didn't tighten the lever itself, but tightened the cable on the derailleur itself - a bit too much I think.

I'm able to change gear to the smaller cogs easily enough, it's going the other way onto the bigger cogs that I have a problem shifting to. I'm going to give the bike the once-over after I finish my coffee and see if I can get the gearing to run a bit easier.

If the derailleur reaches the smallest cog, then the cable isn't too tight (meaning too short), but it could be sticky. The cable may need some lubrication, or the derailleur itself may need lubrication. Drip some oil into every pivot point on the derailleur and work the derailleur back and forth by hand. If the cable seems sticky, loosen the cable fixing bolt on the derailleur, remove enough cable from the housing to put grease on the wire which will be inside the housing, and then reattach the cable. Try moving the lever when the cable is detached and see if it is sticky or moves freely. If it's sticky, try loosening the thumb screw or detach the lever and put a bit of grease on it.
Hope you can get everything operating smoothly again.

[Python]

Things are much improved today. I slackened off the lever slightly last night and got some lubrication into the cable. Also lubricated the pivot points in the derailleur and she is changing gear a lot easier now. Had a good run to work this morning. Had a moment of amusement too. There was a young lad, probably around age 16 or 17, heading for the college which I go past to get to work. I was gaining on him quite fast. He turned round, saw me about 30 yards behind him and he started pedalling furiously. I shifted up a gear and sailed past him. I heard him cursing LOL

At least getting home was easier this afternoon but I'm still not happy with the gearing. I think it could be that I've got used to X amount of space on the lever to change gear and that space is much narrower now so the chain often jumps two cogs instead of one. Maybe I just need to get used to it like this.

Makes me look forward even more to getting my new bike (Specialized Dolce Elite) in a few weeks time

[DebW]

At least getting home was easier this afternoon but I'm still not happy with the gearing. I think it could be that I've got used to X amount of space on the lever to change gear and that space is much narrower now so the chain often jumps two cogs instead of one. Maybe I just need to get used to it like this.

Glad things are improved. If you were used to more cable slack, then the position of the lever for every gear will be different, but the distance you pull the lever to change gears is the same, except the distance from highest to next-highest gear. Slack in the cable means that when you are in the highest gear (smallest cog) and want to shift, you have to move the lever from flat against the downtube back until you've removed the cable slack and then further movement will move the derailleur. Shifts to other lower gears will all use a smaller amount of lever movement but it will be consistent.