Chain is jumping cogs

[kat_h]

When I took my new bike in for some adjustments someone there told me I'd have to leave it for 3 or 4 weeks. I hung around until the guy who sold me the bike saw me, explained what I needed and what the other guy told me, and he took the bike into their shop and asked the mechanic to just sneak me in quick. I think he realised that having me standing around being annoyed was going to screw up the sale he was in the middle of.

It does sound like it just need a bit of fine tuning on the cable.

[SalsaMTB]

Try turning the barrel adjuster to your rear derailleur a tiny bit (1/2 turn) and shift through the gears. See if it helps. If it doesn't fix it but doesn't make it worse, twist a little more. Don't twist it a ton though, just 1/4 to 1/2 turns at a time and shift through. If it makes it worse, turn it the other way.

Could be a simple way to solve the problem.

[Running Mommy]

Shops are making people wait THAT LONG for a basic derailleur adjustment?!
That is ridiculous!!
Ok, from an lbs owner's point of view, this is how I see it.

I HATE when people walk in the door and expect us to drop what we are doing to take care of their mechanical need on the spot. Esp. since they are effectively line jumping. And the ones that come off with an attitude of entitlement are the ones that we will surely say "gee I'm sorry, but I have this bike on the rack due in a few minutes, and another one due later today. I just can't stop right now. But I'll get to yours as soon as I can."
But that being said. If the client says anything about the bike being their only mode of transportation, or needing it for a race, etc. we will do our best to get the bike back asap. And depending on what it is, we may just rack it and take care of it. For something so simple as a new bike cable stretch issue, it is MUCH easier just to take care of that on the spot. Between writing up the ticket, and dealing with storing the bike, we would just rather get you back on your way. An adjustment like that shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. And our mechanic is kind of OCD about making sure nothing leaves his stand unless it's perfect. But I've never seen him take longer than that.
I just can't see why a bike shop would need your bike that long? Are they THAT busy?? wow!
We are a small shop, but we still are busy most of the day. And Nick isn't just a wrench for me. He's also a fit expert and great salesman. So he wears many hats- and still get's everything done. ANd yeah, our service bay is ALWAYS full. But our tuneups never take more than 3 days??
OY. I feel for ya'll out there!

[bounceswoosh]

I agree. That's insane. I'm just a consumer, never been a shop employee, but aside from waiting for parts to be delivered, the longest I've ever left my bike for service has been overnight -- and that was for stuff like a complete tune-up, and in most of those cases they offered to have it ready that day, but it was easier for me to pick it up the next day.

[ridebikeme]

I agree with Running Mommy, a shop should NOT need your bike that long! Being a shop owner as well, if someone bought a bike from us then we will make every effort to get their bike in and out the same day! We also would schedule appts for people. Another item that we offer is a pick up/delivery service. People have busy schedules these days and it's one other way that we can reach out to help.

I hope that your shop realizes what a valued customer you are!!