DERAILLEUR QUESTION FROM READER MAIL

I receive quite a few questions by email on a regular basis. I figured that some of you might have the same problems or questions, so I decided to share. I'll be posting these once and a while. Don't hesitate to write me.


"Gerry: I have a '74 Le Tour 10-speed. Does the procedure you describe to adjust the derailleurs on your website apply to my bike? I'd love to be able to learn how to do this...! Thanks! ...Ben"

Hello Ben,

The only thing that could differ from my tutorial is for some older Suntour derailleurs that have the spring tension reversed. This would mean that if you remove tension in the cable, the derailleur would rest on the gear closest to the wheel rather than on the smaller gear closest to the frame. Everything else is the same.

Gerry :)

Here's a link to the original article: http://www.howtofixbikes.ca/2006/12/how-to-adjust-front-derailleur.html

HOW TO REPLACE A DERAILLEUR BICYCLE CHAIN

Some time ago i published a video on how to use a chain tool to remove and replace a bicycle chain. This video is more in depth where it shows you more details on the job. Chain length can be an issue, too long or too short and other such little details are included in this epic production... Ok, not really epic, but I am trying to get better at this. Making movies is not that easy. So enjoy and I hope this will help you out. You can check out the first video that showed a close up on using the chain tool here.

Til then next time, ride safe and Godspeed.

Gerry

HOW TO ADJUST A FRONT DERAILLEUR

A recent comment and request from one of my readers made me realise that I never posted on how to adjust a front derailleur. This is because none of my rides presently have one of these and I just simply forgot about it. So here we go, excuse the crappy pictures, but with the weather I'm stuck indoors and I haven't figured out how to take good ones inside....yet.

The front derailleur is a simple thingamabob that is springloaded and pulled by a cable to push the chain on the gear you want at the pedals. This how-to applies for 2 and 3 gear chain rings. Once you've adjusted with my method, the middle one should take care of itself on a 3 gear set up.

Before you begin, there are a few things to verify. First, make sure the derailleur cage is aligned with the chainring gears. Second, make sure the height is correct by pushing the cage with your hand towards you to make sure that it doesn't hit that last gear. If you need to move the derailleur, undo the cable and loosen the frame bolt and make the necessary adjustements. There, I just saved you at least 45 minutes of yelling, screaming and swearing!

Next, don't bother doing any adjustements before removing the cable from the derailleur. Let's start fresh. At the same time, verify that the cable is moving freely. Cables that are housed in a sleeve up to the derailleur sometimes have a nasty habit of jamming. What happens is that the sleeve's opening points upward on the derailleur and invites water in to deposit itself in there and marries it and the cable with a generous amount of rust. Replace cable and sleeve if that is the case.

Ok, derailleur moves freely by pulling it with your hands and the cable moves freely. Now keep the cable disconnected and put the shifter in the lowest gear position. Your chain should rest on the gear closest to the frame on the chainring(that's the name of the gears attached to the pedals)if you turn the pedals.

Next, shift the rear derailleur to the lowest gear in the back. That's the gear closest to the wheel spokes. Now look at the clearance between the inside of the front derailleur cage(closest to the frame) and see if you have a small gap between the chain and the cage. If the chain is rubbing on it or the gap is too wide, take a screwdriver and adjust the "L" screw on top of the derailleur. Turn the screw until you are satisfied with the results. Clockwise should push the cage outward and counterclockwise inward.

Now to verify that your gap is not too big, leave the chain on the lowest gear on the chainring and shift the rear derailleur to the highest gear, that's the one closest to the frame. If your adjustement is good, the chain shouldn't rub on the outside wall of the front derailleur cage.

Lastly, reinstall the cable and with keeping the chain on the highest gear in the back, shift the front derailleur to the biggest chainring while turning the pedals. Did the chain completely come off the chainring? That's because the front derailleur cage went too far and pushed the chain off. You will need to turn the adjustement screw "H" clockwise until the derailleur stops just before pushing the chain off the chainring. The reverse is true if the cage doesn't go far enough and the chain refuses to go on the last chainring.

That's it.

Til next time, ride safe and Godspeed.

Gerry

Adjusting your derailleur

One of the main problems that I find on every single bike that comes trough my shop is that the derailleurs are out of adjustement. The derailleur is that thing in the front and back of the chain drive that "derails" the chain into it's proper place. Now, don't bother fidling with the thing as it is, let's start fresh.

FIRST: Unscrew the cables from their attachement on the derailleurs. Bring the shifters back to their dead position, that's when there is no pull on the cable and make sure that all the cable housing adjustement screws on the shifters and/or derailleurs are screwed back in to their original position(more on that later).

SECOND: Now with everything deconnected, turn the pedals and the chain should come to rest in the last position gear on the outside of the wheel and at the first one closest to the frame on the chain ring. That's because the system works by pulling on the devices with the cable. If you are not at the last gear on the wheel and the first one at the chain ring, you have already found a problem. You have two screws on every derailleur, one to adjust the last gear: "H" and one to adjust the first gear "L". This is the same on every derailleur, adjust that screw by going clockwise to move the derailleur in and counterclockwise to move it out. Careful, in the rear one you could end up with the chain in between the wheel and the frame, go slowly.

THIRD: Now that your derailleurs are adjusted properly at their last position gear, reinstall the cable. Make sure there is no slack in the cable. Now turn the pedals and click in the first position for the rear derailleur, it should go into the next available gear. Not doing that? Don't worry, remember that adjustement screw on the cable housing? Now start to unscrew it slowly while turning the pedals. This will strech the cable a little bit at a time. Unscrew it until the chain goes into the next available gear,"click" that's it, you're done. Now shift until you have pulled the cable all the way to first gear. If it goes there, you're good. If not,one of two things have happened. Booboo one is that the chain won't go into first, simply unscrew "L" slowly until it does while keeping tension on the cable with the shifter. Booboo two, the chain is now between the gear and the spokes of the wheel. Carefully remove the chain and set it on the first gear and screw "L" to block the derailleur from going forward.

Sounds a bit complicated, but with some practice you'll be able to do it like a pro. By the way, being a bike mechanic, I like simple things. My bikes have 3 or 5 speeds with regular friction shifters where you have to guess where the gear is going. I love simple.

Tip of the day: Putting new cables in? They will strech after a while and will need to be readjusted. Keep this in mind when buying a new bike and ask the shop if it comes with a free tune up within the first 6 months.

Let me know what you would like to read about. I don't do product review of extreme downhill mountain bikes or the latest suspension forks. You can buy any add clad mountain bike magazine for that. I can answer just about anything else.