I fixed my bike!
The one I bought yesterday, that shouldn't need fixing.
I mentioned to the salesman that the front derailer seemed off. It was making noise when in both top gears, and it felt hesitant to shift into the top front gear. Then I test rode another bike, and it didn't get fixed. The guy said these things always need adjustment after break in. And I had seen a couple videos on how to adjust them, it seemed easy, and I really wanted to get my hands dirty.
There are two adjustment screws for the front derailer position. One for low gear, one for high gear. You turn it, it moves. Simple, right? But it wasn't moving. Except when in low gear, which was fine. After a bit of poking, I decided the attached cable must need more tension. On similar cables on my sv650, there are knobs by the levers to do this. There wasn't an obvious knob by the lever. I looked along the cable, and right at the top of the down tube, there *are* knobs on the derailer cables. I twisted one, and it adjusted the tension!
From there, all went as planned. Although I was surprised I didn't have to re-adjust the front low gear position (I guess that makes sense, if the problem was the cable slacking during break in). I went on a brief test ride, and the front derailer seems nicely sorted. Rear derailer still needs some work though. Gears 6 and 7 (of 8) are hesitant to engage. Maybe tomorrow.
That test ride on the roads around my house, empty at night, was fun. Was tough to not just wander off.
I mentioned to the salesman that the front derailer seemed off. It was making noise when in both top gears, and it felt hesitant to shift into the top front gear. Then I test rode another bike, and it didn't get fixed. The guy said these things always need adjustment after break in. And I had seen a couple videos on how to adjust them, it seemed easy, and I really wanted to get my hands dirty.
There are two adjustment screws for the front derailer position. One for low gear, one for high gear. You turn it, it moves. Simple, right? But it wasn't moving. Except when in low gear, which was fine. After a bit of poking, I decided the attached cable must need more tension. On similar cables on my sv650, there are knobs by the levers to do this. There wasn't an obvious knob by the lever. I looked along the cable, and right at the top of the down tube, there *are* knobs on the derailer cables. I twisted one, and it adjusted the tension!
From there, all went as planned. Although I was surprised I didn't have to re-adjust the front low gear position (I guess that makes sense, if the problem was the cable slacking during break in). I went on a brief test ride, and the front derailer seems nicely sorted. Rear derailer still needs some work though. Gears 6 and 7 (of 8) are hesitant to engage. Maybe tomorrow.
That test ride on the roads around my house, empty at night, was fun. Was tough to not just wander off.