I will need some more information to see what is causing the problem. What is actually causing the drivetrain to lock up? Is the derailleur itself jamming into the cogs? Does the drivetrain only lockup when the chain is in the process of shifting and in between two cogs? Can you shift okay if you put the bike in a bike stand and run through the gears?
Have you tried adjust the limit screws and cable tension? When was the last time you changed the chain on the bike? Do you have pictures of your bike I can look at?
If you have maintained the bike in good working condition and know how to adjust the gears, I would check to see if the derailleur hanger is bent. Check this by seeing if your pulleys form a vertical line that is parallel with a vertical line formed by your hanger.
Your friend of a friend may just build bikes for a hobby. If you wanted to, you could take some bike building classes and buy your own steel tubes and weld your own frame.
The shop I worked at did a lot of mainstream bike sales so custom built bikes weren’t that common there, at least from what I could tell. Sometimes there were older bikes there for service that I don’t recognize so they could be custom. However, there are many independent bike builders out there that just do custom frames, so you shouldn’t worry just because your friend of a friend builds his bike in his basement.
Ask to see some of his previous work. Pay special attention to the joints. If it is welded, is the welding neat and tidy? If it is a lugged frame, are there any voids where the solder should be? I say go ahead and talk to the guy, see if he is knowledgeable about bikes.
I’ve had FitKits done. Also other bicycle fitting systems. I wish I had a camera for the looks on the faces of the people who come back with the recommendations for me. (When I said freakish, I meant it.) It’s a good idea - but for me, the result is “we don’t carry anything like that - maybe we can make something kind of work” or “have you ever thought of buying a custom bike - you would love titanium” or “a friend of a friend of mine …”
Chasing Dreams, how do I find bike building classes?
I have a CycleGenius CGX Starling Recumbent. Last summer it was sitting outside and accidentally got knocked over, throwing off the front derailleur so that the left gear shift numbers didn’t line up the derailleur with the appropriate cogs on the front crank. In fiddling with it myself, it just got worse, so I took it to a bike shop and had them fix it.
Long story short, they didn’t fix it.
I took it back to them and they replace the front derailleur with something different (It originally came with an SRAM 3.0 and now has a Shimano something… I don’t remember exactly). Anyways, it shifts into all 3 front gears ok, but the numbers on the shifter still don’t line up correctly, plus the chain rubs against the derailleur while in the lowest gear. The bike place told me that since it was a recumbent that “they tend to pieces part them together so it will never be quite right”, but it was working perfectly before it got bumped.
Is this true? Is there a way to get this fixed properly so my gear shifter actually lines up with my front crank cogs?
I commute 5 miles to work, so ten miles a day. I’ve got a specialized Sirrius flat barred road bike, aluminum. I weigh 185, then throw in a laptop, gym clothes, and in winter (My cut off is 20F) warm clothes, I easily go over 200lbs. Is that too much for that bike?
Next question: My back tire leaks slowly. It’ll be fine for a week, then it’ll feel like I’m dragging an anchor. Since the only compressors around that go up past 100psi are the bike shop, which is past my work, or at home, which takes precious morning minutes to get up to psi and fill, it sucks. So I brought it in and had the tube replaced. It still happens. But what is wierd, it it’ll retain the lower pressure until the cows come home. Is it my rim? Is it the aforementioned weight? Do all tires last only 2 weeks tops at the preferred psi? (don’t get me started on those shitty little stems)
As I mentioned, I ride in winter. But I don’t do snow or ice. But I have ridden on dry roads that have salt on them. Hosing it off in the middle of winter is not a real option. Am I killing my bike?
Last one. The only way to shift into 3 is in high 2, like 8 or 9, while going down hill. This began 2 weeks after I brought it into the shop for servicing. If you had a customer come in 2 weeks after a tune up and say it’s hosed, what would you do?
If your bike has been in the garage for awhile (say several months) but had a tuneup before that, does it need another tuneup before it gets put back into use, or can you just pump up the tires and go?
If it matters, I’m talking about a couple of highish-end mountain bikes (Santa Cruz Heckler and Specialized Enduro). It’s really embarrassing how little we’ve ridden them lately.
The numbers not lining up properly may be because they installed a Shimano road front derailleur. Road derailleurs have slightly different cable pull from MTB derailleurs; if you switch from one to the other, it’ll still work OK, but not perfectly. I personally wouldn’t worry about it - it’s pretty easy to look at the front derailleur and see which gear it’s in.
Chain rub is a more serious problem. It may be caused by having a wider gear range than the derailleur is designed to handle. Or it could be just an adjustment issue. Is it hitting the bottom of the derailleur cage, or the side?
If you mean it drops from 100psi to, say, 70psi in 2 weeks, I’d consider that to be typical. I think most people recommend topping off the tire every week or so. Get yourself a decent bike pump instead of having to rely on a bike shop.
I’ve never welded a frame of my own, but a popular school for this type of thing is the United Bicycle Institute . They are located in Ashland, Oregon. I would take a look there and see if this is suitable for you.
When I first got started in maintaining my own bike, I went to my local university and signed up for some courses. They didn’t have a frame building class but I recommend you ask your local college or university and see if they offer something.
Whatever you do, it is probably going to take a lot of experience to weld together a frame that you will be happy with and comfortable riding. If you are not interested in making a lot of frames, then I would recommend you find a reputable local frame building. Check this list out to see if one of these builders are in your area.
Your problem is that SRAM shifting components do not mix well with Shimano ones. This is caused by the fact that SRAM uses a 1:1 cable pull ratio whereas Shimano uses 2:1. Thus, your gear indicator dial will not line up if you mix shifters and derailleurs. Either you should get a SRAM front derailleur or you should get a Shimano shifter.
You are still able to shift with the SRAM 3.0 shifter and the Shimano front derailleur because the SRAM 3.0 front shifter is micro-indexed , allowing it to withstand lots of intolerances. Your chain rub in the lowest gear is most likely caused by a lower limit screw on your front derailleur that is too tight. Give the front derailleur cable some slack, and then loosen the lower limit screw in quarter turn increments. Stop when there isn’t anymore chain rub.
For recumbents, there is a general tendency to mix and match drivetrain and braking components because the major manufacturers don’t make a specific component group for recumbents. You want the lightweight of road specific components but you also want the gear ratios and braking power of mountain bike components. The long chain of a recumbent can also make things tricky when you want really accurate shifting. However, the resulting choices should work reasonably well together if care is taken in choosing the right components.
I assume that you have this Specialized Sirrius . The Sirrius is no super-light road racer so you should be just fine with 200lbs of weight on the bike. The fact that it has 700x28c tires means that you don’t have to worry about having to run insanely high pressures to maintain good rolling resistance. If you were to add another 50lbs of weight to the bike, then I would recommend you consider some beefier components.
As for your tire pressure problem, scr4 has given the correct answer. You should get a high pressure hand pump with a dial gauge for your home and pump up once a week. Bicycle tires/tubes lose air relatively quickly compared to cars because they are maid thinner to decrease weight and rolling resistance. I like to run my road tires at 120psi and at the end of a week, they are probably at 105-110 psi.
Hosing off your bike every so often in the winter is a good idea. Just make sure you don’t leave your bike outside where it will drop below freezing before the water evaporates. Avoid pressure washers, use a garden hose instead. Do not spray directly at your bearings because you could contaminate them with water and then you will have stiff bearings whenever it is cold. Make sure to lube your chain each time you hose your bike down. And if you don’t know, make sure there is some grease on your seatpost.
As for your shifting problem, simply increase the cable tension for the front derailleur cable. There is a little adjuster nut on your front shifter/brake pod. Turn it counterclockwise a couple of turns, test, and adjust as necessary.
As for a customer with an issue with the tune-up, I would handle it on a case by case basis. I would ask what the problem is and determine if it is caused by user misunderstanding, neglect, typical wear and tear, or if I actually did something wrong. The most common issue is that a customer comes back after a couple of weeks and says his shifting has gone all haywire, even though it was working fine after a tune-up. This is often just caused by new cabling settling in and thus changing the cable tension. I make sure to “stretch” new cables to help minimize this settling but there is only so much you can do. If only people understood how to turn that cable tension barrels, then they wouldn’t have an issue. For a customer in this situation, I would just show them how to adjust the tension and that would be that.
No tuneup is necessary. Just pump your tires, lube your chain and pump your brakes a few times. Give your bike a once over just to make sure there is no brake fluid or suspension fluid leaking.
86Kg
Shimano Tourney back derailer
Front chainring has 48-38
Back freehub cluster has 7-speed combination 11,13,15,18,21,24,26 - not sure of brand probably Shimano.
Bike should be making clean shifts.
Problem has always occured. When I replaced cluster, derailer and chain the problem continued.
I havent crashed my bike, although the frame has broken through fatigue. It was under warranty and replaced.
Back wheel is tight as a fishes arseh*le.
I asked this question here a while ago and someone suggested it was autoshift, but it seems to be more the gears slipping over the cluster.
This happens when I am on the smaller gears 11-15. I spend most of the time in 48 on the front.
As I write this I have just bumped into this article. Maybe it is chain wear. Maybe I need to clean my chain more often.
If I ride 10 km a day, how often should I clean my chain?
He/she asked about the front derailleur; your answer only applies to the rear.
SRAM front derailleurs and shifters are compatible with Shimano MTB front derailleurs and shifters. It’s the Shimano road derailleurs that have different cable pull. I’d guess the bike shop replaced the derailleur with a Shimano road derailleur. Replacing it with a MTB derailleur (from either manufacturer) should solve this particular problem.
Still, you may be better off with a road derailleur, because they are optimized for larger chainrings (which your recumbent probably has). The optimal solution is to get a road derailleur designed to work with MTB shiftes, such as the Shimano R443 (about halfway down the page).
It’s more of an issue of wanting high gear ratio (which means a road bike crankset), wide gear range (which means a MTB cassette and rear derailleur), and MTB-style handlebars (so you can’t use road bike brake levers and shifters).
If it’s hitting the left side, try adjusting the limit screws. There should be two limit screws (usually Philips head screws) side by side on the front derailleur, marked L and H. You need to loosen the L screw a little bit.
If it’s hitting the right side of the derailleur cage, try adjusting the adjuster barrel on the front (left) shifter. It’s at the base of the shifter cable.
Of course, if you install the same derailleur as it originally had, it should operate the way it used to. But if I were you I’d adjust it to eliminate chain rub, and ignore the marking on the shifter.
I know that bikes are shipped to dealers via UPS. I cannot imagine that the charge is hundreds of dollars. A friendly local bike shop will partially disassemble the bike and pack it in a box for a reasonable fee. WAG is under fifty bucks. Maybe way under. (Plus the UPS fee, of course.)
The BionX system seems to have the best reputation these days. Range is hard to define since it depends on terrain and how much pedaling you do, but 30 miles should be possible with only moderate pedaling. It’s about $1000.