The Get fit club!

[GridGirl]

Schmenke, its is good maintenance to re-index gears on any type of bike whether road, mountain or hybrid as the cables with stretch over time which will can result in gears slipping and shifters not functioning well. The amount you use your bike and number of miles you ride will affect the frequency you need to do this I.e re-indexing is done far more frequently on my road bike than my mountain bike (which does have thumb shifters). I would also try spraying WD40 as someone else said.

My other half does all if our bike maintenance although I did get a brief promotion to number one mechanic last year when he broke his wrist. He has built up a wealth of bike tools including a stand to help us do this. At a guess Schmeke, I would be inclined to say you should just take the bike to the shop, get it serviced and let them sort it although if it was me I'd try re-indexing first as this is a task you can do yourself which might fix the problem without the need to buy tools, spares or requiring you to take things apart or to a shop. Always try the simple fix first.

[Firstgear]

Indexing or re-indexing is just a fancy word for adjusting, in this case cable length, and there's really almost nothing to it. The cables leading to/from your shifters (and brakes) are going to stretch with use. When we're talking about cables, it's only the metal part that looks like a guitar string. The cable is inside of a cable jacket (white in Gregory's first picture), and it's basically just like a plastic covered, metal hose that the cable sits in. So if your cable stretches 1mm (for example) you'll want the jacket to be 1mm longer as well, otherwise: your chain will click between sprockets or skip gears, or in the case of brake cables you'll have to pull way up on the brakes before they start to work (kind of like having too much travel in a clutch). If you look at Gregory's picture, you'll see the little black piece where the cable enters the brake or shifter. That little piece can be spun in and out (by hand or pliers), effectively lengthening or shortening the cable jacket. On some bikes, this piece will be at the other end (near the brake or derailer). But, after all that, the problem you're describing doesn't sound like an adjustment issue (if the cables were out of adjustment the shifter should be just as easy to work - it would just leave you with clicking at the sprocket because you'd be between gears), it sounds more mechanical or like a cable seizing inside the jacket. If you do get new shifters, you should probably replace the cables & jackets too, or at least drip oil into them. And yes, to replace the shifter you'll have to remove the cable - so reindexing/adjusting will be required.

[Firstgear]

Sorry for the long paragraph. For some reason the 'enter' on my keyboard no longer works on this site.

[Gregor-y]

The description of the problem sounded a lot like my trigger shifters when they stopped working. It's not that the cable is out of line as much as the triggers aren't grabbing.

But when in doubt, let the shop look at it. And if it's not important to have the latest gear start looking at bike salvage shops and craigslist for parts.

[schmenke]

...the triggers aren't grabbing...

Yep, that's what it feels like.

[Mark]

I'm linking recently how my horizons are slowly expanding. A few months ago 30 miles was about my limit otherwise I'd be exhausted on returning. But after doing a 60 mile sportive, and 45 miles last weekend, it means I can now think of 50 mile rides a realistic for a Sunday morning run, which means I can pick new places to go.

But I do need to work on my average speeds, I'm still hovering around 11mph, whereas most local riders seem to average 15mph at minimum!

[schmenke]

The schmenke trail

[J4MIE]

Looks good schmenke, but where are the mountains?

[Gregor-y]

The schmenke trail

That would shake your teeth loose, and you'll burn to a crisp out in the sun. Even though it was very overcast I still got a burn on the first day since the paths were out in the open. On the second day we reached an older trail that had time grow a bit.


I wish there was something like this closer to home.

[schmenke]

Looks good schmenke, but where are the mountains?

Thanks. Need to first sort out the dodgy shifter before tackling the nearby mountains