Any advice on shifting issues for a new (<2 months) bike? I've brought it back to the shop I bought it from 3 times already but it keeps slipping gears on the rear derailleur. Shimano 105, so I was expecting a decent bike... I'm not sure what to do short of watching some YouTube videos and just trying myself...
The reasons your bike will shift unexpectedly
Cables have stretched. This seems most likely, as it's a new bike. Most places recommend you bring the bike back after 1,000 kms to get everything adjusted and tightened up. I'd wager the majority of ghost shifting is because of this.
Gears aren't indexed properly. I am guessing you have mechanical gears, rather than the electronic shifting. There are several videos on YouTube to show how to do this. I didn't find it as easy as the videos showed, but I was able to fix mine after a while.
Chain is stretched or worn - Unlikely given it's a new bike
Cassette is worn - Unlikely given it's a new bike
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I've had such bad luck with the shops tuning my bikes. Last year I brought all of my family members' bikes to a shop and they came back no better than when I dropped them off ($400 later). I'm just learning how to do bike maintenance myself now to save the hassle of going to a shop only to be disappointed. YouTube is insanely helpful - these bike guys make really informative, easy-to-follow tutorials so it's probably worth trying that.
This week I've straitened a wheel (really easy to fiddle with the spokes to do this), adjusted my wife's derailleur because her chain kept falling off, and I'm fixing my daughter's brakes (cable just arrived last night so I'll put that in tonight). Never done bike stuff before and all this has been super manageable.
Good on you for that. It saves so much time when you can take 5 minutes and fix it yourself. Do yourself a huge favour and get a bike stand. The Feedback Sports ones are affordable, and life changing. Takes a lot of the frustration out of working on bikes.
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Good on you for that. It saves so much time when you can take 5 minutes and fix it yourself. Do yourself a huge favour and get a bike stand. The Feedback Sports ones are affordable, and life changing. Takes a lot of the frustration out of working on bikes.
I actually have one that I bought a few years ago and have only now started using. You're right - without that it would be miserable trying to balance a bike while crouching down to mess around. Standing upright staring right at the thing you want to fix helps you understand how it's functioning before you start digging in. Love it.
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I actually have one that I bought a few years ago and have only now started using. You're right - without that it would be miserable trying to balance a bike while crouching down to mess around. Standing upright staring right at the thing you want to fix helps you understand how it's functioning before you start digging in. Love it.
The stand up ones are great too for when you can't get something to work. Then you can push over your piece of crap bike on your piece of crap stand and yell that it's freaking bullshoot. It's way more satisfying then walking away while your bike is already on the ground without a stand.
I highly recommend nitrile gloves. Even when I am just waxing my chain, I put them on. I'm not sure if you can buy gloves anywhere right now, but I bought a couple boxes at Costco before the pandemic. It saves so much time now that I don't have to get grease or wax off my hands after working on my bike.
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Jesus this site these days
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Originally Posted by Barnet Flame
He just seemed like a very nice person. I loved Squiggy.
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Originally Posted by dissentowner
I should probably stop posting at this point
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Good on you for that. It saves so much time when you can take 5 minutes and fix it yourself. Do yourself a huge favour and get a bike stand. The Feedback Sports ones are affordable, and life changing. Takes a lot of the frustration out of working on bikes.
That was my plan but they're sold out literally everywhere
New cables may stretch which causes the shifting issues due to a change in cable tension. Depending where you bought the bike, they shop may offer free tuneups to address the issue.
They do tune it up for free, I'm just tired of them "tuning it up" and not fixing the issue. Lol.
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That was my plan but they're sold out literally everywhere
You can also use gardening gloves - the elasticated kind with the rubberized palm. I like these for home house because you can wash your hands with dish soap after (gloves on) and it saves throwing disposables away.
Cables have stretched. This seems most likely, as it's a new bike. Most places recommend you bring the bike back after 1,000 kms to get everything adjusted and tightened up. I'd wager the majority of ghost shifting is because of this.
Gears aren't indexed properly. I am guessing you have mechanical gears, rather than the electronic shifting. There are several videos on YouTube to show how to do this. I didn't find it as easy as the videos showed, but I was able to fix mine after a while.
Chain is stretched or worn - Unlikely given it's a new bike
Cassette is worn - Unlikely given it's a new bike
Cassette could be loose.
If it's a Q/r axle the hub could be slightly to loose.
Hanger could be bent
Hanger could be loose
Derailleur bolt could be loose
Tooth on the cassette could be bent
Chain could have a tight link
Something stuck in the cassette or or chain
Etc etc
Last edited by combustiblefuel; 07-15-2020 at 09:37 PM.
Any advice on shifting issues for a new (<2 months) bike? I've brought it back to the shop I bought it from 3 times already but it keeps slipping gears on the rear derailleur. Shimano 105, so I was expecting a decent bike... I'm not sure what to do short of watching some YouTube videos and just trying myself...
Squiggs mentioned that it is unlikely, but I can say a worn cassette happened to me.
Bought a new bike last spring, had chain skipping issues on my favorite gears after no more than 10 hours of riding, replaced the cassette and now it’s all good. Hopefully it doesn’t wear out that fast again.
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If you're looking for quieter roads, head south east of the city, towards De Winton, Okotoks and Davisburg.
While I usually just head out from the garage and pick a route, I don't mind throwing the bike in the back of the car, driving 10-15 minutes and finding quieter spots to avoid the crowds. Navigating through Fish Creek on a busy weekend is painful. Especially these days.
This is a fun spot south of city. Narrow bridge over the Bow with a steep little hill afterwards but if you take a right at the top you can go 10km of paved road with next to no cars.
The De Winton area has some nice quieter roads. This route only has a couple kms on a highway and the rest are paved country roads. I'll sometimes park in the Heritage Pointe Shopping Centre and make my way over West. You have to cross Macleod at the lights.
What still strikes me is that people have not yet figured out along the pathway past about Zoo LRT Station, which part is for pedestrians and which is for cyclists/wheeled things. The signs seem pretty obvious. Is there an equivalent to those car traps they use on some bus passage-ways for pedestrians?
Also saw an unusual amount of police out around Prince’s Island and Eau Claire. Are they doing covid-related enforcement or other stuff?
What still strikes me is that people have not yet figured out along the pathway past about Zoo LRT Station, which part is for pedestrians and which is for cyclists/wheeled things. The signs seem pretty obvious. Is there an equivalent to those car traps they use on some bus passage-ways for pedestrians?
Also saw an unusual amount of police out around Prince’s Island and Eau Claire. Are they doing covid-related enforcement or other stuff?
It's been like that for years, there will always be strugglers.
I've been cycling much more regularly the last 3 years. First year, I hit 1000 km, then 1500 km last year, and now I'm on track for ~2000 km. Pretty happy with this but I'm not sure I'll be able to get more annual mileage than this since I also like to spend my time with other activities like the gym/climbing/fishing/hiking etc. Added benefit is that I'm also getting much quicker, with my average speed always being 26 km/h and up.
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I know there was some talk about riding the closed section of the Bow Valley Parkway earlier in the thread, but I just wanted to encourage anyone who has an interest to do it. I just rode it this morning to Castle Junction and back, and it was a ton of fun. Also great for families and less advanced riders as there wasn’t really any tough hills other than one about 15 km in. Otherwise it was just gentle rollers mostly, and the pavement was all good, but probably over half is very new and in excellent shape.
Combine that with no cars and gorgeous views, it’s worth doing this year while it’s closed to vehicles. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Yup, I'm hoping if the do open it to traffic, they make it a one way road for vehicles, and 2 way for cycling in the other lane. There is no good reason to have traffic both ways, other than the rare emergency as an alternate route, and they could do that when required. Though it is super nice to have no vehicles at all. Only drawback is more bear scat to dodge!
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(I'm especially looking at you Ktrain- with all of your exploring.)
I would love to be able to avoid the hill at Lynnview if possible, and I think that would also be encouragement for others to start commuting.
Is this stretch officially complete/open?
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Yup, I'm hoping if the do open it to traffic, they make it a one way road for vehicles, and 2 way for cycling in the other lane. There is no good reason to have traffic both ways, other than the rare emergency as an alternate route, and they could do that when required. Though it is super nice to have no vehicles at all. Only drawback is more bear scat to dodge!
That's actually a brilliant idea! Even if it remained 2-way from Castle Junction to/from Johnston Canyon, and 2 way from Fireside picnic area/trailhead back to TCH; it would be a wonderful 18km stretch with 1 way traffic!
It would probably be harder to achieve for the stretch from Castle Junction to Lake Louise, since Baker Creek Chalets and a campground are smack dab in the middle.
Anyone have any recommendations for a home based bike mechanic? Both of my bikes are sidelined for now, had breakdowns on both on the exact same day! The shops are all a 1-2 week wait for service.
Anyone have any recommendations for a home based bike mechanic? Both of my bikes are sidelined for now, had breakdowns on both on the exact same day! The shops are all a 1-2 week wait for service.
Maybe try a few of the smaller shops? I've heard Pedalhead Skiworks is much easier to get into. https://pedalhead.ca/
