Bicycle Mechanics - Trek 7200 w/ twist shifters-won't go into the small front chainring?

My wifes Trek 7200 won't shift into the small front chainring. Its a new bike with twist shifters and she's put 70-80 miles on it. I'am assuming it needs a FD adjustment and an overall 30 day check which I will be bringing it in for tomorrow. I would like to try and learn how to make the FD adjustment myself though if its something a novice like myself could do. I would still have them check and adjust it at the LBS but is this a repair (FD adjustment ONLY) something easy to do or best left to my LBS? I figure I would like to be able to learn to do some of this routine maint. myself someday perhaps. Thank you!

It's straightforward - basically just turning the high and low screws on the front mech, possibly tightening the cable first (with a new cable I find it's worth doing), and checking that the cage is correctly aligned horizontally and vertically (which with a new bike should be fine). Having said that it's theoretically easy, I seemed to take me a clumsy 20 - 30 mins the first couple of times compared to the bikeshops 30 seconds - but with practice I'm now at the 5 mins stage... :)

Yup, your cables are just stretching a bit, which is normal for a new bike. I would suggest using the barrell adjuster on the cable, or if that's not enough - tighten the cable manually.

I wouldn't mess with the upper and lower limit screws. They are most probably set correctly.

Good luck!

We just purchased a 2006 Trek 7200 for my wife and ran into the same problem with the lower chain ring.
The problem turned out to be the front derailluer movement was impaired by the water bottle cage that was installed after the test ride. It was a simple fix. The cage needed to be bent forward just enough for derailluer clearance. :-)

Front derailleur adjustment is arguably the most sensitive adjustment on the whole bicycle. If you read these forum posts for a while, you will find that is likely the most frequently asked question. Jacking around with the limit screws or with the cable tension might accidentally fix it but it might also create a new problem that will need to be solved to get the bike to operate properly.

After saying all that, front deailleur adjustments are actually pretty easy provided you do everything in the correct sequence. Pull up the Park Tool website and follow their instructions. Start at the very beginning and don't skip any steps.

Personally, though, on a bike that new, My bet is that something like that water bottle cage thing is causing the problem. I'd check that first.

Yup, your cables are just stretching a bit, which is normal for a new bike. I would suggest using the barrell adjuster on the cable, or if that's not enough - tighten the cable manually.



Good luck!A loose cable adjustment. will not affect the shift to the small ring.