Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - what did I do to my drivetrain?

...in a hurry, but I thought maybe you fine folks might be able to point me in a direction or two.

I was cleaning my 18-speed Miyata two nights ago because I'd gone through some mud, and also it was really dusty from limestone trails. I cleaned the frame, and cleaned and re-lubed the chain, cassette, and chainrings. But ever since I did that, the drivetrain is acting funny. I usually only use the middle chainring and shift between the highest four out of six gears available from there. In the lowest two of those four gears, and especially in the lowest one, the bike is acting really mushy and the drivetrain is squeaking and creaking. When I shift up one gear, the problem lessens quite a bit, and on the highest two I don't seem to notice it at all.

I tried using the other two chainrings last night, and the problem was similar--the lower gears are creaky. It almost feels like the cranks are loose or something, but then it goes away in higher gears.

I didn't knock the bike over or anything, or use much force, so I'm not sure what I knocked out of alignment. The only "mistake" I made was this: when I was taking excess lube off the chain with a towel, I was turning the cranks backward and accidentally sucked the cloth I was using into the cassette for a moment. It wasn't very hard, though. I stopped and lifted the bike up a touch and pedaled forward to get it back out. I don't see any bits of cloth or any teeth bent anywhere, and I looked really carefully for that.

What should I check first for fixing this? This is my first bike with a derailer--the other bikes I've been on have IGHs.

Sounds like cable tension. Make sure the cable ends are properly seated in their stops and at the shifter. Rear derailers only have 2 adjustments (not counting the screw on the drop out) that matter: Cable tension and travel limits. Read up on adjustments at Sheldon's or the Park Tool website... Or go to the LBS for a tune up.

I may well have turned the little adjuster toward the end of where the cable goes into the rear derailer while I was cleaning...does this sound like it's too loose or too tight? I read Sheldon's tips, and I'm not clear which direction I should try adjusting first.

It was running totally smooth before I cleaned it two days ago. So much for my maintenance skills, ha ha!

Try turning the adjuster 1/4 turn at a time. IF it get's worse, go the other direction. Keep track of where you started in case neither direction works.

there are some hlepful videos on the web as well. the only way to know if you are going the right or wrong way is to adjust it a little at a time.

JOE

If it is creaky, then it may be rubbing on the next sprocket. Shift into one of the rear sprockets that is giving you trouble and look at how the derailleur lines up underneath of it. Is the chainline straight down, is the cage slightly closer to the wheel than it should be, or is it slightly farther away from the wheel than it should be.

If it is too close to the wheel, then the derailleur cable needs to be tightened by turning the barrel adjuster counter-clockwise if you are looking from the back of the bike. Otherwise, turn it clockwise to loosen the derailleur cable and bring the hanger closer to the wheel.

See if this helps.

http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-rear-derailleur

Here is a good video for rear derailleur adjustment

thanks for all of the help! I just messed around with it and got it back to normal. It was the cable--I must've thoughtlessly turned it a few times--amazing what a difference that makes!

LOL Good job! Knowing how to fine tune your shifters means your bike will always run with the precision of a Swiss watch. Every cyclist can learn how to adjust their shifters and brakes and doing so makes you more "one with the bike". :)

LOL Good job! Knowing how to fine tune your shifters means your bike will always run with the precision of a Swiss watch. Every cyclist can learn how to adjust their shifters and brakes and doing so makes you more "one with the bike". :)

One thing to note though, if it gets impossible to adjust your shifters properly, then there can be a couple of problems, check your chain for stretch, if it has more then 3,500 km (2,100 miles) on it, then it might be a good idea to swap it out anyway, If the bike has fallen on the right side, then the dérailleur hanger may be bent, steel or TI ones can be bent back, AL ones need to be replaced, I don't know if CF bikes use CF hangers or not, but they would be more likely to break then bend anyway. One good way of protecting the hanger, is if you use a single pannier, put it on the right side, if the bike falls over, the pannier will hit first, and the hanger will not get as easily damaged.

I find every couple of years a good thing to do, is replace the cables, which is another easy task, and redo the adjustments from scratch. This way your less likely to have an elderly cable snap on you, for those of us fortunate enough to have an off season, this is the perfect time to replace cables, brake pads, chains, and other stuff. I replace brake pads annually, whether they are still usable or not, cables and chains every couple of years. I'm replacing brake pads, cables,, chain, cassette, rear tire this winter..... I have about 3 months, so it should be easy:D

I can't believe no one has asked the most important question here, what Miyata do you have!:D

I have a One Ten that is awaiting a full rehab on some rainy day, or two. Entry level to say the least, but at least the stable has one of the Marque!

Have any pics of the bike? Miyata is well known in the C&V world, but I'm not sure they get their just due outside of that. They are well built machines, and a joy to ride.

Congrats on your first DR adjustment. Sheldon's site and biketutor have some really great info on these types of adjustments. Once you have the brake and dérailleur adjustments down, your only thing left to do is learn to re-grease your bearings and you will save the tune up fee on your bike! It can lead to an OCD type affliction with tinkering though, lol.

It's an '88 615.

I'm learning. I have brake adjustments more or less down, and tire/tube changes, of course. And I can do minor adjustments to IGHs. And now (very minor) adjustments to derailers.

I can't do spokes and wheel truing--that's a skill I'd love to have, but realistically I'm going to leave that up to experts.

Oh yeah, a picture for txvintage. I think it's floating around elsewhere on BF, but here it is again:

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r378/Shinyville/IMG_1639.jpg

Very nice!!!

Glad your adjustment came out ok :thumb:

A very nice example indeed!

How do you like the Bio Space chain rings? Sheldon applauds them for bad knees. I have a set of doubles that I'm tempted to try on an older bike.

I don't feel like I've ridden enough "normal" road and touring bikes to say how they compare. The BioPace is all I've ridden more than a block other than internal hub bikes. The rings/crank are in excellent shape, though, and it feels very smooth.

If I backpedal the bike and watch, I can see how the rings aren't round, but I can say that I don't feel it pedaling. I've taken the bike on a few medium-length rides of 2 or 3 hours, and it's very comfortable. I'd say try 'em out, for sure.

I really did miss the boat on derailers my whole adult life. When I started biking again about 4 years ago, I went with IGH bikes. Back when I was a teenager, I did freestyle stuff on 20'' singlespeeds (I still have an '87 Predator Free Form Pro somewhere, too). So it's a new experience for me. I got this Miyata used about a month or so ago.

Miyata is one of the premier Japanese bikes ever made. The touring bikes are highly sought after, especially the 1000.

My One Ten was a throw in on another deal, and was missing both dérailleurs, needed new cables , new tires, etc etc. I have everything to rebuild it, but it's down the list so to speak. I've thought about keeping either it or the 1978 Panasonic Sport 1000 I got with it for an around town/bad weather bike. If I were a "Fixtie" type of guy, the One Ten would be an ideal platform to start with. I like my dérailleurs too much though.

Both were supposed to be flippers, but they seem to hang around I never get around to posting an add, lol.

I think the 105 bio space cranks would go with the rest of the group quite well on that Miyata One Ten.

I had heard about the reputation of the Miyata touring bikes--that's why I pulled the trigger on this one. I've heard that some people prefer the 615 to the 1000, too. The components are supposed to be better on the 1000, but the frame is supposed to be a little more stable on the 615. It's probably a really subtle frame difference, though.

Ironically, there was a guy with a 70s Panasonic lugged steel in my elevator at work this morning! Same maroon-ish color as mine. That was funny.