Bicycle Mechanics - Gear Help!!!

Ok so I was putting tape on my frame and to do that I had to loosen my Deraillurs...I have a felt F85 with a Sora front DR and a Tiagra RD. The problem I am havins is despite following the service manual the gears are messed up. The chain rubs against the inside of the FD, when up shifting and down shifting some gears are skipped on the chain ring, and the list goes on and on. Is there a standard to with Deraillur you should start with to make sure everything is correct? Kepp in mind I am following the service guide for both FD and RD, but it just isn't working right. Can anyone offer any advice or perhaps a good site that explains proper FD and RD setup for a Sora FD and a Tiagra RD?? thanks a lot

Correct me if I am wrong, but your post tells me that your rear derailleur is working properly, so let's concentrate on the front.

The first step is to make sure the mech is properly oriented on the frame. Loosen the clamp SLIGHTLY and rotate the entire mounting bracket until the sides of the cage are precisely parallel to the chainrings. Now set the elevation so that, as the cage shifts onto and off of the large ring, it clears the teeth by about 1 mm. If all you did was to remove and replace the derailleur, it may now suddenly work properly for you. If not, the next step is to set the high and low limit screws so that the cage just clears the chain in the highest and lowest gear combinations, and then to set the cable length, which is trivial if it is friction-controlled, but a bit tricker if it is indexed. (I won't repeat my editorial diatribe against indexed front shifting!)

To try to resolve the gears skipping on the cassette, turn the barrel adjuster a quarter turn clockwise. The barrel adjuster is located at the point where the derailleur cable goes into the derailleur. If that made things a little better go another quarter turn clockwise. If worse, half turn counter clockwise. You get the idea.

I'm assuming you are able to go into your largest cog and go into your smallest cog. There's a different adjustment for that.

Check out the Bicycle Mechanics forum here on BF.com. Open Barnett's Manual and go to derailleurs for more info.

You can also check http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQindex.shtml

You mean to say that you're in CHICAGO and you STILL HAVE GEARS ON YOUR BIKE???? I thought everyone in Chicago rode SS.... :D

I ride way too aggressive to be hooked to my bike like that...I will stick with the straps :)




You mean to say that you're in CHICAGO and you STILL HAVE GEARS ON YOUR BIKE???? I thought everyone in Chicago rode SS.... :D

's OK, i'm all for gears, it's just that the chicago guys are all over the SS / fixie page, I just thought, you know.... ;)