Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Clyde Commute

I commuted to work on my bike for the first time today. Actually, I only rode about half of the 8 miles distance...the beginnng and the end. My rear derailer was skipping on the middle rings, and I am not comfortable yet adjusting the drive train.

My legs feel pretty good, and I am anxious to actually ride the entire way.

Good for you. I took today off but generally ride when the weather is dry... I haven't figured out how to do the rain thing yet, which has been an issue for the past few weeks around here.

Adjusting the derailleur is EEEEEEASY. Seriously, if you can read and use a screwdriver, you can do it.

Hang in there and you'll be riding in regularly in no time.

Nice work. Commuting changed my life and I'm not just saying that. I put on my headphones ( a no no but worth the risk to me because i can't live with out rock and roll :-) and just enjoy that early morning air. Those lbs just melted off since June. When I reach my goal this summer (that's right WHEN) I will have lost 80 lbs.

I know it is easy, but the bike is less than 2 months old, and it is only out of adjustment on the middle cogs in the freewheel.

The way I look at it: 5 minutes to do it yourself, 30+ minutes to get it to the LBS and wait for them to do it. Easy decision.

Have you been to bicycletutor.com? :)

I watched the derailer video and adjusted myself out of some of the smaller cogs. I took it to the bike shop as I couldn't adjust it back.....they said it was close, a half a turn.

I picked up the screwdriver as there was a vibration in the smaller ones that I wanted to get out. After the shop, it was still there (I could feel the vibration in the pants and my feet) and loosened the 3rd screw and it went away. :D

There was much rejoicing.

You can do it, it will take some time, a large open space (preferably flat) and a screwdriver. You might even be able to do it at lunch, do you have a parking garage at work? The top of that might be ideal.

If the bike is only 2 months old it is probably what people call "cable stretch", actually housing ends bedding into their positions. This is fixed by unscrewing the barrel adjuster 1/4 turn at the point where the shifter cable enters the rear derailler.

I'd agree that you prob just need to tweak the barrel adjuster slightly...

congratz on the 1st time commute... I've been looking for a job for a while now and just started this week and hoped to commute... even built a bike up for it... unfortunately their idea of a safe place for a bike is on a rack outside the store... so i just picked up an old ugly MTB :)... some slicks, a tune up, and a big U lock and i'll be ready to roll :)

anyway... another good place for some instructions on tweaking your bike is parktools.com assuming you have even a rudimentery mechannical understanding you can figure most anything out.

Yeah, it was cable stretch, and it was an excuse to go into my LBS. I wanted to talk to them about replacing the 30T front inner cog with something smaller...like 26T.

Did the full ride today. 9.14miles. Supposed to be cold and 30 mph winds this evening, though.

Good job on the commute. Keep it up.

Yeah, it was cable stretch, and it was an excuse to go into my LBS. I wanted to talk to them about replacing the 30T front inner cog with something smaller...like 26T.

What's your front derailleur? I ask, because 30t is typically the inner on a road triple, and the gap from inner to outer on most stock configurations is usually the max number of teeth the fd can handle. (30/39/50 = 20t difference.)

It is a stock Allez, so it has Tiagra on it. The spread is 50/39/30. I realize that going smaller will probably exceed the capacity of the FD. However, Sheldon Brown states that it should not be a problem, due to the fact that you never shift up to the inner ring, you only shift down to it.

I will probalby upgrade the derailleurs and brifters before too terribly much loner. Probably towards the end of the summer.

I commuted to work on my bike for the first time today. Actually, I only rode about half of the 8 miles distance...the beginnng and the end. My rear derailer was skipping on the middle rings, and I am not comfortable yet adjusting the drive train.

My legs feel pretty good, and I am anxious to actually ride the entire way.

Adjusting the dérailleur for skipping gears is very easy, as the cable housings settle into position the cables effectively get longer. If you look at where the cable enters the dérailleur there is a device called a barrel adjuster. This is a screw that the cable goes through, the housing is held back by the end of the adjuster. On new bikes the adjuster, some bikes also have one by the shifter should be screwed almost all the way in. Unscrew it by ¼ turn, go for a ride, if the noise is still there, but less, unscrew by another ¼ turn. If the noise is worse, you turned it the wrong way. It's easiest to adjust this from the position where the cable is slack (either the highest or lowest gear), otherwise there is tension on it, making it hard to turn.

If it's really off, then the cable may need to be reset, but if your not sure of what your doing, get the shop to do it. I need to do this to mine, a job for tomorrow.... Essentially you set it in the gear with the cable slack, then undo the cable where it goes into the dérailleur, reset the barrel adjuster(s) pull the cable taut but not tight, then start again, this is rare though. Most often this is done when replacing either the cable or dérailleur ( if replacing a dérailleur I always replace the cable as well ). I was goofing with mine due to the fact the chain was done and it wasn't shifting well, and now that the chain is replaced, it's way off.