Mountain Biking - Shimano Deore?

Any oppinions on the Shimano Deore derailer. I'm new to the mountain biking... I've been on 20" bmx and flatland for years and this shifting is new to me. I'm havin problems upshifting, just seems like it goes into into the next higher gear rough... kinda like it's skipping some teeth or somethin. I dont use clip ons and everytime this happens my foot slips off and i get my WTB right in the back of my leg! I love my bike (09 Giant Yukon) what would be a good upgrade or does this Deore just need adjusting? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

tighten the cable a little with the barrel adjuster that will make it shift to bigger cogs easier... if you loosen the cable it will shift down the cassette faster.. I can't tell which your having problems with, but it's probably just a fine adjustment that needs to be done..

Just needs adjusting.

# Shift chain to outermost rear sprocket (smallest). Shift chain to outermost (largest) chainring in front.

# Test initial inner wire tension. Pedal a normal cadence and shift rear derailleur with one click on lever. Use care to only move lever one position. If derailleur moves one sprocket, tension is adequate.

# If derailleur fails to shift one sprocket, inner wire may be too slack. Turn barrel adjuster fully into derailleur body (or shift lever) then turn counter clockwise two turns to allow for index adjustments. Loosen inner wire pinch bolt and gently pull on inner wire with fourth hand tool or pliers to remove slack. Tighten inner wire pinch bolt.

# If derailleur will not shift one sprocket after removing slack in "d", return lever back to outermost sprocket position and increase inner wire tension by turning barrel adjuster counter-clockwise 1/4 turn and attempt shift again.

# Shift to second sprocket in rear. Pedal and increase inner wire tension by continuing to turn adjusting barrel counter-clockwise until a definite rattling is heard. Rattle is from chain scrapping against next sprocket.

# Once a too-tight rattle is achieved, turn barrel adjuster 1/4 turn clockwise, to release inner wire tension, and pedal again. Listen and look for signs of scraping or rattling. Continue turning barrel adjuster 1/4 turn clockwise at a time until rattle disappears.

# Shift derailleur one sprocket inward at a time, listening for signs of rattle, indicating a too tight inner wire. Turn adjusting barrel 1/4 turn clockwise to eliminate rattle. Note: Do not attempt shift to largest rear sprocket while in largest front sprocket. This gear is normally not used and adjusting tension to this shift may compromise other commonly used gears.

# Shift to innermost (smallest) chainring and check gears again. If no rattling is present, index adjustment is done.

stolen from park tools

Thanks, that seems to be exactly what i was lookin for. So, is the Deore a descent set up for 50 percent road and 50 percent trail riding?

Sure, it'll be fine.

Deore is right smack dab in the middle of Shimano's ATB lineup. It isn't very light/precise/trick, but it's dead-reliable and will serve you just fine for years if it's tuned and maintained.

As someone else said, just tighten that cable up a bit.

-=rob

If this helps at all. I have XT on my main MTN bike now recently upgraded from LX. My second MTN has a standard Deore. I have had some probs with the LX an XT. I have never had a problem with the Deore, also had it on a previous bike, again never a problem. For it being the bottom line of the good stuff, IMO, it seems to be the most reliable. I also have the shifters and cranks on bikes, again NO PROBLEMS. :thumb:

I rock mostly LX stuff on my geared bike and (sorta a non-sequitur, sorry) my tourbike. It's been ultra-reliable. My fiancee has deore/XT mixed on her hardtail. It ain't got many miles in, but it's dead-on perfect thus far.

I've never had trouble with LX or XT stuff at all, nor with the Deore. I think once you hit Deore, you're dealing with reliable stuff that gets lighter and supposedly more precise as you go up the line, until you hit XTR, where things get ultra-trick but (reportedly) finicky. But, to be honest, i havent tried the new XT, and the lack of a barrel adjuster on the RD makes me wonder if that'd be a h0-bag to deal with.

-rob

Deore is right smack dab in the middle of Shimano's ATB lineup. It isn't very light/precise/trick, but it's dead-reliable and will serve you just fine for years if it's tuned and maintained.

As someone else said, just tighten that cable up a bit.

-=rob

Actually rob, if you go to Shimano's site...Deore is 2nd from the bottom of the "ATB" line.

XTR
Yumeya
Saint
XT
Hone
SLX
Deore LX
Deore
Alivio

yeah, you're right with the current model year stuff. of course, most new bikes at the deore level are running NOS gear. Just a few years back, it was like altus/acera/alivio/deore/lx/xt/xtr. I guess shimano realized that no one's hitting the trails with altus, so there ya go.

These times have alivio hydro discs and what have ya. I reckon i'm too ancient and forgetful to keep up with the current "rankings".

-rob

Actually rob, if you go to Shimano's site...Deore is 2nd from the bottom of the "ATB" line.

XTR
Yumeya
Saint
XT
Hone
SLX
Deore LX
Deore
Alivio

Er there is over lap in there though

No more Hone that was replaced with SLX which also replaced LX which they now lable as a touring group.

Saint = XTR for the gravity crowd. Both are top of the line, both very presion but one built for lightweight and the other for all out strength.

Yumeya is a white and gold upgrade kit to XTR which is puke ugly and way to expensive but there are always bike weenies like Pcad that buy that ****.

I think its really hard to break up Shimano's line up though like I said there is a lot of over lap.

As a relative noob, I can't figure why it seems like a lot of bikes have a good rd and crappy fd or good fd and crappy rd. If cost is an issue is it better to have a good fd or rd? In my case I've got an LX fd and x9 rd....just a curiosity question.

FDs, to me are about the least important part of my bike. I wouldn't say yours is crappy either. A lot of Sram equipted bikes run shimano FDs because they seem to shift better. I think as long as your FD has decent springs, the shifter has more to do with the actual shifting performance.

i suspect that a lot of sram-equipped bikes come with shimano FDs because they have warehouses full of older shimano FDs that'll work fine with the modern drivetrain. So, they use those, rather than spring for new SRAM units. If you look, you'll see that many new bikes at mid to lower price points have components from a few generations back. And, if you're selling the SRAM bike to a SRAM fanatic, they'll still get the 1:1 r.derailer and shifters. To most ppl, the FD is the least important part of the drivetrain.

-rob

I really have no need to do any upgrading as my bike is close to new and I'm not skilled enough yet to be pushing the limits of it yet, but what would ya upgrade first on an 08 stumpy fsr comp if were to get the upgrade bug? My first thoughts would be either the front shifters (stock x7) or the rear hub (stock M525 that I can't find any info on from shimano) I was lookin at the sram site and noticed that nothing past the x7's has the indicator which kinda sucks.

What wheels came stock on your bike? Generally, when one buys a complete bike, he immediately either buys or replaces(if any came on the bike) the pedals. Often, the saddle gets swapped in short order, too. Then, depending on your parts bin and preferences, you might switch out things like handlebars and grips. After you ride it awhile, you might want to start upgrading parts. Typically, i shy away from completes, often because I'm a heavy type of dude, and the stock wheels are usually suspect on all but the priciest completes.

Now, the fact that you're rolling on a m525 hub, I'm willing to bet your wheelset isn't awesome. I would think that, if you HAD to upgrade, you'd start with the wheels, b/c many folks do. Rather than just replacing the rear hub (which would save you some money, but add some hassle), I'd look into getting a new wheelset, complete with a new cassette and rotor. This is never cheap, but it's super worthwhile because it'll give you a spare wheelset. Spare wheelsets rule because they give you the option of switching tires for different conditions. And, obviously, if you trash a wheel at any point, you'll have a spare to get by on while things get fixed/replaced.

I wouldn't worry about upgrading the shifters too much. x7 isn't very bling, but i've spent a little time with them, and i have no legitimate complaints. If you do upgrade, x0 is more pimp, but x9 is way cheaper and 90% as good. I wouldn't worry about the gear indicator. The number is immaterial; you'll know if you're in the right gear or not regardless of what number is indicated.

If your stock wheels are holding up and you're ok with them, i'd just sort of start an upgrade fund and not worry about a new wheelset just yet. If/when you get a new wheelset, think about what you want in your ride, and try to reflect that in your new wheels. You've probably got plenty of time.

-rob

They are cheap for a reason. They work but you will always have to check them and replace them. Not worth it. Sram it.

The wheels are dt swiss 420sl...some model they built for specialized. It's a totally stock stumpy. As for the indicator it's just a convenience more than anything else as to why I like it.