Road Cycling - Alright, whats wrong with my shifting!

Ok, I took my Bianchi in to get the "sloppy shifting" looked at. I have Ultegra components - so Im thinking the performance should be better than it is right now. First thing I did a month ago was take the chain off and cleaned it - the pin did come out completely - could this be the problem? Anyways, I lubed the chain with white lightening. The shifting still had a sloppy feel to it. Going from one gear to the next, it will make a clunk and grab on - not very smooth, almost like I tossing the chain onto the gears and it grabs that way. Sometimes attempting to shift to the big cog in back - going up a climb, I shift and it comes back into the gear I had it in - I really have to hold the shifter to get it to stick. So the bike shop adjusted (apparently) the front and back derailers - but its still the same this week. Do I need to look at lubing the derailer hinge points? Is the chain bad? Any ideas?

Sounds like your cable housing is contaminated. Been doing any riding in wet conditions? How about dirty conditions?

To start, remove the cable loose from the derailleur and shift with one hand and hold the loose cable in the other. Is the motion smooth or rough? Try removing the cable completly and checking for any grit or grime (usually more at either end, but even more so at the derailleur.). Use some wet lube like Tri-Tech or Finish Line Cross Country and drip some into the housing. Wipe off the cable and then insert it. Run it through, move it back and forth and the remove it, wipe it down again, drip more oil, ....repeat until cable moves smoothly. If you cannot get it smooth, replace both cable and housing!

Replacing your cables will make significant improvements for not a lot of $$$$$. Doing this on a yearly basis wouldn't be a bad idea if you ride a lot in bad conditions!

Good Luck
L8R

I second that. What you describe is caused by dirty cables and casings 99.9% of the time. Lubricating the pivot points on the derailleurs will eliminate the other .1%.

Regarding your chain, since you have Ultegra, you probably have a hyperglide chain (unless it was replaced). For hyperglides, you have to remove the pin and replace it with a new one (you did, right? If not, that would be a bad thing).

As far as smooth shifting, clunking and whatnot aren't unusual, especially when shifting to a smaller cog. But it should shift cleanly, i.e. if you move your lever 1 click, the chain jumps one cog. If you get grinding or "autoshifting," that's a problem.

If the problem just occurs on your lowest gear, you might need tweak your low limit adjustment a little to let the derailleur move closer to the spokes. Careful not to overdo it. (I'm assuming you aren't shifting onto your largest cog while on the big chainring.)

I adjust my Ultegra rear derailleur this way:
Flip the bike or put in a workstand, shift onto the small chainring
Drop to the smallest cog (highest gear)
Without turning the cranks, push rear shifter 1 click
Now, rotate cranks. Chain should shift one cog cleanly by 1/2 rotation (actually less, but will take longer with a triple)
After shifting, spin the cranks and ensure the chain's not rubbing... trying to change to another gear
Adjust and repeat if it is
Repeat for each cog until you're on the largest
Now, repeat the process shifting to smaller cogs one cog at a time
Again, each shift should be clean, one cog only, no post shift rubbing. Remember, don't rotate the cranks until after you've shifted.
When you've done them all and adjusted to your liking, shift to the big(ger) chainring and repeat the whole process. (Including the big-big combination...this one may not shift as cleanly)
Keep repeating the whole process until you can go through all cog/chainring combinations without making any adjustments.

Then, take if for a test ride. You will probably still have to tweak things a little. Use small increments, like 1/8 turns. If I remember right, looking from the back of the bike towards the front, turning the top of the barrel adjuster towards the wheel will tighten the cable, i.e. make derailleur shift toward the spokes quicker, and vice versa. So turn the adjuster the direction the shifting needs to be adjusted!

Basic bike maintenance books (~$20) cover this and have pictures. :D

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Okay, Im trying to absorb all this. The first thing, the bike has not hardly seen any rain at all. Its very very clean, you could almost say it looks new. The second, I did not replace the pin that was taken all the way out!! I thought I might be able to get around this? Im new to the maintence thing, however my 20 dollar bike book did mention this needed to be replaced if the pin came all the way out. So my question is, what affects will this have on my bike - can I ride it home tonight? Could this be part of the problem? thanks

Ok, I know now the problems I could face with the bad pin = broken chain? I will have that fixed. Any other thoughts?

So, the derailleur adjustment didn't work? This one's over my head. Good luck.

how many miles are on the bike with that present chain?!

I have about 1000 miles on it. I guess the shifting is not terrible, but not as good as when it was new. Shouldnt it be able to perform as it was originally?

Although 1,000 miles isn't a terrible amount, I'd also suggest replacing the chain and, as previously suggested, the cables.

While you're replacing the chain check the cassette for wear, too, and give it a good cleaning - which is much easier if you remove it from the hub.

Also, you may want to clean and lube the rear der while you're at it. Road grime and chain lube gums up all parts of the drivetrain and can make shifting sluggish.

Which part of the rear and front derailleurs should you lube?

Bent derailleur?