Fastfwd01

I am exceptionally pleased to have succeeded in getting my derailleurs back in tip top shape. My bike is really pretty new (2015 Cannondale Synapse 105 with the 5800 groupset), but I've been racking up the miles and the shifting had started turning a little south on me recently. The initial tune-up with the barrel adjusters was of course no biggie, but I suppose that I used up all of the tightening they had over the last few months and developed some issues with my front derailleur throwing my chain over the big ring and being really hard to shift at times. My rear started not shifting into the lowest gear last weekend and it was time to really dig in.

I spent a big part of the day Sunday getting familiar with how it all actually worked - watching Youtube videos and a visiting a few web pages like the Park Tool page getting tips. I didn't know if it was going to ever get straight - it kept not wanting to shift into the highest and lowest on the rear and/or only the highest or lowest. Then the front derailleur needed to be lowered a tad from what I saw on the internet and that was not a super simple task to pull off well. I had to tinker with it back and forth/up and down. It was just a test of patience more than being hard really.

Went for a ride last night and I didn't know what to expect, but it is working flawlessly again. I had almost forgotten how well it can shift when it is working well. Just wanted to share my success with doing it myself and now actually being far more familiar with how it works is a big bonus too!

SteveP223

Good job!

dsbrantjr

Nice work. Just be sensitive to any sudden change in shifting with brifters in general; it could indicate that the wire is fraying inside the brifter. Believe me, you will be a WHOLE lot happier if you catch this before it causes the cable to break; it happens with some frequency and getting the broken-off cable head out is an awful trial.

DTSCDS

Did you buy any new tools for the job?
If I can't rationalize a reason to buy a new bike-related tool for each job I can't call the job a complete success. (I can freely say this here because I know the wife will NEVER see any posting I do on here.)

Bill Kapaun

Once properly adjusted, DER's seldom need any adjusting.
It's probably more of a matter of cleaning/lubing cables and your "adjusting" being a circuitous route that ended up where you started.

rocdoc

Aah, I remember the feeling of first accomplishing this
Yep, watching the videos, reading the books and trying it out is the way to go. The key for me was also learning the order in which to do it, otherwise you chase your tail endlessly. Loosening the cable then aligning H screw, then L, THEN doing the cable tension didn't do it. Tightening the cable changed the alignment, at least for the high gear. So I first align the pulley with the middle cog by adjusting the cable tension; then align high and low, allowing some flexibility here; and don't forget to adjust the B screw to get the pulley close to the largest cog - for some reason it's always had quite a gap on my bikes when they came out of the shop (is this not as important as they say?). The front is a touch easier, you can see where your stopper screws need to be, at least on my 105 (and previous Tiagra). After a first experience with this, I try not to mess with re-aligning the front derailleur, unless really necessary. Hard as hell to get it truly straight and having the chain run parallel on it.
Does anyone do it differently?

berner

The secret of life, the universe and everything else: keep messing with it 'till you get it right. Well done Fastfwd01.

Fastfwd01

I couldn't answer why it seemed to get so out of whack. I tallied it up and I've ridden about 2800 miles on the new bike. Maybe it was to be expected at that mileage IDK. I can't see how anything I did caused the front derailleur to throw the chain though. I never touched it beyond a few twists of the barrel adjuster. The rear appeared to possibly have given all the barrel adjustment it had in it and needed the cable pulled taught and the barrel screwed back in, etc. I did fool around with the stops in the process while questioning why it wouldn't reach high/low, but I believe they are correct again now.

I have an infinitely better understanding of how it works now though. That was probably worth the day spent tinkering with it alone, but having it shifting smooth again and me being the one that fixed it feels pretty good!

Fastfwd01

This... test rode it this week and all seemed well. My very first organized event today - cable broke about 10 miles from the finish. I had a pretty epic average speed personal record going too. I had to finish with 2 gears on a route that had way more climbs if you could call them that than anything I have ever attempted before = not fun! LOL Then while I was distracted by my rear derailleur I hit a HUGE rock in the road and blew my front tire. Including the rain it was not exactly what I had hoped for.

I appreciate the warning. I probably should have looked into it. Now I get to try to figure out how to replace the cable.

Fastfwd01

I also want to say that I got to hear about this post from at least a dozen people at the event that I attended this morning.... I'm really not sure what kind of mental defect it takes to feel compelled to repeat it over and over, but I'm not surprised frankly. Nor was I surprised by the ******** that smarted off when they found out through the grapevine that I my cable broke.

I was simply elated to have managed to get it in seemingly good working order again after spending nearly all day tinkering with it. I thought I might pass along my experience and possibly it would inspire another person to see if they could do the same. It wasn't me boasting of discovering the cure of cancer as you might believe for the way everyone carried on about it.

Looks like I will need to pay more attention to keeping my cables lubed in the future I suppose.

RoadTire 

Typically the only way to throw a chain is the limit screw was not set correctly, allowing the derrailleur moving too far. A common mistake is not setting the limit screws first, then adjusting the cable tension. If your limit screw was not correct to start with, or moved, that would explain what happened. I think an out-of-line FD can also throw a chain, but that's a more complicated outside my scope.

BWT: good job. Nothing like the freedom of working on your own bike.