Steve McGovern

I'm new to biking (well, I biked as a kid, and a bit in college, but never adjusted anything.) After a couple trips to a couple incompetent bike shops, I now have new front rings, cranks and derailer. The adjustments were way off, so I tried it myself, based on the bicycletutor videos. RD can still stand some tuning, but FD is really annoying. I can't use my small chainring. In fussing with the lower limit stop screw, I got it to the point where sometimes I can't shift from 2 to 1, and sometimes it shifts too far, and the chain comes off. I can't figure out how that could happen! Only clue is that often when the chain comes off, I'm shifting both front and rear at the same time. That's okay, right?

Bike is a 1995 Univega Activa Country hybrid, 3x7.

Al1943

No, you should not shift the front and the back at the same time. This often throws the chain.
A good way to learn derailleur adjustments (and other stuff) is to use the instructions found at https://www.parktool.com. Do all of the steps in proper sequence leaving nothing out.

Al

maka1

hello, i did this today where I had trouble going from 2-1 as well. first thing you should adjust is the angle of the derailer cage. Make sure it is aligned correctly which did the trick for me personally. good luck