Dave_linux

Hi Guys,

I just bought a cheap new roadbike, a Merida Ride 94.
It's equipped with Shimano 105 Triple shifters, front & rear dérailleur. A KMC x10 chain, Tiagra CS-4600-10 12-28 sprocket and an R563 triple crankset.
All this is factory mounted.
The bike rolls good enough for me but I do have one problem:

Problem: Poor shifting from the rear dérailleur and a noisy (rattling) drive train.
Could this be caused by the Tiagra sprocket? Or is it because the parts are new and needed to get 'used' to each other?
Because I checked cables, chain and correct setup of the dérailleur I'm also thinking about the dérailleur hanger might be out of center.

Any ideas?



thanks

JiveTurkey

By "checked cables," did you mean you adjusted the cable tension so the RD lines up with the correct cog in a given gear?

RPK79

All gears or just some gears?

Dave_linux

Cable tension is adjusted, also min and max movement.
Or it shifts good up and bad down or visa-versa.
When I finetune the tension of the cable, shifting gears improve in up or down, but not both ways.

The rattling sound is continues, sounds like the chain is willing to change a cog, but it doesn't. (a ticking noise, mostly in the same pattern)

hueyhoolihan

might want to check the cassette lockring is tight. if so, the cassette itself may still be loose and need a small (1mm or less) spacer to take up the slack.

fietsbob

You Get it from a shop ? that new they should help at N/C.

Dave_linux

Cassette is tight, I've been told by the mechanic in the shop, to ride for 250miles and then recheck everything. Things have to set themselves to each other.

demoncyclist

wrong- bring it back and have them set it up correctly. It should run smoothly and quietly, and shift to all gears precisely and properly. The cables will bed in over time and need periodic adjustment, which they should do free of charge.

hueyhoolihan

could make a difference, but it should be quiet right from the git-go.

sounds like he or she wants you to go away for a while. too bad it's so difficult to ride 250 miles in one day. otherwise you could have come back later on that day and, if it wasn't any better, asked the mech again!

awfulwaffle 

My full Tiagra drivetrain was great from the start, so methinks that break-in suggestion is baloney. I'd start fresh with RD cable adjustment, reclamping the cable with a tiny bit of slack and shifter set to the smallest cog and tuning it with the barrel adjuster.

Dave_linux

In my case it feels like, for shifting up, I have to press the lever a little further than the click before the selected gear is taken by the chain.
If I give a little more tension to the dr cable, this issue is gone, but the other issue starts.
Shifting down, the chain 'waits' a little time before falling a cog smaller.

For being honest, I would believe it when they told me that a cheap bike has its downs.
But reading above posts, I don't think so anymore.

CACycling

First, that is not a cheap bike. 105 components are very solid and should operate smoothly from the first ride. Lower level cassette adds a bit of weight, not shifting problems. Keep pushing till they get it right.

RPK79

Is the chain on backwards? 5700 chains are unidirectional and the printing should be on the outside.

Dave_linux

It's a KMC X10 Chain

Retro Grouch 

That's what I was thinking. 105/Tiagra equipped is not a cheap bike. It should work smoothly and quietly from the start.

My guess is it just needs a little tuneing including checking the derailleur hanger alignment.

Retro Grouch 

That sounds like hanger alignment to me. The cogs on 10 speed cassettes are so closely spaced that hanger alignment has to be pretty close to spot-on for the indexing to work properly.

Camilo

I agree that it's unacceptable for the shop to let a bike that shifts that poorly out of the shop. They should be perfectly happy to have you come in and adjust it for you. Don't ask for permission, just bring it in. The "break in" period almost all has to do with what they call "cable stretch" which is really not stretch, but just the cable housings settling into their contact points. A well built bike should have this taken care of before it leaves the shop and therefore little or no "cable stretch". So that 250 mile BS is just BS. It should be good from the get-go and it's extremely poor customer service that they're showing.

Also- ANY Shimano group should function very satisfactorily, and probably perfectly if installed and adjusted properly. Doesn't matter if it's Dura Ace or Tiagra or Sora. Seriously. The stuff you have (105) is not only not "cheap" it is actually considered perfectly acceptable racing-grade equipment. It is as good as anythign you can get in terms of pure function. Maybe just not finished as well, as lightweight or maybe a miniscule amount rougher in movement (probably not though).

Both things they've told you are nonsense.

dsbrantjr

A derailleur needing a different RD cable adjustment for shifting up vs down sounds like either a bent hanger or friction due to something like poorly-installed cable housing. Neither should be acceptable on a new bike. This should not be your problem to figure out, and the shop telling you to let it wear in is BS. Keep after the shop until they fix it. A properly installed and adjusted 105 group should shift like butter.

Kimmo 

This is 10s 105 with the external shift cables, right? They don't go under the tape?

What's the quality of the cables like? Shimano's 10s gear is fussy.

If you shoot a few pics, we might be able to spot something amiss.

That's baloney. It's a line customers should hear pretty much only when mixing new parts with worn parts.

A lot of mechanics fail to realise they can bed-in housing ferrules in the shop, and expect the customer to do it as they ride and put the bike out of adjustment, necessitating another visit... if the gear cables are pe-stressed, some settling will still occur, but an order of magnitude less; maybe a 1/4 turn's worth. Folks who know how to bed-in shifting systems may still tell you to give it a chance to settle in, but if so it's more CYA than anything.

At any rate, a new bike should work perfectly straight off, perhaps needing some very slight adjustment after a week or two.

gsa103

If its a new bike, it would be 5700 which is internally routed. Have the shop fix it. It should take the <5 min on a work stand.

Delmarva

Go back and find the owner of that shop and tell him you want either your bike fixed, a replacement bike that works or a full refund. As everyone else has noted Shimano components should work perfectly from the first ride if set up correctly. There is no wearing in of components to make it shift correctly.

jimincalif

What others have said. Last time I adjusted my RD I could get it close, but not perfect. Turns out the hanger was tweaked. My LBS had a tool to measure this and align it, took just a few minutes and now shifting is perfect and it is quiet.

Kimmo 

If it's 5700 it could be poorly-routed gear housing under the tape, which might explain why the shop doesn't want to know...

rydabent

Take it back to the shop. If everything is new and tight, it should shift just fine with no noise. And yes maybe after 250 miles the shift cable may have to be adjusted for cable stretch and housing wear, but that is no big deal. Just turning the shift adj on the shifter or on the RD should take care of any small stretch and wear in.

Chain noise because of poor adjustment is hard on the chain, and causes sprocket wear.

mconlonx

Ask the shop for a new bike cable tune and could they please check the derailleur hanger adjustment. Don't be demanding or a jerk about it. You might have to leave it with them for the day, depending on their work load. Expect that performance will drop off within the first couple hundred miles and then bring it back in for another quick, free cable tension adjustment.

If the shop balks at this kind of service, find another shop and buy your next bike there.

When they sold you the bike, what kind of service did they offer with the sale?