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whats your take on barrel adjusters?

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whats your take on barrel adjusters?

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Old 10-26-14, 09:55 PM
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whats your take on barrel adjusters?

i have a couple on my CAAD10. I'm not sure why i'd need one on the rear derailleur since it has one built in. the front makes a bit more sense. still, i can't remember touching it.

whats your take on barrel adjusters? if you're in favor, whats your favorite kind?
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Old 10-26-14, 10:16 PM
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I gather you're asking about inline adjusters, and will answer accordingly.

I want some kind of adjuster on both derailleurs and brakes. If there's none on the lever or business end, then I use an inline of one kind or another.

As to brand preferences, I try to stay neutral. To me it's about what works and the price/value, and not much else.
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Old 10-26-14, 10:33 PM
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Same.

The inline adjusters are handy when you're out doing a shake down cruise and you need to tweak your RD. Obviously they're even more useful for the FD. But sure, once you get them set you probably won't touch them again for a long time.
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Old 10-27-14, 07:33 AM
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I always shake my head at new bikes that don't have adjusters. The added cost is so minimal on a new bike, given the OEM and volume pricing a manufacturer gets, maybe a buck or two each. Andy.
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Old 10-27-14, 07:38 AM
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Inline are especially useful if you swap wheels from time to time so you can micro adjust while riding.
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Old 10-27-14, 07:45 AM
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Been Friction shifting for decades.. Without an indexed shifting derailleur drive train they are un necessary to me..
those bikes and parts are not new..


my newer bikes are IGH..(3 & 14 speed) so not applicable to the topic at hand.


STI needs them . you should have had them on there somewhere . frame stop/downtube shifter conversion pieces?
if those are installed , they came that way . 1 per each side.

if none on the frame get Inline ones, to go in the length of housing.. your Cannondale dealer offer suggestions?

did you ask?

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Old 10-27-14, 07:57 AM
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A few years ago I bought a bike that had derailleur adjusters on the brifters, in-line adjusters on the cables, and even an adjuster on the rear derailleur. The strange thing was that it didn't have any adjusters on the brakes. I almost think they assembled the bike incorrectly.

I'd get the bike to shift properly but in a few weeks or even days it would start missing shifts again. Finally I replaced the derailleur cables and housings which got ride of the in-line adjusters. The bike shifts like a dream now.
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Old 10-27-14, 08:11 AM
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Originally Posted by mattkime
I'm not sure why i'd need one on the rear derailleur since it has one built in.
It's nice to be able to adjust without stopping. I find that after changing cables or on rides with a big temperature swing a quarter or half turn is sometimes necessary and with the down tube adjusters I don't even have to take my eyes off the road let alone stop and fiddle with the RD.
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Old 10-27-14, 08:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Andrew R Stewart
I always shake my head at new bikes that don't have adjusters. The added cost is so minimal on a new bike, given the OEM and volume pricing a manufacturer gets, maybe a buck or two each. Andy.
+1
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Old 10-27-14, 04:11 PM
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I like to have barrel adjusters to simplify setup but I only need one per cable. The only bike in the fleet with more than one was my kid's cross bike which had one on the rear derailleur and an inline adjuster in the cable, which actually made it worse since the inline adjuster broke the smooth curve of the cable run from the lever to the top tube cable stop. We took it out during the first cable change and shifting immediately improved. I think Focus may have gone a bit overboard with their cable accessories since in addition to the extra barrel adjuster all the top tube cable stops had rubber boots to keep out water and the brake cables were Teflon coated.
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Old 10-27-14, 05:08 PM
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They're a great idea.

Originally Posted by mattkime
i have a couple on my CAAD10. I'm not sure why i'd need one on the rear derailleur since it has one built in.
It lets you adjust cable tension with one hand while riding which is important because bikes shift a little differently at pedaling speeds than on the stand and you may want to swap wheels without going through the trouble of mounting your bike on a stand for adjustment.

if you're in favor, whats your favorite kind?
Down-tube shifter boss mounted.
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Old 10-27-14, 06:19 PM
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Like a few others have said they allow you to fine tune while riding.
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Old 10-28-14, 06:26 AM
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Originally Posted by CharlyAlfaRomeo
It's nice to be able to adjust without stopping.
Used to be that older bikes had adjustable doohickeys at the cable stops, which were add-ons where the downtube shifter mounts used to be. Then engineers asked "Why?" and did away with downtube shifter mounts in favor of lighter cable stops. And also kept them in jobs when bike mfgs then asked them for user adjustable gizmos since they'd just ditched the conventional adjustment system. So engineers invented in-line cable adjusters...

Minimum for indexed systems, you need an inline cable adjuster for front shifter; if you want to be able to adjust shifting on the fly, you are also better served with a cable adjuster for the rear shifter as well.
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