cicatrize

I really think it's a combination of things. The newer 1.1's look a lot better than the 2013 I had, which came with Shimano 2300 shifters, FD, and RD, but also had that Corsa crank, which I never liked. The FD on lower end Shimano components are usually pretty junky, IMO. They're loud, need frequent adjustments, and the trim levels aren't very good. Personally, mine was so bad the chain kept falling off the crank if I shifted under a small load. The RD is also loud, slow, and not very precise.

Not to say the bike sucks (it doesn't), but these are things you just have to deal with when a bike has the low-end stuff. Aside from that, the mechanic at the bike shop might not be adjusting your derailleurs properly...or your shifting isn't as smooth as you think it is, or both. Or all three.

2manybikes

It still is not clear to me, do you always soft pedal when you shift? Sounds like you do not. You need to do it all the time, do not shift when accelerating hard or going up a hill with power still on the pedals. Under hard pedaling force this could even keep the bike from shifting even after you moved the shift lever. Then it would shift when you pedal softly.

thefredelement

I can deal with that, I think when I first got it I thought I spent a lot of money on a bike, now I realize it's not a lot of money at all, then I put a few hundred miles on it and I start noticing all of these little things. Hopefully I can get it to be the best that it can be while I become better at cycling at the same time. I guess that defines entry level, I just wish it didn't feel or sound like entry level.

I think I mostly shift good, I'm going to have to pay more attention to it. I've never shifted going uphill because I always shift down before the hill but when I'm going flat and trying to go faster I may still have some pressure coming down on the pedals.

2manybikes

I took me a long time to remember to ease up on the pedal when shifting at the end of a long ride when I am very tired. I even shifted going up hill, but not intentionally.

Some front derailleurs have a "trim" adjustment, meaning you can move it just a little without shifting when the chain is at the extreme end of the rear cassette. If you have a scratching sound it may be the chain is at an angle and rubbing the front derailleur. Some derailleurs do not have this feature.

Also, you need to hold the shift lever over until after the chain shifts on some bikes. This is another thing I used to forget to do when I was really tired. I've been doing it for so long it is now automatic, but, we were all newbies at one time.

69chevy

I have a lot of experience with these bikes.

Another poster mentioned the chainrings. I personally have seen the chainrings become bent (out of true). If the LBS doesn't look at it, they will pull their hair out trying to figure out the problem.

If they are bent, a 105 crank + BB is a fairly cheap, but very good upgrade.

I'd get the factory stuff fixed under warranty and sell the crank on fleabay to recover some of the upgrade cost.

Inpd

I have the exact same groupset as the OP (Claris) and let me reassure you though they are inexpensive they are not cheaply made.

I've ridden bikes with Dura/105/Tiagara FD/RD and though not whisper quiet as these the Claris groupset is very quiet and nothing like what the OP describes.

My understanding from this forum is that the major difference b/w the groupsets is weight, sensitivity and durability.

cicatrize

Yeah, that was me. I mentioned I didn't like it, and that's exactly why. The ring bent multiple times. Instead of upgrading it though, I just got a new bike this year instead.

thefredelement

Is this something that is easily bent back? I can't check on the bike until later. I'm not thrilled with the idea of replacing something that's not three months old.

69chevy

No, it is not easily bent back. It is easy to check. Spin the crank backwards and note the gap at the outside plate of the FD. If you can see it opening and closing the gap as you turn it, it is bent. If you can't see the gap size change, I'd still have your LBS check it. It doesn't have to be bent much to graze the FD as the bent portion passes during the pedal stroke.

If it is bent, your LBS should warranty it.

If you don't want to replace it, ride the warranty part.

One of the resaons your bike was so affordable, is that it comes with a low grade crankset.

EGBigelo

I had a Claris groupset on my Trek CrossRip that I sold. Always had issues with it jumping gears when under load, but only when in certain gears. I loved the bike and how it felt, but not the components.

Juan Foote

Wow, I don't know what all that discussion was about. Based on the posting of this in "Road" and the headline/question, the answer is BOTH.
/endthread

motorthings

another idea is to take the bike back to where you bought it, have them put it in a trainer, hop on, and recreate the shifting noises/issues. that way you can determine together how much is your technique, how much are the components, and how much is adjustment needed.

Motolegs

[QUOTE=69chevy;18111489]I have a lot of experience with these bikes.

Another poster mentioned the chainrings. I personally have seen the chainrings become bent (out of true). If the LBS doesn't look at it, they will pull their hair out trying to figure out the problem.

If they are bent, a 105 crank + BB is a fairly cheap, but very good upgrade. [QUOTE]

Yep! I never got around to bending the chainrings on mine. They came pre bent. New bike, special order. Not ridden except for me. Interestingly the warranty set that they replaced it with was (is) Shimano 2300, IMHO the set it should have come with. The bike and I are living happily ever after.

Important note to the OP- not all wrenches in your LBS will have the same skill level. As an official Trek store, there is likely a highly skilled mechanic around there. Bang on the restroom door to get him/her out if you have to! (The first guy in my case tried to bend the faulty part back into place using some medieval looking instrument. It didn't work.)

thefredelement

[QUOTE=Motolegs;18113186][QUOTE=69chevy;18111489]I have a lot of experience with these bikes.

Another poster mentioned the chainrings. I personally have seen the chainrings become bent (out of true). If the LBS doesn't look at it, they will pull their hair out trying to figure out the problem.

If they are bent, a 105 crank + BB is a fairly cheap, but very good upgrade. Thank you for the tip, the big ring looks like it's OK though it felt like it was making my eyes get crossed when looking at it lol.

I took the bike out for a 25 mile ride this AM and it bounced out of gear three times and once from a start, so I had rode, stopped for about a minute - just standing with the bike between my legs - then started again and it popped right out of gear. Also it has some kind of noise that got progressively worse as the ride went on. I went with a friend who thinks something is wrong as well, he's not too into the mechanics of riding but said it doesn't sound right (he has a lot of experience riding).

So back it goes, hopefully they get it right for now so I can read and watch more videos in the mean time to take care of it myself. I'm going to ask them to leave ti there today so they can give it a thorough once over, I think since I'm covered they are trying to get me out of there in a hurry without spending a lot of time on me.

Blue Belly

When I first got back into the game about 10yrs ago, I bought the same type of bike. It hAd the usual upgradable components. Obviously the cost of the lower rung components are priced that way for good reason...they are put together at a lower cost/with cheaper parts. As I upgraded the components , part by part, things began to improve. Less noise, better shifting, longer lasting parts which also weighed less. But, even with this, things like cables, bearings & chains take a Little time to break in. They may need a quick once over to be readjusted. If your lbs can't help you with that, don't buy from them. Keeping the good guy in business is the point of this whole exersize.

Shuffleman

Talk about a bull in a china shop. Nobody reacts well to somebody who goes nuclear on them right off the bat. Telling them that you are posting bad reviews is not going to get them so suddenly see things your way. It is going to create a hostile relationship that is not mutually beneficial.
OP, it may be you and it may be the shop. It is really hard to tell based on the info that we have received. The Trek 1.1 is a good bike. You did not buy a "pos" so put that thought out of your mind. If I were you, I would simply take the bike to a different shop and have them look at it. Don't tell them about another shop looking at it. Let them look at it with a fresh pair of eyes and from a fresh perspective. If they fix the issue, than you know that it was the previous LBS. If they say that all is fine, than you know that it is your riding style that is causing the issue. You will have preserved your relationship with the other shop because you did not go postal without the facts. Once you have the facts, you know how to proceed in a reasonable and professional fashion.

JohnJ80

I'm not sure what component group you have, but many FD's have a trim position in the shifters. So when you are approaching max cross chaining, you give it a half click and it stops rubbing.


You should always back off when you shift. It's not that you keep pedaling, it's that you unload the chain for that instant while you shift. The shift will be almost silent when done properly. You're most powerful muscles are in your legs. The RD just has that little spring to move it. Give it a break when you shift.

Not necessarily. The more angle on the chain, the more noisy it will be. It's going to be noisier on the larger chain ring than the smaller one.

Lube is also a big issue. Many lubes start to get noisy after 100 miles. The better lubes after about 300. Some outliers like Chain-L can go 1000. Go get some Rock n Roll Gold lube - it will also clean your chain - It should last about 300 miles and the chain is really almost silent just after being lubed. There is a big difference between lubes (i.e. Friction Facts reports) and there is a big difference in the silence of drive chains after using lubes. I'm sort of a lube fanatic and I *love* a silent drive train. My favorite lubes and those that are some of the best in the Friction Facts report are the Rock n Roll lubes. They seem to last the longest for me and they yield an absolutely silent drivetrain. Also, they help clean the chain (you use more as a result but it's way easier than using a chain cleaner) so it's easier to get grit out of the chain. Grit can generate a lot of noise too.

I'm betting that you haven't lubed enough in general. At 350 miles, you probably would have had to do this about 3 times to keep it as quiet as possible from a lube perspective especially if you are using a lube that doesn't last as long as some of the other ones.

If there is a rubbing sound in the RD or the shifting is stuttering when on the stand, then it's an adjustment. If it's not doing it in the stand but when you ride it, then it's probably you and it's technique in shifting or gear selection are the likely culprits.

What do you mean by "built speed fast" and how are you saying this is part of the problem? I'm not understanding this. What exactly do you mean by "stuttered"?

Doubt this has anything to do with it.

Again, I'd say - depending on the lube - you've probably not lubed it often enough.


I just want to ride it and not feel like it's about to break down or sound like it's whining when I'm riding with other people. It def. adds a hesitation.

I do ride with other people but they're not very mechanical, they take their bikes to the same place I took my bike, there's do not sound like mine, they're mostly silent. One of the people I ride with is even taller and of slightly greater stature than I am.[/QUOTE]

Entry level bikes are pretty good.

roadwarrior

You should go in and teach them all you know.

Many shops will invest in professional training, ie. a school where they teach you how to do repairs the right way. The problem with this, however is that the shop pays a bunch of money for this. And then the mechanic quits.

But good shops, like good companies will invest in good employees. But generally they will be shops with high sales figures. Not ones that sell five bikes a month.

thefredelement

You guys are awesome, thank you so much again.

I took it back in and they said they will do a warranty tune up on it, I don't know what that means exactly but I told them what happened today so they wanted me to leave it with them.

I paid really close attention to my shifting today and never moved it under load but it did pop out of the gear on the rear cassette on three different occasions. Strava says I was between 0 and 22 feet, overall it was a very easy nice ride with an average speed of 14.1 and a max of 33.6. During the fastest part is one of the times when the chain popped out for a sec and stuttered my pedaling so I looked down and almost bought it big time, so I'd like to not keep looking down when I should be looking ahead. I also think that it's not so much the noises but the pedal stroke feels not as good as it once did and I think that correlates with the noise if that makes sense.

My bike does have a trim but it doesn't seem to stay trimmed, (towards the outside) I told them about that also, I can move it and it pushes the derailleur out for a moment but when I release the shifter it goes back to rubbing - I barely am in the specific gear combos where the trimming would come into play towards the inside. What I did notice was that I needed to step it down once for trim towards the small ring when the chain was on the 2nd gear in the back - prior to me taking it in the first time I only needed this when I was on the biggest ring in the back.

I used this chain lubricant: Amazon.com : DuPont Teflon Chain-Saver Dry Self-Cleaning Lubricant, 14-Ounce : Bike Oils : Sports & Outdoors

and I used this degreaser: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o02_s01

I haven't noticed any effect one way or the other after I degreased and re lubricated the chain.

I'm not going to threaten them, I just want to them to fix it but I'm not going to start threatening people about bad reviews. If they suck and I can't fix it I'll try some place else. I figured my next bet would be to call Trek and see what they say. And like I said before as soon as I feel confident in my abilities I'll start working on it myself. I've watched some videos on this whole thing and it doesn't seem all that complicated to figure out, it's a mount, a vertical adjustment and two limits with a barrel adjuster for the rear and even feels less complicated in the front.

JohnJ80

Sounds like you're making progress. I've had my FD not adjusted properly where you lose the ability to effectively trim. Getting that right will help you. In general, though, try and avoid the biggest cross chain combinations. Big ring in the front and 2nd biggest ring in the back should run without FD rub, but you are going to get a lot more chain noise out of that that the combination in the overlap on the small ring in the front. If you don't have the trim, then you will get a lot more FD rubbing that you would otherwise.

Ditch that chain lube. I don't know of too many spray lubes that are any good at all. They don't penetrate well and they typically don't last. They are also a mess to apply.

Here's what you want:

Rock n Roll Gold: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-N-Roll-Go...ck+n+roll+gold

It's one of the highest rated lubes in Friction Facts reports and of the top several, it is one of the easiest to apply. Also, the way you apply it also cleans your chain at the same time. You put it on liberally, spin it forward for 10 seconds or so, then spin it backwards for 5-10 seconds. All the gunk floats up and you remove it by wiping it through a rag as you spin the chain backwards. Generally, if done properly and where it's clean, your chain should be just about silent after you let it sit for a bit after lubing (longer is better). I find that it lasts 300 miles or so. A lubed chain will also shift better and wear better.

Maintaining your bike is not hard, just takes practice. A bicycle is not a particularly complicated machine.

What do you mean by "stuttering"?

J.

thefredelement

Thank you, I'll order that lube.

By stuttered I mean it locked up my pedals for a moment (a really small amount of time), it felt like it was starting a shift on it's own but then stopped trying to shift. It was enough to look down and be like "What the heck!" The two other times it happened was once coming from a cold start and I hadn't even shifted in awhile prior to stopping. The other time was in the ride but we were going pretty slow so it wasn't dramatic.

rmfnla

Oh jeez, don't derail this into a chain lube thread...

JohnJ80

That sounds to me like shifting under load. The chain jerks into the next cog and it sends a shock back up to the crank and your feet and makes a clunking sound. And that's what I would expect if you shift improperly. Ease up so there is no load on the chain whatsoever while you spin and shift. Eventually you can do it all in an instant as you shift even when prior heavily loading the drive train. If you do this, the shift is super fast and you can miss that it actually shifted. It works that well.

This video does a decent job explaining shifting and the trimming function
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ZA...nel=MemoriesFX

There are no lack of youtube vids on shifting. Watch a few of them.

J.

Inpd

I was only suggesting that he tell the shop that he created this thread and named their shop.

To be fair to the OP he's already gone back to this shop quite a few times for the same problem (OP how many times so far?) so its not as though they have this great relationship to begin with. I also don't buy this "mutually beneficial" relationship argument. He's paid near full price for a floor model so the LBS has already gotten its benefit, but the customer has not.

OP, one poster did have a great suggestion. He suggested take the bike back, get them to put it on a trainer and recreate the problem. That way you can see if its your technique, the bike or a combination.

Good luck!

thefredelement

I wasn't shifting when this happened.