Retro Grouch (gotta love that name
I appreciate the input.
After sleeping on it and doing a longer ride Sunday morning, I realize I needed to be a bit more "zen" (and the art of bike maintenance..sounds like a great title for a book
and much less anal about it.
The bike is a Specialized Hardrock and has done very well (20K+ miles) despite the fact that I didn't do a very good job of maintenance on it for the 1st 2/3rds of its life with me
I posted a thread late last year about a skipping problem that showed up after I replaced the cassette and chain. Had never had that problem before. I eventually concluded it was a cassette "compatibility" problem and got a different cassette. Went thru the adjustment process and had been riding w/out skipping for a number of months. Then it showed up again more recently without having done anything to the bike (thus, this thread) and I thought it might be the limit adj screw "self-adjusting". So I added the threadlock and began readjusting. After my ride yesterday morning, I realize I'm not yet there (still shows up in 7th gear very occasionally on flat ground, more of a soft "chunk" than a skip, and definitely when I stand on it going up over a bridge.
Am not sure what's going on this time, but I'll continue to adjust and test and see if I can hit that sweet spot again.
To your points...I may need to continue to move the adj towards the outside (since I seem to have started more towards the inside and have been adj ~1/8th of a turn out before each ride...I'm assuming the skipping is because of the chain "catching" on the next lower gear).
Re: Hanger...the RD mounts directly to the frame. There is no extra metal piece/hanger that goes between the RD and the bike. However, I have noticed that there may be too much play in this area (given the age of the bike, I had been thinking about a new RD and this may be the moment) and this could be the same as a misaligned hanger with no way to readjust.
Re: Functional...this is my zen approach. Reached nirvana once....need to see if I can get there again. Otherwise, time for that new RD.
Thanks again for the thoughts.
Cheers...Steph
Originally Posted by
Retro Grouch
A 1999 bike. That's interesting.
I seem to remember a bulletin from Shimano during that era suggesting adjusting the upper pulley to the outside of the smallest rear cog just as you indicated. That was a long time ago so take that for what it's worth.
A couple of additional points:
1. I'm a big fan of checking derailleur hanger alignment. It's common for a bike that old to have had the hanger bent inward a skosh. No other adjustment will correct a misaligned derailleur hanger.
2. I adjust derailleurs to be functional. If it works best adjusted to the outer edge of the cog - that's OK with me.