Originally Posted by
maddog34
minor cable drag... a bent hanger... a loose derailleur... improper adjustment of the derailleur... bent or loose cassette sprocket... sticky or defective shifter... etc.....
check for cable drag first... since it's a new bike(Right?), then there might be a defect in the altus shifter, or that cable MIGHT be dragging some...
and i'dbe inspectingthe cassete REAL close, too... look for abent tooth... spin the wheel so that cassette spins, too... WATCH that offending cog REAL CLOSE, ok?
Maddog -- The cog looks good, as far I can tell, and the first thing I did was put some grease on the derailler cables underneath the BB. I don't have the experience to tell if something is wrong with the shifter or derailleur, so I took the bike to a different LBS, and they told me the rear derailleur is incorrectly installed -- they are going to re-install and adjust it.
It kind of sucks that I paid $800 for a brand new bike and the bike shop that sold it to me doesn't want to entertain the possibility that something is wrong with the bike, but if the derailleur re-install fixes the problem, it will be the best $28 I've ever spent, and I'll have a new LBS. Keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for the input!!