SuperRecord

I purchased this bike and have ridden it maybe a dozen times. From day one during my test ride the mechanic adjusted the mechanism so that it would up-shift on the front ring completely. The front chain ring still causes the most trouble. Only now the issue is when down shifting. it skips over the lower ring entirely at times, ending complete off the assembly . The rear is more reliable but not impressive since it does not have a positive engagement on ever single shift.

Maybe I'll just fiddle with it rather than go back to the dealer. **** all.

Here's what Giants website lists for the original equipment.

Shifters Shimano SL-M310
Front Derailleur Shimano M191
Rear Derailleur Shimano M360
Attached image is of the actual bike's deralleur

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful suggestions.

Crankycrank

It's not unheard of for a bike to go out of adjustment slightly after a few miles when new. All the moving parts settle in to some extent after some use. Most bike shops will offer free adjustments for a year or similar so give them a call. There are countless tutorials and videos available on how to adjust your shifting if the shop gives you no help. If you're a novice at mechanics it would be best to let the shop do the work until the warranty period is over just for the sake of them not being able to blame you if you say you tried to fix it but sound a little unsure of what you were doing but otherwise I think it's always good to know how to fix your own bike though as it saves you time, headaches, money, loss of your bike for awhile while at the shop, and may save you a walk home if something stops working on a ride.

subgrade

It sounds like you're not too familiar with the way derailleurs work; if you're not inclined to find out yourself by trial and observation, bring the bike to a mechanic to adjust it properly. It's not too complicated a procedure. Both your derailleurs are lower end, and won't provide you with perfect shifting (at least not for long without re-adjusting), but are more than adequate for everyday riding and can last long.

If you still want to try it yourself: the chain coming off the smallest chainring is easily fixed by turning one of the limiter screws (the two screws side by side on top of the front derailleur). The one that limits the movement of the derailleur at the lower end, i.e. smallest chainring, is marked with L, and the one for the other end with H, if they are marked at all. If not, try turning them and observe how that affects the movement of the derailleur to find out which one is it.

For more precise shifting, it is done with the barrel adjuster at the end of the cable housing just before the derailleur (should be a similar one at the other end - the shifter - too). To make the chain drop faster to a smaller cog, turn the barrel adjuster clockwise (that loosens the cable), and counterclockwise if you want it to climb faster to a larger cog (that tightens the cable). Turn it small increments at a time - 1/4 of a turn is often enough to make a difference. (this works for both front and rear derailleurs, but the front has only one barrel adjuster, at the shifter end)

SuperRecord

Thanks. I have adjusted them on my older bikes in the past, but felt (as you suggested) a little concerned about being to smart for my own good.

Id like to avoid going to dealers even under warranty, as their heart isn't into it unless I open my wallet. The mechanic seemed surprised that the shifting was not perfect when i returned after the two test rides prior to purchasing it. He fiddled with the adjustments on the shifter and it worked okay for the short block and a half. i think part of the issue might be as you stated, i needed to spend a whole lot more to get a reliable shift. I admit chain stretch is likely another reason. Next life i'll be wealthy and buy one of those Walmart special bicycles. Haa

i guess I'll soon be spending a half hour "wrenching".

thanks again. I love this site.

subgrade

If you have done just a dozen rides or so and those haven't been like 100 km each or in muddy/sandy conditions, there shouldn't be any chain stretch (that's wear actually) to speak of. Also, in my experience, chain wear doesn't affect shifting as much as cog wear does, since they have individual teeth specially profiled to help the shifting, and those don't work that well anymore when they're worn.

Bigbus

You mention that the chain came completely off the gears on the front, that sounds like the derailleur stops weren't adjusted properly from the get go. They shouldn't have changed in the short amount of riding you did. You tube has some great tutorials on adjusting these things, you might want to check them out.

Leisesturm

I don't know if bike co-op's are a regional phenomenon, but here in Portland there are several. I have always received better service at a bike co-op than any of the big retailers. I have quite significant bike mechanic ability but there are times when taking things to a professional are necessary. The LBS's, even the ones where I have spent significant money over time, they let me down every time. I walk into a co-op and my bike is seen to immediately while I wait and watch (and learn) the service being done. If the o.p. can find one, a bike co-op is absolutely the place to go to get this problem sorted out.

SuperRecord

Thanks Leisesturm. Sounds promising. I found one within driving distance. I will check them out soon.

hokiefyd 

I owned an ARX 2 for about a week a few months ago. The crank set is a "Prowheel" brand crankset with mostly flat-sided chain rings. I've included a picture below from my own bike that depicts this. Front shifting was a little touch-and-go on my bike also, regardless of how I had the derailer adjusted, because the chain rings wouldn't reliably pick the chain up. You can see that the large ring has some protruding pins, and the middle ring has a couple of steel notches, but they're relatively few and far between in my experience. I did appreciate that they were actually bolted to the spider, rather than riveted, but they still lacked the shifting aids that more expensive chain rings have.


arx06 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

SuperRecord

Thanks hokiefyd.

I have adapted my shift ing technique far more than I expected to have to do, by doing less chainring shifts when anticipating any upcoming loaded periods.

I someday would like to try a more expensive ride just to see what I'll never get to own.

hokiefyd 

The ARX is a solid buy, and a good bike. I would say that, except for the crank set, it has pretty decent equipment on it for the 500 bucks you pay for one. You could replace the crank set with something like a Suntour or Shimano brand 3x crankset for about $30-40 new, or less used. Or, if you can alter your technique, that may work also. I found that I had to press the upshift lever ALL the way forward, with one swift and firm motion, for it to shift reliably. To be fair, though, that's how I shift most of my bikes. If you just slip that shift lever far enough for the click, your chain will spend all day trying to climb the sprocket. If that's the case for you, you could unscrew the barrel adjuster a few turns on the left side/front shifter, or until it shifts easier. The consequence of that may be that it won't downshift reliably any longer. If that's the case, you'd want to thread that adjuster back in until you get a good downshift.

I'm battling something similar on the bike that replaced my ARX, a Giant Roam 2...though on the rear instead of the front. The rear derailer is an Acera M3000 (a nice mid-level piece), and it's from Shimano's Shadow series, where the B-screw essentially fixes the forward position of the derailer (and the upward range of the guide pulley). You have to set this B-screw adjustment for the closest sprocket clearance, which is the largest sprocket on my cassette. As the derailer moves down the cassette, the guide pulley rides further from the smaller sprockets, and downshifting (back up the cassette) isn't all that crisp. If I just click the shifter when I'm in a smaller sprocket, the chain will sometimes hesitate to climb up the next higher sprocket, and can gnash for a second or so until it finally makes the climb. I have to push the shifter all the way through the click, almost to the next click, for the shift to really be crisp.

I play with the indexing via the barrel adjuster, and I've found what I think is a happy medium, but if I get downshifts (back up the cassette) to work reliably with light shifter action, then it won't upshift (down the cassette) well. And vice versa -- really crisp upshifting makes downshifting a bit more of a chore. I've settled on good upshifting, because those happen with a pull of the shifter and a ratchet release, and I can't really "over shift" it that way. So I settle for getting into the habit of slightly "over shifting" the downshift.

70sSanO

SuperRecord

Thanks folks. Btw I thought this video was done well: I'm all in on the way in on how he made his workshop stand out of his car rack and ladder.

The video that follows the above is on front derailleur adjustments from Park and I believe it is exceptional in their use of video enhancements for seeing the mechanism up close.