striker65

Bike was shifting okay before replacing the shifter cable. The original cable was actually too short I had put ape hanger handlebars. I replaced the cable with a longer cable, now I can't get the bike to shift. I put the chain on smallest gear, shifter is on "1". Took out the slack, shift to next larger gear and nothing, I noticed the cable is slack. Shouldn't the cable tighten to move the derailleur? If I take out the slack at that position the gear won't go down. I'm baffled, my mind says the lever shifter is working backwards. Be kind I'm 68 years old and a novice when working on bicycles.

Bill Kapaun

With the RDER on the smallest COG, the shifter should be on the highest number.
Pulling cable causes it to move to larger cogs. (lower gears)

tyrion

If this is for the rear derailleur, then "1" would be the biggest cog, not the smallest. Watch this video to get an idea of what's going on:

striker65

OMG, 2 days of watching videos and scratching my head, it's fixed! When adjusting the derailleur I had the chain on the smallest cog and shifter on "1". Put shifter on "7" adjusted tension and I'm happy! Thank you so much!

Andrew R Stewart 

Which shifter is the problem, ft or rr? Try disconnecting the cable from the der and while pulling on the cable with one hand try moving the shifter with the other. You should be able to feel the cable's sliding through the casings. The shifter should pull, hold and be able to release the cable. Does it slide freely? If not then there's a problem with the cable. Does the shifter index through the complete range? Now, keeping the cable detached, lift up the back wheel and pedal the bike so the der moves to it's default position. By pedaling and pushing/pulling the der you should be able to shift across it's range and it should spring back to that default position. Does it?

With the shifter at it's base position (the one with no cable having been wound up yet) and the der in it's default position reattach the cable, tugging it tight while turning down the anchor bolt/nut The cable needs to be tight enough so when the shifter is moved from it's base position to the next one the der tracks along and is centered WRT the second sprocket. The der, shifter and/or cable should have a fine tuning barrel adjuster to set this shifter/der/sprocket relationship. Turning the barrel one way will draw the der one way and turning the barrel the other way will play out the der in it's other way.

Of course other issues might also be present which further hinder function. Andy

striker65

Thanks Andy for your reply but I got it, see post right above your post.

Andrew R Stewart 

I do see. The problem I have with replying is the time it takes to peck out my thoughts then edit. Often more then a few minutes, lots more. Andy