hw_user

My old bike has a Shimano shifter. It is not shifting to the biggest gear on the front. I am learning to see if I can do some adjustment myself.
The top of the shifter has the dial which I think is turning a nut. I tried to turn it. I did not see the front derailleur move. When I loosen it all the way, the front derailleur spring back to home position (I am not sure if home position is the right term). If I tighten it all the way, the shift lever is hard to move. So I believe that one of the use of it is to hold the position of the shifter so that the wire that pull the derailleur spring is tight which then hold the front derailleur position. Does it also do fine adjustment on length of the cable from shifter to front derailleur ? How should I do this adjustment properly ?
I tried to post a picture of the shifter. But got error "You are only allowed to post URLs to other sites and photos after you have made 10 posts or more."

cxwrench

Exactly this. There are hundreds and hundreds of videos on YT about adjusting all kinds of derailleurs. That's where you want to go.

hw_user

Yes, you are right. I have viewed at least 3 or 4 of those videos. They all only talked about adjustments on the derailleurs. The only thing that they adjust at the shifter is the nut where the cable is connected to the shifter for slightly length or shorten the cable (i.e. minor cable length adjustments). My shifter does not have that nut. The cable goes directly into the shifter. That's why I was wondering if the dial that turns the nut at the top serve that purpose also. I think I should understand the adjust at the shifter first before I start to play around with the cable and the screw at the derailleur.

HillRider

I'm guessing but from your description that "nut" only tensions the shifter lever. All the way loose and it slips, all the way tight and you can't move it. Adjust it so the lever can be moved by hand but doesn't slip on its own. The other nut you describe is a "barrel adjuster" used to refine the cable length and apparently your bike doesn't have one. BTW, is your front shifter indexed or just friction? If friction, the barrel adjuster is not needed.

hw_user

Please excuse my ignorance. Your question "is your front shifter indexed or just friction". Does indexed mean I can move the shifter lever in steps (i.e. it clicks for each shift) ? If yes, then it is not index. I am not an experienced biker. From time to time, I still push or pull the lever too much resulting in the chain hunting for the proper gear. Does this mean that it is a friction type shifter ?

Lattz

Is your shifter look anything like this?
If yes, does it make clicking sounds when you twist it forward/backwards or is there "SIS" written anywhere on it?



+like with your other fork-related question by others I would also advise to upload a pic to your profile, then we can post it here, or at least see it.

Lattz

edit: stopped while writing, and as the page refreshed, I see, you got follow up

hw_user

I have attached pdf of the shifter. I hope it works

Lattz

Well done!

Describe, what happens, when you pull the lever toward yourself? Does the lever stops at a point before reaching the end and the front derailleur doesn't even move towards the biggest chainring?
Or you reach the end of the indicated dial ( --> lever pulled fully backwards) and that just seem to be not enough?

hw_user

I am not an experience rider. So I am too afraid to watch carefully if the dial move at all when I change gear while the bike is moving. I put the bike on a hanger and change gear while cranking the paddle using my hand, I do not see the dial move at all. So I don't think the dial is an indicator telling me what gear it is on. The shifter on my friend's bike has a number dial which change number as he shifted the gears. I found that the effort to push the lever forward is double the effort to pull it back. Pushing the lever forward in my case is moving the chain to the bigger gear. There are 3 front gears. When I was ridding, I push the lever forward using normal force all the way. It gets me to the second gears. When I had the bike on the hanger, I can force the lever more forward and I can see the derailleur move to the top of the biggest gear and it will shift to the big gear when I crank. That's why I think that I need to do adjustments. But the nut have impact on how much force I need to apply to change gear. I need to make sure that I had the shifter adjusted properly before I start playing with the derailleurs adjustment screws.

Lattz

Okay, you are right, forget about the dial. The most important is, that on the hanger you are able to switch to the biggest chain ring as well (you might not ever use it but more on this later).
What you experience is normal, shifting to the biggest changing needs way more effort than to the smaller. This is in a simplified manner is because of 2 things.
1., The front derailleur has a strong tensioned spring. Without the shifter cable, it would change to the smallest ring. To stop it, you use the screw on the lever. If the lever's screw is tightened enough to stop the derailleur to move on its own, but is loose enough that you can move it, it is the right setting. Nothing else stops the derailleur than that screw, that is why its called friction shifting, since only the friction caused by that screw (it presses the two halves of that lever together and there are washers inside as well, also bent ones acting as springs) holds back the lever - and therefore the derailleur - from moving on its own. By pulling the lever, the spring is working for you, but when you try to push forward on the lever, you are working against that spring, therefore you need bigger effort.
2., You might have noticed, that the chain is really long and its running through an also spring loaded arm in the read derailleur. That arm is responsible to keep the chain tensioned. To switch to bigger cogs (no matter if at front or at back) the arm moves forward, tensioning the spring. To change to the bigger cog you work against 2 srprings.

2+1 by the nature of shifting cables there is some unwanted/uncontrolled friction between the cable and its bousing. You might want to keep the cables oiled and/or greaseed. E.g. spray at least some wd40 into the cable housing, but make ssure to cover the wheels and the brakes with a cloth while you are doing it.

Now the fun fact. Based on this type of shifter I assume you might have an 3x6 or 3x7 setup (3 rings front, 6 or 7 at the back), Once you try shifting while pedaling, you will notice that you need a lot more force to pedal when the front is on the biggest chain ring, so at least for now, you might not want use it.

My personal tip, but others might disagree.... keep the front in the middle ring, and you can switch the back to any of the cogs (I assume, pushing forward will result in switching to bigger cog in the back). Big rear cog = easy pedaling, but slower speed, small cog, harder pedaling but the bike goes faster. Only use the smallest chain ring in the front, when the back is on any of the 2 biggest ones --> e.g. you pedal using the middle in front and smaller in back for a nice tempo when you see a hill coming up.... first switch the back to the larger/largest cogs, and if the pedaling doesn't get easy enough, then switch the front to the smallest. Vice versa... Lets say you reach the top and from there there is plains.... to go faster, switch front back to the middle gear (pedaling needs a little bit more power, but the bike goes faster) then switch the back to smaller cogs and the pedaling will become more labor intensive with every change. But also your bike will go faster. If you feel that you have to pedal too fast to make the bike even faster (what you will hardly ever feel, unless you go downhill at places where you should not try) switch the front to the biggest chain ring. The pedaling will become hard, but with every "step" you will feel that you move the bike forward.

Maybe it was a bit too long for the topic, but I hope it gets you to discover bike riding better and helps to get experience.

Lattz

hw_user

Lattz, thank you very much for the good explanation. I can now focus on derailleur adjustment by following some Youtube videos.