My bike goes in for its 1st service on Wednesday. Reckon the lbs can do it, as it was part of the purchase after service. Yesterday, we went for a ride, and the gears started trying to slip. Of course, they'll attend this at the lbs. It's not that the gears did slip, but rather like the chain was trying to jump. It was all very frustrating and ruined a ride. And, maddeningly, it just started to happen. This got me thinking about cables. Sure, cables will stretch, but does this alone explain the sudden problem I got? What I'm aiming at, is that a cable that's new say, should still work when stretched, if all you have to do is to adjust and compensate for the longer length at the levers? Maybe I missed something in my irritation on the trail?

Cable stretch can cause it.An Easy fix if you know how.A maintenante book is worth having. Sheldon Brown at www.harrriscyclery.com and www.parktool.com are good references.

Something else comes to mind. When we were on vacation recently, we transported the bikes inside the car. To get them to fit in the car, I loosened the stem and turned the bars through 90 degrees. I recall now, that the cable were quite tight. Maybe this was the cause?

Yep,coulda stretchen em even more. Also could have done the rear derailer no good if it was laid on the wrong side, or something got on top ofit.

I protected the rear ders by putting a thick piece of foam under them to absorb road shock. I don't think they were otherwise affected as we rode on vacation and they behaved very well. Cable stretch looks the likeliest cause.

Another thing which I think is typical is that the gears change quite smoothly if I crank by hand holding the rear wheel up. Only under load does it happen, but that I suppose is to be expected.

Bokkie, is it noticably colder?

Just a thought?

No. Daytime temps are really quite pleasant so temp is not a problem. We're getting 18-20 degrees Celsius so frozen grease and ice on the rear der is not a problem.