nasv

I have a relatively new road bike, 2008 Specialized Allez Elite Compact, with a Shimano 105 RD (9-speed). On my most recent ride, I noticed that something was a little out of whack as there was some noise coming from the RD/cassette and the chain would hop between a couple of gears. So I wanted to fix it myself - I've looked at the parktool RD adjustment site and bicycletutor.com video as my references.

I have a good understanding of what each part of the adjustment does, but things aren't going so well.

-- I don't have a stand, so I've turned the bike upside-down (hopefully this doesn't cause too much trouble)
-- I move chain to outermost gears, loosen inner wire by turning barrel adjuster, and start with the H-screw
-- I both eye-ball the alignment set with the H-screw and pull on the wire and release quickly to watch how it goes from 2nd sprocket to 1st (outermost) sprocket... looks good
-- leaving the wire loose, I click to shift into the 2nd sprocket while pedaling; obviously the RD doesn't move due to lack of tension in the wire
-- while pedaling with my hand I start tightening the barrel adjuster until the chain jumps onto that 2nd sprocket/gear. I eyeball it and listen for noise to make sure the chain is as centered as can be.
-- I shift the chain toward the frame to do the similar routine above with the L-screw
-- I shift through all the gears, try to listen for noise, turning the barrel adjuster as needed to minimize chain rubbing and noise to ensure good settings

Now, I think most everything is all set and ready to go, but when I go for a test-ride, the one thing that definitely is affected the ability to shift to the highest (outermost) rear gear. I hear it catching between the two gears. It is as if tightening the barrel adjuster to align the gears well in the middle has pulled the RD too inward when on the outermost sprocket (when riding, not noticed when testing bike upside down).

I guess I'm having trouble with the indexing/barrel-adjuster and I'm looking for your insight and pointers. I have been careful to match the FD with where the gears are on the RD to avoid "calibrating" for cross-chain configurations.

Help please... I want to do what I can to avoid taking the bike to my LBS.
-Nico

Marc7200

You might check the condition of the cable. My cable was frayed on the end in the shifter and I had a problem similar to yours. It would work, but I couldn't adjust it properly.

If you have to replace the cable I had good results using Sheldon Brown's method 2 on this link. https://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adj...blereplacement

roadfix

Perhaps the H limit screw can be tweeked out just a tiny bit more...

nasv

I just took a look at the cable and it seems like it is in good condition, so I'm not sure this is it, thanks for suggesting.

nasv

I was actually curious about this and wondered if it was a common practice. I figured that there really isn't too much danger (if the chain rides a bit outside the sprocket) and that it probably wouldn't happen with the increased tension from the wire anyway (from the barrel adjuster). With what appears to be a simple device, I'd think these adjustments were easier... but I guess it is a sum of tiny variables.

According to this, I wonder if somehow if the cable has excess friction? I'll grease up the housings, but this is odd to me. The bike barely has over 500 miles right now.

Thanks!