hyperlitenerd

First the specs:
2009 Jamis ventura race
shimano 105 shifters
sram pg-1070 11-26 cassette (300ish miles)
Ultegra RD-6700-SS rear (new)
Ultegra chain (new)
New cables

So the problem I am having is when I am trying to get smooth operation out of my rear derailleur. I have set my upper and lower stops and can reach both ends of the cassette. But when I start adjusting the cable tension so that I get smooth up and down shifts, I lose my smallest gear when I get smooth function through the rest of the gears. I am not sure what I can do to keep that smooth function and get my smallest gear back.

Any help or suggestions would be great!

Chris

Mr. Beanz

I'd bet it's the limit screw. It's a tricky blend of tension and limits. Loosen the limit screw a bit, as long as the chain doesn't fly off, it's doing it's job.

hyperlitenerd

Ok, I've been playing with the bike some more.

I have both limit screws almost all the way out. I can get still get both gears but with clunky shifting in between. I keep needing to add cable tension to clean up the shifting, as you would expect. I feel so silly, this shouldn't be this hard...

Al1943

Adjust the derailleurs using the instructions found at www.parktool.com. Do all of the steps in proper sequence leaving nothing out.

Check for a bent derailleur hanger.

Flush out the shifters with WD40.

hyperlitenerd

I took the derailleur off, and it looks like the hanger may be bent. Which would make sense if the derailleur could only reach the smallest gear when it is completely slack. I've called the lbs to see if they have any I can buy.

Marc7200

I had the same problem you are experiencing after I changed my cables. I have an Ultegra 6600 RD and the cable clamp has a tab on it that appears to be there to hold the cable. If the clamp is in the wrong position the RD cant properly move down to the smallest gear. This drove me nuts for a couple of weeks until I figured it out.

On the instruction page linked in the third column under where it says be sure the cable is securely in the groove make sure your cable clamp is configured as it is in the picture.

https://bike.shimano.com/media/techdo...9830671285.pdf

Hope this helps.

Retro Grouch 

BINGO!

Whenever I encounter a shifting problem that doesn't respond to normal tuneing the FIRST thing that I do is to check the derailleur hanger alignment. Most of the time, that's it.

hyperlitenerd

I got the new hanger in, and got everything installed again, and everything works as it should now!!

I dowsed the shifters in wd-40 which helped clean up some of the shifting, but it might be time for new ones once more money appears in the bank.

Thanks for all of the help!