Hello,im new to the bike world and I just bought a used claud butler hybrid bike from my friend.It needed a bit of work when I got it.The only thing I can't get my head round is the gears.When I got it the front derailleur was broke so I replaced it.I then watched the following video to set my gears. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skzvf...eature=related I was able to set the HIGH LOW screws so the chains didn't jump off.When i then try to move up through the gears it doesn't move so i adjusted the barrel adjuster.It then goes up 1 gear but won't go any further than that.I have also got a barrel adjuster at the gear shifter.Should it be tight ?

Thanks Anthony

set the height then rotation. set the low limit, test shift by pull the exposed cable. next adjust the index. finally the high limit. sounds like your shifter is not functioning, disconnect cable from the FD and feel if the pawls are engaging

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

The problem with following almost any set of instructions is that something is always is left out, or at the least is interpreted differently by each person. What's important is that you pay attention to how all of the interacting parts move and affect each other as you work on your bike. That way you will better understand not just the how but also the why of a particular adjustment, and eventually how to determine the cause and solution yourself. You can also benefit by looking at multiple written and video descriptions, both to fill in missing info and to get exposure to different approaches to approaches.

It's difficult to tell for sure what your problem is from a brief printed description, but if you moved the barrel adjuster and it moved only one gear that would imply that the cable adjustment or lever position (or both) are still incorrect, as once you have adjusted the limit screws the cable and lever control movement. Shift so that the lever is in the low gear position, turn the adjustment barrel most of the way back down, then loosen the cable fixing bolt on the derailleur, remove all slack from the cable and retighten. Then go through the indexing adjustment procedure again.

You skipped too many steps. Start again with the instructions here: Park Tool - front derailleur adjustment. As reptilezs mentioned, the order is very important and you must set the physical position of the derailleur on the seat-tube and over the chainrings optimally before you can do anything with cable-tension and limit screws:

1. height

https://www.parktool.com/uploads/imag...p/ft_der_2.jpg

2. rotation

https://www.parktool.com/uploads/imag...p/ft_der_8.jpg

This 2nd part is highly critical. The magic step is aligning the outer-cage parallel with the chain in highest gear. This angle will vary from bike-to-bike and can even change on the same bike with different gearing. These various differences in angle is why shops train their monkeys to set the cage parallel to the chainrings instead. It will allow consistent positioning and quick production. However, it will also yield consistently mediocre results. Acceptable to most people who won't know any better. But once you've learned to set the cage-angle based upon the chain's angle, the differences in shifting-performance is dramatic!

Then do the limit-screws and cable-tension last. I don't even bother with the inner-limit screw, use the shifter-stop to position that and remove the screw completely to save a couple grams.

I have to admit that I don't get why the big chainring / highest gear combo is used for setting the angle of the FD. Is that supposed to be the straightest alignment of the cage so you have leeway on the left and right sides? Why wouldn't it be straighter to put in on, say, the middle chainring and in the middle gear (say 4th, on a 7-speed bike) and align it that way?

I have a 7-speed bike whose FD I adjusted, but I'm still having problems. When the chain is on the middle chainring, I get rubbing on the inside of the FD cage when the bike is in 1st and 2nd gear. When it's in 6th and 7th, I get rubbing on the outside of the FD cage.

Does this mean my chainrings are out of true?

Hm, what do our other highly experienced mechanics make of this? I'll give it a shot the next time I set up a FD, but a second opinion would be nice.

Possibly. But you should just look to see if your chainrings are out of true; spin the cranks and see.

Chainwheels out of true would mean rubbing only at certain points in the rotation. If that is occuring then yes, that is at least part of the problem. However most indexed systems have a "trim" position, engaged with just enough lever movement to get a small cick, that moves the front derailleur slightly without performing a full shift. It's function is to avoid the problem you are having. The key is that the primary adjustment has to first be correct, so go through the Park procedure completely.

The magic step is aligning the outer-cage parallel with the chain in highest gear

I'm not sure I have ever seen this presented before, let alone as the preferred method. The effect would be to place the left side of the cage either parallel or even pointed slightly to the left of parallel in relation to the chainwheels. That would tend to make shifting up less crisp, as the front inner tab is meant to kick the chain up to the next chainwheel. Shifting down would tend to be quicker. It may indeed work with some derailleurs or some combinations of derailleur and chainwheel, but I would not buy it as a cure-all. The one instance I can see it working is with a derailleur whose cage is significantly wider at the back than at the front.

I was never a shop "monkey"; I learned and trained other mechanics based on my experience. In the early 70's when I started there were few manuals or books, primarily one learned from others and, to a greater degree, from observation. I am not one to slavishly follow a rule if I find a better way.

Many things have changed over the years - one no longer bends the inner tab for better shifting, for example - but geometry does not change. Pointing the derailleur away from parallel will tend to extend the time for an upshift, which is more difficult than a downshift, so I would not recommend alignment of the cage with the chain as a standard. Slight rotation from the "book" method is always an option when presented with a stubborn problem.

With the FD cage faces parallel to chainring, you'll notice that when it rubs on the FD cage, it rubs on the rear of the cage plates? That's because when the chain sweeps across the cluster, the path of the chain is a dove-tail shape. Wider at the rear while the front stays fixed on the chainring.

With a centered chainline, this means that the rear of the chain is outside of parallel in the tallest gear and inside of parallel on lowest gear. In the '80s, many manufacturers started making FD cages that were wider at the rear than the front to match the chain's dovetail sweep.

One of the reasons to set the outer-cage angled out is that most modern cages are trapezoidal in shape (or stepped to the same effect; rear is wider than front of cage). The inner cage would then be angled inward. This matches the dove-tail shape sweep of the chain and results in the most number of usable rear-gears before needing to trim the FD.

With the older parallel-cage FDs, pre'80s,, we'd remove the rear clamp-bolt from the cage and insert a 1/8" spacer to make the rear wider to create the trapezoid shape for greater RD sweep-range without trimming. Then bend the inner-cage's tip outwards for quicker upshifts. Modern FDs have a pre-bent inner-cage tip or they incorporate a bump that does the same thing; guide the chain from small to large big-ring quicker.

If this bike has old Rapidfire shifters, the most common problem with the front shifter is that the upshift ratchet pawl gets stuck and won't engage the ratchet wheel that turns with the cable spool.
The shifter will still shift up to the middle ring, because the upshift pawl isn't needed for the first click up, the lever plate actually pushes directly against a step on the spool for the first shift up.
It is possible to shift up a bit from the middle position with a stuck ratchet pawl, but the lever won't move far enough to complete the shift and click and hold the 3rd position, much less even fully reach the 3rd position.

To access the ratchet pawl on most of these shifters, the clamp is loosened so the shifter can be turned on the bars so as to be upside down.
Then the cover is removed and the pawl identified, and forcibly moved with a tiny screwdriver while oil is directly applied. But be careful here, because removing the cover can allow the innards to move about if you are removing anything other than a phillips screw. Also, sometimes the cover is held in place by the cable barrel adjuster hardware, and often there is a locating peg on the cover that must be re-fitted alongside the lever-return spring. So, a few good opportunities to screw it up!

What brand and model of shifter is it? Can you supply a picture or two?