Hello All -

I bought a Schwinn Ranger from Target that was pre-assembled. It seems like it'll be a good fit for me, but the shifter doesn't seem to be working properly. It has I think 21 gears, but no matter which gear I have it in, it makes that noise like it's going to shift, which I've gathered is not a good thing. I'm not really a bike guru and I just want to ride it, but is there some way I can fix it? Thanks for any help.

Depending on which components it has, it may never shift prpoerly.

Try turning the barrel adjuster on the back of the RDER a 1/2turn at a time and see if it gets worse or better.
You may turn it so that ir seems better, but are missing a gear. In that case turn it in the opposite direction twice as much (give or take)

Look at this link-
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

+1 sort of :-). RDER = Rear Derailleur. There may be a similar barrel adjuster on the shifter itself.

At the risk of making the situation worse, take it back to Target and tell them about the problem. They assembled it, they should make it work as well as it can. However, I don't have a lot of hope anyone at Target knows what they are doing. Lesson for future bike purchase; buy at a bike shop, not a clothing store.

Before you go messing with barrel adjusters, you have to know WHICH WAY they need adjusted, in or out; the best way to find this out is to shift the right-hand shifter to "7" (high gear, smallest-toothed gear on the rear). Check the cable; if it's loose, you need to turn them OUT; if it's REAL tight, or won't even GO into 7th gear, you need to turn them IN. (in this case, "righty-LOOSEY, lefty-TIGHTY") Also, if there's a LOT of slack, barrel adjusters won't be enough to fix it.

The sad part is, most big-box stores don't have someone who knows what they're doing, and a lot of bike shops won't touch big-box bikes AT ALL; even if they do, it'll COST.

I could fix it in five minutes, but my Star Trek transporter's broken, sorry.

Thanks all for the replies. I understand that my bike isn't the greatest, but I don't really ride enough to justify spending the amount of money I would need to buy one at a bike shop. I live in a fairly rural area too and at the only bike shop within an hour of me, I think the adult bikes start at about $400.

I got my last bike at Target too. It turned out to be a good bike for what I needed and I had no problems with it. I guess that Target had a better assembler. Unfortunately, I left it behind when I moved.

Does anyone have a pic of the RDER or barrel adjusters? I didn't see anything that looked like it in the link, though I'm not the brightest bulb. I'm not familiar with them at all and could use a little help. Thanks again.

Pic #1 is a rear derailleur; pic #2 is the barrel adjuster, which attaches as seen on the derailleur, right above the wheel on the bottom....

Did the bike come with a user manual? Some of the manuals on big box bikes actually tell you to check the adjustments and how to check them.