MK313

Today on the ride into work, my rear deraileur was sticky on the downshifts. It was fine going back up to a smaller gear & my front one works fine on both sides. Over the weekend, I put on new grips (Flat bar road bike) and moved the brake levers/shifters over about 1/2". I'm trying to think what could have caused this. The only thing I can think of is that I had to push the shift lever all the way out (Essentially a big downshift) to tighten/loosen the brake lever on the bars. I'll obviously take a look at them when I get home tonight, but I couldn't see any visible damage when I got to work. Anyone have any ideas what I might have done/ what might cause them to stick/ what I can do to fix it?

Thanks,

alan s 

Could be a sign your shifter cable is about to break. Remove and check for fraying. Sometmes the cable will still shift, but not as well, before it actually breaks.

MK313

Thanks, I'll give that a look.

Surrealdeal

Make sure that your entire drive train (Chain, gears, etc.) is clean.

tsl

Start with adjusting the cable tension at the barrel adjuster on the back of the RD. Turn it towards the direction your shifting is sluggish, a quarter-turn at a time. (Clockwise for balky shifts to smaller cogs, counter-clockwise for slow shifts to larger ones.) And while you're at it, clean the RD, its pulleys, the chain and cassette.

If that cures it, fine, but keep thinking about cable and housing. If it only helps, or has no effect at all, it's time for a new cable and housing.

If you've just had new cable and housing installed, this is a normal part of the break-in process.

MK313

Thanks for those tips. No new cables recently, but I'll do the adjustments before I head home. Hopefully that's all it is.