Dahon speed d7 gears frustrated me
 

Purchased new a month ago. Gears never go smooth (some low end NEOS 7 speed, i think), took it twice to my LBS for adjusment, smooth ride for few days then start hunting gears again, especially when down gearing. I love everything about this bike except its gearing system. Can anyone give me some advice?

Where are you located? Did you purchase the bike from an authorized Dahon dealer?

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

Unfortunately no, bought it over ebay brandnew and sealed but last year model tho navy blue in color.

The reason I asked where you are located is because, IMHO, every Dahon and Tern owner in the USA should have the ThorUSA website (ThorUSA) in their "Favorites". I believe this is the best single source for parts (replacements and upgrades) for Dahons and Terns.

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

The Neos is a good derailleur .. the fact that it can ride smooth for a few days after an LBS adjustment is a clue.. so I'd be looking at what can change over time.. generally, cables need time to bed in.. folding/unfolding puts strain on outer and inner cable.. my guess would be that the cable adjustment is loosening over time.. so either have the LBS show you what they are doing for 'adjustments' or go to any number of sites showing how to adjust derailleur/cables after new bike purchase.. a Dahon 7 speed should be pretty easy to keep in adjustment..

Down shifting issues sometimes happen on folders due to the long cable runs. They are therefore sticker than the shorter runs on ridgid bikes.
Solution are either to make the cables more slippery or increase the spring return.
I tend to fit telfon coated inner cables and telfon linned outers with a tad of oil.
To increase the spring you can add a pen spring to the cable terminals or use a hair bobble attached to the drailler cable secure bolt.
Try a tad of oil and shift gears for several minutes. You may find that's all it needs. I tend to have problems with my black mezzo if it's not been used for a while.

The shifter should have a cable adjuster on it, a round piece you can turn to loosen or tighten the cable. Now picture the pulleys on the derailer as they sit underneath the rear cassette cogs. The LBS is setting it up so each shift places those pulleys directly in line with that particular cog. If the cable loosens over time, those pulleys are going to get off-center towards the next harder gear..you'll notice this as the shift to harder gears coming real fast/easy. Conversely, when trying to shift to a lower gear - which is the next bigger cog - the pulleys will be a little too far away from it, which will create the effect of the chain trying to hop up to that cog, then dropping back down to a harder gear again.

So whatcha do is get the bike supported so you can fiddle with that adjustment, and tighten the cable until the pulleys are lined up under the cogs again. Good luck!

Thank you all for the reply. I think i figure it out, i was able to fix the gears by adjusting the knob on the handlebar, however folding and unfolding the bike screw up my previous setting, so i have to keep adjusting it everytime i fold and unfold. Anyone have this problem too?

That sounds like a too short cable. What I described earlier was a situation where the cable was stretching, which would happen if it's too short and being forced into a tight bend when routed around a folded frame. At this point I'd recommend a new higher-quality shift cable-and-housing, maybe an inch-or-so longer. You don't want this huge loop of derailer cable sticking out when folded, but it needs to be long enough to keep a steady, smooth arc through the folding process. Right now it sounds like its being pulled and stretched between the shifter and derailer. Not good!

I would leave the adjustments alone for a while. Get it right once. Then alter once you have discovered if these settings bed in. If you adjust it everytime you just have no idea if its a problem or if itsbthe adjustments. If it up changing better than down changing you do have stiff cables and adjustment alone is not going to sort it.

One more thing you can try is adjusting the pulleys with a slight bias towards the bigger cogs. The chain has a tougher path climbing up to bigger cogs than dropping down to smaller, so the trick would be to line the pulleys up directly under the 4th/middle gear, then - as you're seeing it from behind the bike - adjust the cable so the derailer moves the pulleys slightly left off-center. I set all my derailer bikes up this way.

good advice as usual around here ....
yeah ..that Neos ... is a beast as long as you don't like it ... if you forget all the Internet chatter and the mis informed gruntly bikeshops who have no clue about anything else than Sram xo and Shimano XTR ...than that Neos is a real diamond in the rough ...

They work real well after initial adjustment and and re a djusment after the cables have settled in ... don't give up on that Neos ..

:-)
Thor

Mines getting better now,, near 100 miles, I still want a narrower lighter chain..
Going to remove and clean the cables,,,teflon cables really helped my LWB Tour Easy's super long brake run.

I can tell my Neos 8 is fine,,,Its the cable still stretching and that chain, measured the individual links dim's terribly over built, no room between the cogs in the cassette. Of course its jumpy..