How often do you have shifter/chain issues?
 

I have a 5-year-old road bike that increasingly needs a tune up because of shifter/chain/sprocket issues. I haven't documented the frequency, or all the various problems, but I had a new chain and sprocket put on about 6 weeks ago. That was to fix an issue that wasn't staying fixed. About 3 weeks later, it needed to be tweaked. Three weeks later it needed another tweak. Problems have included it not going into the small ring immediately, or the chain jumping when I'm in the lowest gears, to more recently ghost noises when in the highest gear.

I'm not looking for a diagnosis, per se. I'm wondering how unusual this is? Do I need a new mechanic, or is this one of those things that sometimes happens as bikes get older?

I mentioned this to a friend last week that rides in groups w/ me, and he said his bike almost never has problems like this.

Most of my bikes are trouble free once set up correctly but I have this one bike that I swear is cursed. For that one I may indulge in a full tear down and rebuild with all new parts just to make sure I'm not crazy. I'm talking new derailleur hanger, new inline barrel adjusters, cables, housing, etc.

​​​​​What you describe is an example of one minor component change impacting overall system performance (maybe due to different wear rates) and sometimes it's tricky to chase down the root cause.

Thanks! That's very helpful albeit depressing. :)

Part of me wants to give up and buy a new bike. Of course, I wouldn't feel good selling the other one with this problem, but I guess it could be a backup bike.

This is unusual. You don't tell us what kind of groupset you have, but assuming it's name brand stuff any competent bike shop mechanic should be able to get it running smoothly and shifting through all the gears.

The symptoms you describe could be caused by a number of different things, all of which should be easy to diagnose and fix. If you're continually returning to the same shop and they can't solve this even after recommending new parts, I'd find another shop.

Not sure what groupset you have but my suggestion would be to take some time to educate yourself on how to adjust and maintain your groupset yourself. I am not all that mechanically inclined but it wasn't difficult for me to learn how to do almost all of this myself especially with all the information that is available online and on youtube. It will drive you crazy if you have to take your bike into a mechanic every time it needs a little tweak. It is not difficult to change cables, adjust derailleurs, measure chain wear, etc.. I found the information on the Park Tool website especially helpful and a good place to start.

I probably make a minor adjustment once a month or so to keep it working perfect but it usually only takes a minute or two. I couldn't imagine having to take it to a shop every time it needed an adjustment and not knowing what was needed. There certainly is no need to buy a new bike.

It could be the cables and housing, it could be as simple as adjustment of derailleurs. As stated above, I am not mechanically inclined, but I have learned to all the work on my bikes myself. At first, still sometimes with help from a forum, or videos, like youtube and Parktool.com. Does the bike have internal cabling?

Another thing that helped: I switched to a Ritchey Beacon drop bar, extreme shallow drop and short reach, that changed the angle of the STI levers, which straightened the cable/housing where it exits the levers. I really believe that did a lot of good for the shifting. And, I really like the handlebar.

I had a 2016 Emonda that had Mechanical Ultegra on it and I never had any issues with it. Even the bb and bearings were in perfect condition 6 years later. Late last year I decided to upgrade it to SRAM AXS as I really enjoy electronic shifting. I did have a 2021 Domane that had continue BB bearing issues and it drove me nuts. I ended up replacing the BB with a BBInfinite setup and that did the trick and never had problems with it after that.

It does have internal cabling.

You mention that you had a new sprocket put on about 6 weeks ago--are we talking chain ring or cassette? Just curious. What you're describing sounds like dirty or worn cables/housings. My fave bike has internal cables and their pretty easy to change after doing it a couple of times and having watched many utube vids. Also replace the exterior bits of housing at the same time and you'll swear it's a new bike. Takes very few tools to do simple tweaking on a bike and the satisfaction you'll get from doing it yourself is priceless. FWIW--I wax my chain every couple of hundred miles now since replacing most of the components and I want the new ones to last longer and after each wax it seems I always have to tweak a tad on the rear derailleur. If your current bike fits and is comfortable to ride, don't sell it. You'll regret it when the new one never feels quite right. Just my opinion. Good luck,

Most times, the shifter cables become the culprit. I replace mine regularly - at most going two years (roughly 6k to 8k miles).
My strategy usually involves timing cable replacement simultaneously with chain (4k miles) and cassette (12k miles).
Chainrings and pulleys wear so gradually that it can sneak up on you. Historically, these get replaced every two cassettes.
I use good quality Ultegra 11sp cassettes and upper-end KMC chains on my Dura Ace groupsets.

Cassette. Small chain ring was replaced too, but that's been maybe a year or longer ago. Cassette and chain are 2 months old now. That's w/ the bike in the shop 10 days now without them working on it, another reason I need to find another mechanic. But could well be dirty/worn cables/housing. I wish I had kept track of each time these things have been replaced because I don't think it's been longer than a year when I had those new. I replaced the left shifter around a year ago, and with that I believe came new cables. But I don't know exactly the date. Thanks for advice.

CoogansBluff, I asked that question because I have a bike that I struggled with for too long to get the shifting to operate correctly and consistently. I wound up replacing all the housing, cables, and micro sleeve that cables run through inside the housing. I believe that micro sleeve was kinked in places, which caused inaccurate cable movement. While doing that, I also replaced a piece of crap FSA bb and not as crappy Omega crank set. I was finally able to get the the bike tuned up and shifting working as it should, and it is doing so today. I watched a couple of tutorial videos that were a big help, one was definitely from Parktool.com. I purchased a Shimano internal cabling tool, but, I now know I can do the work without it, IMO, at least as easily as with the tool. That, I am sure will not be true of all frame sets.

What are/were the "issues" you mention ???
Your description is very lacking meaning broad suggestions that may not work well for a specific problem.
Perhaps a mismatch on the parts you kinda/sorta mention.
Perhaps not a lot of maintenance...perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

cables/housings may be part of the problem...perhaps not

generally start from the beginning...derailleur hanger properly aligned...cables/housings not sticking, etc....parts all play nice together...parts correctly installed and adjusted

You still are being coy about giving any details about your bike and it's components. You did mention internal cabling. That might be an issue for cable pulled DR's and brakes, but internal routing shouldn't be much of an issue at all for electronic shifting wires and hydraulic brakes.

When cable pulled stuff doesn't want to go into the small ring or small cog or is slow getting to them, then cables binding somewhere should be suspect. Undo the pinch bolt and pull the cables out of the shifters a few inches to be certain there isn't a frayed strand of cable slowing things down.

My cable pulled stuff only needed minor adjustment once a year. Once it happened twice in a year, but that was because I didn't have the pinch bolt tightened enough and the cable slipped in it.

I'm not being coy intentionally. I'm more ignorant and lack of record keeping. I've been overly dependent on LBC mechanics. I haven't written down the various problems and when they occurred, or when I've had maintenance. Don't have electric shifting. The current issue is 'slow to go into small ring,' and it's an intermittent problem. On the most recent ride, a group ride, it wouldn't go in the small ring, so everybody passes me as I slowly get up the hill, and then the chain drops, nearly causing me to fall in the street. It also occasionally ghost skips and does something funny when in the highest gears. Did that maybe 3-4 times on a long ride, so very intermittent. Before this problem, about 4 weeks ago, it was skipping pretty badly in the extreme lower gears. LBS fixed it, and all seemed right until these new problems occurred. In probably the past 1.5 years (again, don't have all my sales slips), I've replaced left shifter, cabling, small ring, cassette, a couple of chains.

So, you still didn't give info on Bike model & component set.
Cable shifting...
Besides the considerations of good chain, cogs/cassette, chainring. They all need to be clean, and cleaned regular.
Cables - you live in Raleigh NC, humid and cables and housing don't last as long as they might, out here in CA.
I replace cables every year - at least. Sometimes more often... Cable housing has a plastic liner, which also wears... No mech. system is gonna work properly without good cables and housing. Cable path on the under side or where they exit the frame also needs regular attention.
Other considerations
RD hanger alignment
RD design and use (cog size dependent). IE, this year I put a 34 inner on a Mid-compact I had (52-36), and using with a short cage RD, and using a large cog of 27 & 28. Needed to use a Wolf-tooth RD hanger extender to get the RD to properly wrapa the chain.
It works, but not really great, once in the larger cogs, no fast 'slam it into gear', nice easy, gentle shift works without issue.
The real fix is for me to get a Mid or Long cage RD and lose the Wolf-tooth. Now that I know the 34-28 is good for me, I'll spend on a new RD.
Ride on
Yuri

Yeah, mechanic's not good, not if it still did this right after you picked it up. I've done all my own wrenching for the past 60 years. I don't do fork replacements or bottom brackets, but I do everything else. I recommend learning to do it very highly. That way your bike is always perfect. If it isn't, usually only takes 15' to fix it and you're riding soundlessly again.

My first road bike, I took the whole thing apart, right down to the last bolt and ball bearing, cleaned it, lubed it, and put it back together. Good education. But I'm just like that, what I do. I know that loose ball bearings aren't a thing anymore, but that's the general idea. I wouldn't disassemble anything that needed a puller or a press to take apart or reassemble, wasn't an issue back in the day. There's so much help online now that it doesn't take as much study as it used to.

Yeah I know, not everyone has the time to fool with all that, but that time is a good investment vs. paying the bike shop for a job not well done. I've had two cassettes come loose on a ride when a bike shop replaced same. Never when I did it myself, reason I learned t do it..

I would just start with a thorough cleaning and degreasing of the drivetrain then re-lube.
Often that solves poor shifting or noise at least for me.
Then, onto barrel adjustments while riding under stress. Sometimes a 1/4 turn is all that is needed as I shift up and down the cogset.

Sounds like they had replaced the chainrings and chain but omitted replacing the cassette. Also possibly installed the pin incorrectly in the new chain.

How often do I have these problems?

Never

But I do my own work, all of it.

Multiple possible causes.
Excessive cable friction.
Pedaling too hard while shifting.
Front derailleur set up poorly ... low limit screw in too far, angle of fd. Height of fd.

Never - proper maintenance is the key. I know you're not looking for a diagnostic, but it looks like your chainring may be worn as well. It happens when a stretched chain is used for a prolonged period of time. The cassette wears out prematurely first, then the chainring follows.

The other thing is that bike maintenance and wear is more a question of miles than years, so a 5 year old bike that gets 1000 miles a year will likely be less worn than a year old bike that's been ridden 6000 miles. So, what kind of mileage are we talking about?

And one other thing - bicycles are mostly pretty simple machines, and pretty easy to work on with fairly inexpensive tools. I know not everyone is equally adept mechanically, and not everyone has the same level of interest in working on their bike. But if you can do it, learning how to make your own adjustments, replace your own cables, chains, cassettes, and chainrings, etc. is pretty straightforward and you'll no longer be at the mercy of whatever wrench works at whatever bike shop you can get to.

I'm definitely coming to the conclusion that I need to understand my bike better and can't rely solely on a local mechanic. I can't really do any of the things you suggested. I can only change a tube/tire. My bike has probably 25,000 miles on it.

I probably need to be more careful here. Or making sure I'm in the appropriate gear so that I'm not putting too much strain on the chain/cogs.