dahvaio

A friend bought a brand new Specialized Tarmac Compact for a bicycle shop in Orange County. After what he experienced I personally will never shop there.

However, the shop took a long time because they had to replace the rear cassette 3 times and also had to replace the chain. This was while he was waiting in the store; even though the store knew the day before he was going to purchase the bike.

I went over to his house today I looked over his bike and there is an odd issue. It looks like that the rear cassette is missing a lot of teeth. According to the Specialized website the bike should have an 11-28 cassette in the rear.

I counted the first and there are 11 teeth, the next ring has 11 teeth and the third ring as 12 teeth. Please look at the photo attached. I know it is not great quality but I only had an Iphone with me at the time.




Besides the cassette the rear brifters do not shift through all of the gears. It will not drop down to the 11 tooth cog. How can a shop sell a bike that does not even function properly?

Any ideas on the cassette? Do SRAM cassettes have this sort of teeth pattern? If you look closely, it looks like there is a valley in the cassette.

Thanks
-D

BananaTugger

Yes.

irish pat

far as I know, that's the new cassettes, it allows for smoother shifting. I would be glad if the bike shop took the time to change the cassette three times, it shows that they care.
The shifting is an easy fix, just adjust the limit screw on the rear der.
Come on, don't get your knickers in a twist over a minor detail, it will ruin your friends good feeling about purchasing his new steed. $0,02

umd

Yes, that is what SRAM cassettes look like. It is still a 12T second cog even though it only actually has 11 teeth, because it is the SIZE of 12T, i.e. it will still take 12 links of chain to complete 1 revolution.

The not shifting through all the gears is just a cable tension issue. If there is a barrel adjuster, losen the cable slightly with it.

mtcycle09

First thing i thought when I saw the picture was that there was no dork disk

dahvaio

Thanks for the info... but brifters did not work properly... The chain was rubbing so badly it was grinding with every pedal stroke.

In my opinion, if you lay down $2 grand, the brifters should work properly without the chain rubbing all over the place. Brifters not working is a not a minor detail.

Furthermore, if it was a such a great shop, they would have fixed it prior to his arrival.

***************
The funny thing about the DORK Disc is that I have one on my Madone. I have yet to figure out why it was installed...

Iamkar33m

Quit getting your panties in a bunch and ask for the manager. If the manager fails to rectify the situation then ask for a refund... simple as that.

umd

This post is making me realize just how much I hate the term brifter. Just call them shifters.

BananaTugger

Pretty much.

Cyclist01012

And I was thinking that I was the only person on BF that hated this compleatly made up word that I have never ever heard used anywhere else.

Beaker

Chain rub? This still sounds like derailleur adjustment, not shifters - unless there's another problem with the brifter/shifter you didn't mention? If it's rubbing at the cassette, then you need to adjust the tension/barrel adjuster. If it's the front then you need to adjust the limit screws on the FD, or avoid cross chaining. Check out parktool.com.

umd

This thread is fail

:

garysol1 

Cables stretch. It happens. Have your friend take it back to the shop or tell him to find a friend who can turn the barrel adjuster out for him.

Creakyknees

"Brifter" is a Sheldon Brown word. How dare you question it?

Ooops, I stand corrected. Per Sheldon: "This term was coined by Bruce Frech."

Well since I never heard of Bruce, flame away.

Hocam

This is what happens when you drop loads of cash on a bike, but don't have a clue as to how they work and how to fix minor problems. You end up putting a thread with a silly question on bike forums, and everyone laughs at you.

freeskihp

have you tried turning the knob that adjusts your deraileur? It tends to fix the exact problem you have with your "brifters" 95% of the time. Don't get all grumpy because you are sure that something is wrong when it is one of the easiest adjustments that one can make on a bike


love,

me

markwebb

It's the cable tension. It has nothing to do with shifters brifters whatever. That's what the barrel adjusters are for. All new cables stretch a bit and require adjustment after some miles. It's just basic adjustment of derailleurs & cable tension. That's one of the reasons to buy from an LBS if you're a newbie or don't know much about bikes - they all offer free adjustments for a year or so with new bike purchases. It's like a 5-10 minute easy adjustment for them. While there have them show y'all how to use barrel adjusters, which is all you'll need to adjust for next thousand miles or so once cables have stretched and it's all dialed in.

TarmacAG

I understand where the OP is coming from. I'm sure we all had one point in our cycling careers where we blamed a flat tire or poorly adjusted der. on someone/something other than ourselves. The tarmac comp is an amazing bike. I bought one last week for $750 with 150 miles (no typo there) on it. It has been one of the most amazing rides ever. I find it to be stiffer than my aluminum bikes. The only thing specailized does is make the frame, so what ever you do, don't blame specialized for a drivetrain issue.

When you ride a brand new bike, the cables stretch and continue to stretch. This is easily solved by adjusting the barrel adjuster. Cable stretching isn't the bike shop's fault, its the way it is.

As for the cassette, you'll notice the "second 11 cog" is larger than the first. It is equivalent to a 12, and according to sram, supposed to make it shift a bit quicker/smoother.

Slackerprince

That's bretty brarsh.

s.

umd

sorry, the statute of limitations has run out, please try again.

garysol1 

The difference is we don't go on the internet whining about it.

freeskihp

boom!

kuf

How?

Bob Dopolina 

+1

I refuse to say 'brifter'. It sounds dumb.

To the OP, it sounds like a simple cable adjustment issue. As to the grinding are you familiar with cross-chaining? All of this sounds like it could be resolved in 10 minutes.

BTW, why was the shop changing out cassettes and chains 3 times in the first place?

BarracksSi

I haven't. I learned about this crap when I was seven years old. Then, when I got my first ten-speed, I learned how to adjust the friction shifters ("frifters"? ) myself.

Well, I admit, I've blamed flat tires on sharp things on the road...

I'm wondering the same thing. I don't understand what can be wrong with three different cassettes. Shoot, one of my bikes has a tooth broken off of one cog* and it doesn't concern me at all.

(* yes, broken right off -- it's different from the SRAM OpenGlide cassette I have on my road bike, which has missing teeth on purpose.. exactly as in the OP's pic)