Missing 1st gear
11-01-09, 04:29 AM
#1
kamikaze college commuter
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Missing 1st gear
As one to flog dead horses, the "battlescarred" Free Spirit FS12 I ride at ZOMG FASTER THAN VAYRONZ speed through the school campus is, well, not that good. The occasional front-brake rub isn't too bad, but what's worse is that it won't shift into first on the rear cassette. Whenever I shift, I just hear the sound of it trying to change but nothing comes out of it. There is no gear change. It remains in 2nd.
All the other gears work fine and the front gears change, if reluctantly.
Anyway, what's the best way to take care of this? It works as-is. Don't say get a better bike. I'm trying/tried to and this was free vs. the $100+ Specialized HardRocks/RockHoppers I was looking at. Next year I might get something a little bit better...
The Denali in [[https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ht=Denali|this thread]] said something about a screw being too tight and how the OP had to adjust it and the cable tension. Would that help?
All the other gears work fine and the front gears change, if reluctantly.
Anyway, what's the best way to take care of this? It works as-is. Don't say get a better bike. I'm trying/tried to and this was free vs. the $100+ Specialized HardRocks/RockHoppers I was looking at. Next year I might get something a little bit better...
The Denali in [[https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ht=Denali|this thread]] said something about a screw being too tight and how the OP had to adjust it and the cable tension. Would that help?
11-01-09, 06:16 AM
#2
ka maté ka maté ka ora
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perhaps an adjustment of the rear derailleur lower limit screw is in order?
11-01-09, 06:54 AM
#4
Uber Goober
On my old cheap mountain bike, it took a good bit of poking around before I discovered what did what. But yes, there were limit screw adjustments that control how far the thing can travel. Too far one way, and you can't get into high gear. Too far the other way, and you can drop a chain where there isn't a gear. Explore around or take it to a bike shop. Or just ride in whatever gears it'll go in, which is what I wound up doing.
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11-01-09, 08:45 AM
#6
Portland Fred
Most likely your derailleur cable isn't quite tight enough or the limit screw is off. I'd check cable tension first since that's more likely to be the culprit. If messing with that mucks up your shifting, put it back the way it was and try the screw.
Do pay attention when adjusting the limit screw. If you toss the chain over the first cog into your spokes, you could crash. The purpose of the limit screw is to prevent that problem.
11-01-09, 02:21 PM
#7
kamikaze college commuter
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It was a joke regarding perceived speed vs. actual speed. But yeah, I'll go take a look at the cable tension and limit screws. I guess I should anyways, after I hit a pile of leaves and got a stick in the derailleur.
That wasn't it though, it's been acting like that even before I hit the pile of leaves.
But thanks anyways.
That wasn't it though, it's been acting like that even before I hit the pile of leaves.
But thanks anyways.
