The Cycling Thread Part 2

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I'm hopefully getting this old bike I'm being given in the next few days and I'm going to be working on it in the kitchen. The rest of the family don't know this yet, but by the time they find out, it'll be too late for them to stop me! :D

From what I've been told it'll need new cables and inner tubes, and its going to need the suspensions checking. The other problem may be that it has grip shifts which I've been told are generally crap.
I'm not sure how well modern bikes far being left out in the elements so I'm not really going to know what I'm dealing with until I get hold of it.
 
Unfortunately I live in a shared house so doing anything in a communal area is a no no! It's outside or nowhere til I can get my own place!
 
Miss Mandy said:
I'm hopefully getting this old bike I'm being given in the next few days and I'm going to be working on it in the kitchen. The rest of the family don't know this yet, but by the time they find out, it'll be too late for them to stop me! :D

From what I've been told it'll need new cables and inner tubes, and its going to need the suspensions checking. The other problem may be that it has grip shifts which I've been told are generally crap.
I'm not sure how well modern bikes far being left out in the elements so I'm not really going to know what I'm dealing with until I get hold of it.

Only one way to find out and beggars aren't choosers. I hate grip shifts simply because I like to grip the bars instead of worrying about what gear I've accidentally changed in to after that hard section of trail but for general use they are fine.

Besides which you can always get rid of the grip shifts if it's economical to do so.
 
dds14 said:
Unfortunately I live in a shared house so doing anything in a communal area is a no no! It's outside or nowhere til I can get my own place!

I'm sure your housemates have bought back dirtier partners than a bike, I'd just be nonchalant and see what happened. :)
 
Besides which you can always get rid of the grip shifts if it's economical to do so.

Would I only have to change the shifters on the handle bars or is there more to it than that? I'd much rather get rid of them if possible, but will have to do some research and look at costs first I think.
 
Miss Mandy said:
Would I only have to change the shifters on the handle bars or is there more to it than that? I'd much rather get rid of them if possible, but will have to do some research and look at costs first I think.

I can't say categorically having never owned a bike with grip shifts but I would have thought it was simply a case of removing them from the bars and replacing with proper shifters and grips.

At worst it will be a new set of bars, shifters and grips.
 
Thanks Dave, I'll have a look into it over the next couple of days and see what I can figure out.
 
As Dave says, for general use you may get on with them fine, so don't be in too much of a hurry to get rid of them, if they work OK
 
Adcook said:
Just looked it up, is the pro version worth shelling out for?

Sorry for the late reply. Mine's the free one and does the job. :)
 
Would I only have to change the shifters on the handle bars or is there more to it than that? I'd much rather get rid of them if possible, but will have to do some research and look at costs first I think.

They should be clamped on with a 4/5mm allen bolt. Once this is undone the gripshifts will just slide off the bars.
New cable + outer will be needed.

Gear Shifters

Gear Cables
 
Thanks dub, I'll check out those links.
 
Couple of quick snaps from my ride out today. Picked a lovely day to be off work! :smashin:


 
Ok have had my new mountain bike for a few weeks now, i bought it online so it wasnt set up so did most of the stuff myself

I went out on a few rides and the gearchange felt awful so managed to get by with two or three until i could get it serviced

Had it in the bike shop for a gear tune and it cost me £20 but the lady told me they spent ages on it and its still not perfect? they had to adjust the mounting position of the front derallier

It is much better but it the gearchange is no better than my old claud butler when i was 14, i was expecting better from a modern highish spec bike

Its a mixture of SLX and XT, should i take it somewhere else? Its perfectly ridable and im not overly fussed about using the whole range of gears but surely i should if i wanted to??

Any help would be appreciated
 
Where did you buy it from? No first free service/check up?

A bike shop should be able to fix it? Is the rear mech bent/frame bent? If this is a decent cycle shop I presume all the gear cables etc were checked.
 
any decent bike shop should be able to sort it out in 10/15 minutes. SLX/XT are good quality components so it can only need a bit of tweaking to sort it out. try taking it to another shop or find someone who can help.
 
montybaber said:
Ok have had my new mountain bike for a few weeks now, i bought it online so it wasnt set up so did most of the stuff myself

I went out on a few rides and the gearchange felt awful so managed to get by with two or three until i could get it serviced

Had it in the bike shop for a gear tune and it cost me £20 but the lady told me they spent ages on it and its still not perfect? they had to adjust the mounting position of the front derallier

It is much better but it the gearchange is no better than my old claud butler when i was 14, i was expecting better from a modern highish spec bike

Its a mixture of SLX and XT, should i take it somewhere else? Its perfectly ridable and im not overly fussed about using the whole range of gears but surely i should if i wanted to??

Any help would be appreciated

You shouldn't necessarily be able to use the largest front sprocket and the largest rears etc (especially if you've got a nine / ten rear geared cassette) is that the issue?
 
Thanks for your help all, no its generally changing between any gears is noisy rattly and it sometimes doesnt engage until i shift again

I bought it on the internet so no free service etc but i understood this as i got a fairly good deal

I have set up gears in the past (with a stand etc) but thought it would be easier to let an expert with the right tools at it (want it perfect as its the most expensive bike i have ever had)
 
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No shame in getting a bike shop to set it up properly, or tell you whether there is a fault. If there is a fault you could spend weeks trying to get it right when it isn't going to happen.
 
Cheers...i think i may take it somewhere else
 
My MTB does this too and when I change up I usually find I have to go one extra click then come back one. It's a bit annoying and probably down to either a worn spring on the rear mech or rusty cables.

I'll get round to fixing it at some point but as it's the least used bike it's at the back of the shed and doesn't get the attention it deserves.
 
Dave said:
My MTB does this too and when I change up I usually find I have to go one extra click then come back one. It's a bit annoying and probably down to either a worn spring on the rear mech or rusty cables.

I'll get round to fixing it at some point but as it's the least used bike it's at the back of the shed and doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Bit annoying as mine is brand new and cost me over a grand lol
 
montybaber

When the gearing is in its lowest is there any slack in the gear cable.
Is the inner gear cable open on its route towards the gears.
What shifters are you using.

I use XT and SLX myself with Goodridge cables and have only recently taken up the slack. I fitted them in March last year.
 
The spec is as follows;

Shifters:Shimano SLX SL-M660-10 Rapidfire-Plus

Speed: 30

Front Mech: Shimano SLX FD-M661-10, Down Swing, 34.9mm 10-speed

Rear Mech: Shimano Deore XT RD-M773 Shadow 10-speed

Chainset: Shimano FC-M552 2-Piece 42x32x24T, 175mm

Cassette: Shimano CS-HG81 11-36T, 10-speed

All appears in order and i'm sure the bike shop would have noticed something?

Will check it over again though
 
It just sounds like the cable has stretched slightly and needs pulling through. Decent bike shop will have that sorted in no time.
 
aVdub said:
It just sounds like the cable has stretched slightly and needs pulling through. Decent bike shop will have that sorted in no time.

I'd have to agree. I've always found that if you are struggling with indexing then a good clean of the mech, cable and tubing followed by readjustment will sort it. I've spent hours in the past twiddling the limit screws which is a total waste of time if the cable has stretched.
 
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