Hmmm, this could be a warranty situation...

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

The barrel adjuster froze up in the Al frame piece within 6 months due to sweat, road grime, etc. It was covered in a plastic housing so I didn't realize that it needed to be taken apart and greased. I should have had this taken care of immediately but didn't.

This weekend my family was visiting and decided to help me fix this problem. I was going to drill out the rusted bolt and put in a replacement that I already had. The family "helped" me by removing the adjuster housing from the frame with a hammer. I'd have a hard time explaining that one to Trek.

And, of course, it is one month out of warranty anyway. Next time I'll get these things taken care of ASAP.

I had a similar problem on a Specialized Allez. I went to change my cables and it was all stuck in there. Eventually I took it to the bike shop and they knocked off the little metal piece on the frame. They tried to put it back on with liquid cement or something, but it didn't work. In the end, they sent my frame back and I got a brand new one for free. You might want to talk to your bike shop about getting it taken care of. If they won't do it, you might want to ask a different shop.

Whatever happens, good luck with it.

A) For a nasty fix, take the barrell adjuster and worm clamp the damn thing to the frame. Maybe use a piece of rubber underneath it with rubber cement on everything to keep it from sliding.

B) Another possibility involves crossing the cables so that you can run one solid cable housing. The cable housing needs to be run to the rear, since there is no other braze on piece along the path to the front.

1) Run the front derailler cable through the good barrel adjuster, cross it under the down tube so that it routes to the front derailler.

2) Take a real long piece of cable housing and run from the rear derailler shifter to the last braze-on before the rear derailler. Hook up the cable as normal from there.

3) Zip tie the new cable housing to the frame in tons of places.

I think the second method will be the most durable. You will need to measure for the cable housing, or just get one as long as the cable, and then trim it. Again, these are just some easy, nasty fixes. They may work, however.

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"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

--BikeSnobNYC

Wow, each one of these is "improvisational engineering" at its best. Great suggestions. "Sometimes a good plan executed with speed and violence is better than a perfect plan later" George S. Patton.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

The solution is actually put into practice on many professional's "climbing" bikes. You can drill a small hole into the downtube and have a riv-nut installed. Next, Nova, QBP and a few other component distibutors can supply your local bike shop with a bolt on shifter mount, finally get a bolt on down-tube shifter boss mounted cable guide, and you are off and running.

Once's Giant's and Euskatel's Orbea road frames are configured in this fashion for the climbing stages of major tour. They do it for weight benifits and for the infinite front derailleur adjustment of running a down tube shifter, but the solution fixes both problems.

Best of luck with your repair.

SuperDave

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