I put my race wheels on and when I shift the chain or cassette can’t tell what makes clicking noises or doesn’t shift cleanly. I use the same cassette on my race wheels and training wheels. From the searches I have done I need to adjust my RD, but not exactly sure what to do and I want to make it as easy as possible so I can switch it back when I go back to the training wheels. Any suggestions?
I’ve got exactly the same problem with my training/race wheel setup and couldn’t for the life of me figure it out until I took it to the LBS and they told me it was because the spacing for the two wheels did not match up exactly. Bottom line is that I have to take it in to get it adjusted every time I change wheels (which is a big pain in the ass) because it is beyond a simple der. adjustment. I’m not much of a wrench though so maybe you will have better luck.
hope this helps,
robert
I’d like to avoid having to bring it in every time I switch wheels. I’m hoping there is some small adjustment I can make.
Find out if you can solve the difference in spacing by adding or removing a cassette spacer from one of the wheels. If not, then a simple der adjustment will do you right. It’s simple and should only take about 5 minutes, max. It’s something you’re certainly capable of doing yourself.
Me too! Maybe one of the fine wrenches on the forum will chime in with some thoughts.
robert
If your rear derailleur is spot on for both wheels it could just be wear. I have this problem sometimes and it’s because I put so many more miles on the training wheels that the cassette wears down more. The chain wears with the cassette. When you switch to the lesser used cassette, the chain complains. Try rotating the cassettes.
If the problem does not move with the cassette, perhaps one of the wheels needs to be redished to be identical to the other.
Yes. Here is your checklist:
-
Is the cogset on your race wheels correctly installed?
-
Lockring tightened to torque spec on the ring?
-
Is the appropriate spacer (if any) behind the final cog to insure proper cog alignment?
-
Visually inspect the cogs to confirm they are in the correct order. (I know, sounds stupid, but I;ve seen it…).
-
Is the wheel installed in the dropouts correctly (i.e. straight?).
-
The the axle correcly adjusted?
-
Is your chain the correct length?
-
Do you have any stiff links?
-
Is the “B” screw adjusted correctly? (likely turned mostly outboard?)
-
Are the limit screws adjusted to the appropriate inboard/outboard stops?
-
When you position the chain on the smallest cog and actuate on shift input at the lever does the chain move up exactly one cog without hesitation or excessive noise?
-
Does the rear derailleur cable run freely, is the housing undamaged and correctly seated in the cable stops?
Bikes aren’t that complicated. There are 3 possible adjustments on a derailleur - upper limit, lower limit and cable tension (“b” tension screws can be adjusted, too, but you only need to worry about that if you’re changing to a different sized cassette). 90% of shifting issues can be fixed with a 1/2 turn adjustment to cable tension.
Pick up a good book, such as ‘Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance’, or spend some time perusing http://www.parktool.com/ . There are very, very few issues on a bike that can’t be fixed by even the most mechanicaly challenged folks with a minimal investment in tools.
Do you have trouble programinng your clocks everytime the power goes out too? Adjusting the derailleur is not all that more complicated than that…
Thanks for the helpful tip. I will check my VCR manual and see if it mentions Der. adjustment protocols. If you noted my earlier post you will see that it is not a der. issue but rather a spacer problem. The changeover requires a bit more than spinning a few screws and, frankly, I would rather leave that to the LBS.
thanks anyway
Do you have trouble programinng your clocks everytime the power goes out too? Adjusting the derailleur is not all that more complicated than that…
No my clocks are battery powered so no problem there, thanks for the help though. Thank you to the people that actually did give useful responses. I took the cassette off and put it back on and adjusted the RD slightly, I think the cassette might not have been torqued enough. Thanks for the checklist Tom, that helped quite a bit.
My race wheels did the same thing, and I was going to adjust my derailleur (or turn the indexing off on my bar end shifters during the race, as suggested by a friend). The bike mech at my LBS looked at me like I was nuts, and said don’t touch it, he will fix it. I brought him my bike, training wheels and race wheels, and “voila” done. He said he adjusted the spacing on the cassettes, and that no sane person adjusts the derailleur every time they switch wheels.
He also told me not to adjust anything on my bike, that’s his job. And - the best part - he didn’t charge me (nor does he charge me for pre-race tune-ups/adjustments). I’m glad I bought my P3 from him over 2 years ago, and I’m buying my road bike from him this year.
Anyone who thinks that a noisy or choppy gearing problem can simply be fixed by turning a screw or adjuster, here and there, everytime for a trouble free transmission fix, and is as easy as the simple resetting of a clock, is full of shit. That poster up there is not saying that, but just be advised “turning one of the screws” isn’t a cure all for either rear or front derailleur.
I’ll tell you that right now.
Whatever you do, don’t get back there in the rear derailleur and start turning those limit or range screws unless you know exactly what they do. I wouldn’t mess with those two screws back there, especially on the front derailleur, until you know what they do. If you are itching to try something back there, find your barrel adjuster. (there’s pictures of that on the internet) http://www.members.aol.com/biketune/rearder.htm
and turn that one quarter of an inch, and play around with that, in little bitty turns, you should be able to find the right tension and range for you to shift through all your gears.
It may not be a “range” issue. You could spend all day turning limit screws and the barrel adjuster to only later find out your crankarm was ever so slightly loose and was pushing the chainring and chain to brush out against the front derailleur guide.
Thanks for the sage advice scienceman. I think I need to take my rig to a more experienced repair guy (or gal) and see if they can work the same magic. I suggested matching the spacing for my cassettes also but they seemed to think this couldn’t be done.f I like to tinker on my bike but I prefer to let the pros do most of the work also. I am not so naive as to think that they will not do a better job than I will.
robert
If the poster uses the same cassette on each set of wheels, it’s not a matter of adjusting the tension via the barrel adjuster…
I’ve learned not to mess with the screws back there, I did that on my old bike. All I did was take the cassette off and put it back on (used a torque wrench this time). I played with the barrell adjuster a little to see if that cleared it up and it seemed to work a little, all it needed was about a 1/4 of a turn. I am wondering if something got knocked out of line when i put the bike in the case and on the plane? Not sure but it seems better now.
You could have very easily bent the derailleur very slightly when packing it in the case…especially if you use an IronCase clamshell-style case. Check and see if everything seems vertical back there.
If it’s only making noise on one wheelset, then you can pretty much rule out a bent hanger or a loose crankset or anything else that’s not related to the interplay between the rear derailler and cassette. I’d bet it’s a very slight alignment issue between the two wheelsets that could likely be fixed with a derailler adjustment.
No offense intended, but for you folks that depend totally on a shop to take care of your bikes - what do you do when something goes wrong in the middle of a race or 1/2 way through a long training ride when you’re out of cellphone range?
Coming from a mountain biking background, I had to learn at least enough to get the bike rideable, else I would spend a lot of time walking. You tend to break stuff frequently in the woods. It seemed like a black art at first, but with a little reading and tinkering, it started to make sense. I can now deal with the vast majority of issues that come up regularly on bikes without having to go to the bike shop.
I agree with what you said, but his post isn’t clear if this always happens, or if he just put the race wheels on and is now having troubles. And I agree with the rest of your post too. Although it’s nice that guys like that help to keep bike shops busy and in business!
Sorry I should have been more clear. I have an '05 Felt S22 with the velomax wheels for training, comes with a 10spd DA cassette. I have a set of HED 3s that I use for racing. I put the cassette on the Hed 3s and had a clicking noise and some poor shifting. This was the first time I had used the HED’s since getting the bike. I never had any problems with shifting with the cassette on the Velomax wheels. I figured that the spacing might be a little off between the 2 different wheelsets. I took the cassette apart and put it back together and torqued it tighter than it had been I think, I also turned the barrel adjuster 1/4 of a turn and just took the bike out for a spin, no clicking or anything.