Gear Set-up Problem

John Begley has been having problems with his gears, he checked out our gear set-up video, but it’s still not correct and he needs more advice, he has even written in twice! Here is how we would have a go at his gears

Question 1:

Hi, had clicking noise in 3rd & 4th gear,-Shimano Derailleur. Adjusted after watching your great video but obviously wrongly. Now have noise in 4^th & 5^th.

Question 2:

I, have a loud clicking noise on two gear positions when on the road. I have tried adjusting the tension to no avail. The thing is, on the repair stand, there is no noise, only when riding. Driving me crazy. Any thoughts?

Hi John.

OK, here we go! First off how old is the chain and cassette? If the gears are changing precisely on all except two of them this usually means those sprockets are worn and the cassette may need replacing. If both the chain and the cassette are fairly new then this should not be a problem.

So let’s run through the set-up procedure.

First disconnect the gear cable from the rear derailleur, turn the pedals and make sure it runs smoothly in the big and small rings at the front, if not then you need to adjust the small screw on the rear derailleur that stops the derailleur from going to far or not far enough. Once you have done this you might as well check the inside sprocket, the big one nearest the wheel, if it goes too far or not far enough then adjust the other small screw till this is correct.

So now the rear derailleur is adjusted properly we move on to the indexing: reattach the gear cable to the rear derailleur, pulling the cable tight before you tighten the holding bolt, also make sure the cable adjuster is wound all the way down, not taking up any cable.

Adjust Cable

Basically if the gear changes from the 1^st to the 2^nd sprocket perfectly then all the other gear changes should also be correct. So, turn the pedals with the chain on the big chain ring and the 1^st sprocket (the small one), click the gear from the 1^st to the 2^nd, if it doesn’t go up then tighten the cable adjuster until it does. If the chain goes too far and goes or is trying to go up to the 3^rd sprocket then you need to loosen the cable adjuster. Click the gear up and down between the two gears making sure they are perfect, once you have done this then try all the others on both the big and small chain rings. If it is not great on one or two gears then you can fine adjust the cable adjuster by turning it back or forward a very small amount while changing gear between them. I hope this sorts it out, John.

TOP TIP: If the gear change is correct between the 1^st and 2^nd gears then the others should also be.