Derailer Adjustments

[Johnny Hardcore]

Hello everyone, first time here like the site. Anywho, I recently bought a canandale F500 and love it. Its new and I'm guessing the cables and things are loosening up a bit and my rear derailer is getting messed up. I want to learn how to do all my maintenance so I can stop paying other people to do it. My problem is that as I peddle the chain feels like it gets loose then clicks and tightens up again. Does that make sense. I think its that it is not lined up perfectly. I've played around with the screws on the derailer and have gotten it better I think, but every so often it does it again. Any suggestions?

John

Venture Quest Team -- Tower 12

[chunk]

It's probably something to do with the barrel adjuster which is the knob where the cable attaches to the derailuer. Typically you would turn the know towards the cassette to tighten the cable.

I would recommend buying a copy of Zinn and the art of mountain bike maintenance if you're interested in learning how to maintain your bike. It covers all areas of bicycle mainteance.

[short & fat]

This sounds an awful lot like a stiff link more than a derail. out of adjustment. If you purchased the bike from a reputable LBS, then most of the limit adjustments won't need to be fooled with. If anything your cables may have stretched and you might have to take some of the slack out of them. If you only get the "jump" in your chain every few rotations it's more than likely a stiff link. Try this to check: rotate the pedals backwards and keep an eye on the chain by the lower derail. jockey wheel. If you see it "skip" on about every third rotation it's probably a stiff link. This should be pretty obvious, just keep an eye on it, it'll most likely form a "v" in the link. The fix... simple apply some lube to your chain, make sure you wipe off the excess, when you get to the stiff link, take a rag and place it over the chain. Next step gently work the chain latterally and check for the link to be loose. The only caution I'd throw your way is to make sure you inspect the chain closely and make sure you don't have any "bad" links in the chain. Again, this should be visible to the naked eye and fairly obvious once you see it. If in doubt take the bike to your LBS, most shops offer at least 1 year in free "adjustments".

Regarding doing your own maintenance, there are several books out there (Zinn & the Art of Bicycle Maint. is a good one), and I believe you can even get a CD ROM (Break it, fix it, ride it). If you want the holy grail for bicycle repair purchase "Barnett's Manual", hands down the end all be all... a bit expensive, but you can download PDF chapters from specialized.com if you become a member. One last thing... check out The Bike Lane in Burke... I believe they have a maintenance course (www.thebikelane.com)

Good luck!

-B

[Johnny Hardcore]

Thanks, I'll check out that book.