Slipping gears

cmyk

Ok having bought my girlfriend her bike from the internet. (Dawes Duchess) It's only a 7 speed but the gears seem to slip down and up very easily when cycling. Are there easy adjustments I can make myself?

I've googled and all I can find is worn chain/teeth, and how to correct the gears if they slip either up or down but not both?

72hundred

http://bicycletutor.com/guide/

Everything you'll need in video format. Try looking up rear derailer adjustment.

DualFrontDiscs

cmyk wrote: »

Ok having bought my girlfriend her bike from the internet. (Dawes Duchess) It's only a 7 speed but the gears seem to slip down and up very easily when cycling. Are there easy adjustments I can make myself?

I've googled and all I can find is worn chain/teeth, and how to correct the gears if they slip either up or down but not both?

Is it/ are they hub gears?

I have a 7 speed hub. I too have found them go out of alignment.

To check.....put shifter in gear 4 (middle of 7 range). There are two red lines that should line up on the hub. If not, that's the problem. If they're only out a little bit, perhaps you can adjust at the shifter. Otherwise, adjust at the hub.

I'm cack handed when it comes to gears and I managed to get it working.

DFD.

PS. The above advice is based on a Shimano Nexus 7 speed hub.

DFD

Húrin

If the bike was second hand, then it is likely to be worn rear cassette and chain. If not, ?

petethedrummer

Looks like its a derailleur:
http://www.dawescycles.com/p-142-duchess.aspx

cmyk

Yep it's a derailleur alright, bike is brand new. It pretty much slips through all the gears. I remember years ago on an old mountain bike I had, I could tweak the derailleur's position with a philips head screwdriver, does this still exist and could it be the problem?

Jawgap

there might be some useful info here-

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html

cmyk

Great stuff jawgap, had a quick look at sheldon last night and couldn't find anything, that's exactly what I'm looking for.

Jawgap

I had a similar problem and I went to the oracle - 5 mins to read it, 90 seconds to fix it.

I forget who brought Sheldon to my attention on the forum, but whoever it was




.......thanks - it's a great site.