Road bike not shifting..

trailbiker

Hi there,

If my road bike isn't changing gears what a are the first things that I should check? I just bought it secondhand and maybe some of the components need replacing but how should I go about finding out which parts do to save myself from going out to get a whole groupset?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

seamus

In any case, the first place I'd look are the cables.

It'll cost you a tenner, remove the gear cables and outers, remove the rear mech and de-gunk and lube it, give the front mech a clean (you'd be better off not removing it) then put on new cables and outers and tune it up.

Can you describe exactly what happens when you shift/try to shift? Do the shifters move and click, does the mech move at all, etc?

tunney

Is it a fixie by any chance?

blorg

Have you tried adjusting the gears?

trailbiker

@ seamus Just had it serviced and I had mentioned it to the mechanic beforehand. He replaced the cables and lubbed everything up. I went for a short cycle then and it shifted up once so I thought he'd sorted it but when I got home I tried again but with no luck this time. Mech doesn't seem to more at all. I'll try ti tighten the cables to make sure they don't slip.

@ tunney lol it aint no fixie.

blorg

Is it STI shifters? You know how to use them? A lot of new riders don't realise the actual brake lever is a shifter, you need to push the actual brake sideways to shift.

trailbiker

@ blorg Yeah they're Compagnolo Mirage so they are STI. I had STI also on a previous bike so, whilst admittedly I'm a bit of a noob regarding bike maintenance, I do know how to use STI shifters. Good suggestion though.

blorg

I'd take it back to the mechanic, sounds like something they should have got working right with the cable replacement.

trailbiker

Yeah that's what I ought to do alright but since I don't have a car it's a lot of hassle as the bike shop is a good bit outside the city. I was hoping it'd be something I could do myself. The added bonus to this would also be that I'd hopfully learn a bit about bike mechanics in the process. I'll have a good thorough look at it this evening. I have to cycle over to a friends house anyway.

Lemag

With the Compagnolo the shifting mechanism is not actually STI (Shimano Total Integration) but Ergo shifting with a small thumb lever inside the brake hoods for shifting to smaller cogs. Might have to send the brake levers to Compag to have them take a look. I wouldn't recommend taking them apart.

blorg

Lemag wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend taking them apart.

Don't know why not, that is the often touted advantage of Campagnolo shifters :pac:

trailbiker

Sorry for my mistake earlier re the STI/Ergo shifters thing. Now that I think about it mine do indeed have the thumb lever. Not sure how confident I'd be about taking them apart but if I was to jump right in what tools would I need and what should they et me back? Actually what tools would I need if I were ever to attempt a full service on the bike or to strip the components off of it?

Lemag

blorg wrote: »

Don't know why not, that is the often touted advantage of Campagnolo shifters :pac:

Out of curiosity I took mine apart last night and put them back together. Seemed easy enough. Might be worth giving it a try trailbiker. If you think that they need replacing there's a pair of Mirage shifters over on adverts.ie. They're a bit overpriced though and I'm not sure that there's much flexibility with the seller. He seems to tend to hold out for high prices. He's even asking for more than the RRP for a Ribble bike. Beggers belief. Anyhow, no harm in chancing your arm with a cheeky bid and buying them elsewhere if it's not accepted.