Gears Slipping

Me again!

Sorry but this is my first ever post/thread, I have a hybrid bike (giant) and the gears are continously slipping, I have had it into a bike shop and it improved slightly but is bad again. Is this a problem that can be fixed easily or could i just have bought a crap bike. Anyone know a solution? thanks in advance!

Khannie

I like the nick. Memorable! Welcome to boards.

I think that should be handy enough to sort yourself. There are some good online videos / tutorials for adjusting your gears. Someone who has them bookmarked will probably be along shortly. If not I'll dig mine out of my work computer on Monday.

dermiek

what do you mean by slipping? Do you mean changing from 3rd to 4th for example, and the chain slips over to 5th, or wont change at all?

A place to start when looking for online help is www.bicycletutor.com

Also, when you get the bike set up, you may need to do adjustments as you cycle to fine tune it. There is an adjustment on the gear lever to do this.

ScaldyMc

Hi, do you mean that the chain jumps from one cog to another without you changing gear? I had that exact problem (a hybrid also) but a service sorted out the problem. Thanks to Think Bike in Rathmines.

Me again!

Thanks for the replies, I could be going along fine in a gear and the next thing it starts slipping and the chain has come off on a few occasions, maybe I'm not describing it well, if I try and change gear it gets worse. Seriously thinking of chaing the bike but if its a minor problem that can be fixed I'll save myself the hassle and money, thanks

dayshah

Me again! wrote: »

Sorry but this is my first ever post/thread, I have a hybrid bike (giant) and the gears are continously slipping, I have had it into a bike shop and it improved slightly but is bad again. Is this a problem that can be fixed easily or could i just have bought a crap bike. Anyone know a solution? thanks in advance!

With a new bike the cables stretch a bit over the first few weeks. Its fairly easy to adjust. Just look at the tutorials as suggested.

neilboard

It's more than likely a stretched gear cable. Just try adjusting that a bit. Unless it's an old bike and it's just worn.

neilboard

Chain comes off front or rear?

Me again!

neilboard wrote: »

Chain comes off front or rear?

its mainly the rear.

monkeyslayer

You really don't need to buy an new bike to fix this!

It could be just new cables stretching, in which case they just need to be tightened. But if the chain is slipping its likely your chain is worn and stretched in which case change the chain. It could be your chain and rear cassette are worn, in which case change both. Its probably the first or second scenario. Worst case scenario is the third and even then its not too bad. Maybe about 50quid to fix. They have a tool in most shops that will tell you straight away which of the above is the problem.

neilboard

If the cassette and chain aren't old and worn then it's an easy fix.
Put the bike on the smallest cog on the rear. On the rear derailer you will see two little screws. One adjusts the maximum travel and the other the bottom end travel. Figure out which is which and adjust these so that the chain doesn't slip off the cassette when pushing and pulling the derailer with your hand. Then tighten the cable and fine tune it at the gear lever or at the back of the derailer. That should solve the problem if your gear cable doesn't need replacing.

com1

monkeyslayer wrote: »

You really don't need to buy an new bike to fix this!

They have a tool in most shops that will tell you straight away which of the above is the problem.

Now thats just mean - bike mechanics are people too you know... (sorry could'nt resist)

Kav0777

com1 wrote: »

Now thats just mean - bike mechanics are people too you know... (sorry could'nt resist)

Bring out the gimp!