Put rear wheel back on - gears not changing smoothly

mel.b

I had to change the tyre on my bike tonight - first time I've ever had to do it myself and with the help of a good you tube clip I managed it However I have / had trouble getting the wheel back on the bike. I had to do everything upside down as I dont have a bike stand. So I''ve got the wheel back on, but the rear gears arent changing smoothly and even when in the same gear it is 'clicking' as it goes around like it's not 'in or on' properly. Can someone explain in really simple, plain english what I need to do or adjust or direct me to some you tube clips and / or photos of the various bits. I had the same problem when I had to put the wheel back on my other bike so I'm obviously doing something wrong as I put the wheel back in

Thanks,
Mel.b

jimm

Ok, first put the bike the right way up. Shift the gear levers until your chain is on the big front ring and smallest rear sprocket. Lift the bike by the saddle and put the wheel in place, making sure the chain goes onto the small sprocket. Apply a little weight onto the saddle to make sure the axles are fully "home" in the dropouts and tighten up the quick release lever. You should be fine after that.

TheBlaaMan

Firstly check that the wheel alxe/skewer is correctly seated in the frame (drop-outs). The gap between the wheel and rear forks should be equal - check at the brake caliper.
It should be something simple - you can generally take on and off the wheel without any need to consider adjusting the derailleur

mel.b

Thanks guys. I tried turning it up the right way and putting it on that way, but that was harder and less successfull:( I have a friend who is going to do it for me at work tomorrow. i dont know why I am finding it so hard...i looked at a heap of you tube clips and it just slides in and slips on. Very frustrating:mad:

ozzy jr

mel.b wrote: »

Thanks guys. I tried turning it up the right way and putting it on that way, but that was harder and less successfull:( I have a friend who is going to do it for me at work tomorrow. i dont know why I am finding it so hard...i looked at a heap of you tube clips and it just slides in and slips on. Very frustrating:mad:

I hear you. Don't give in though. I had loads of simple things that I couldn't sort. I think the bike shop was sick of the sight of me at one stage, but I'm getting the hang of things now (I think).

mel.b

ozzy jr wrote: »

I hear you. Don't give in though. I had loads of simple things that I couldn't sort. I think the bike shop was sick of the sight of me at one stage, but I'm getting the hang of things now (I think).

Glad i'm not the only one who feels this way then. The lbs where i got the bike is about a 40min drive so i don't really fancy going back just to get help putting the wheel on (although we were joking that i would be back for help) and i feel bad going to the lbs in my town as it is a brand new bike and i didn't get it off them (however they don't stock that brand). I know if i can be shown and then allowed to practice a couple of times under supervision i will get the hang of it but i am obviously doing something fundamentally wrong at the moment.

Lynskey_Looper

before getting anybody over just try these fue tips,

-put the bike up right and loosen the quick release push down on the saddle and close it up again the wheel might not be re-seated correctly

-go ahead turn the bike upside down and change to the lowest gear.begin to change between the 2nd lowest and the lowest back and forth while pedaling .now turn the adjuster(located on the derailleur or along the cable line) 1/4 turn at a time.if it gets worse turn back the way untill smood gear change is achived.it should genreally shift through out the range as the distance between the cogs will be the same and the derailleur will only move the same distance each time.

best of luck

Plastik

You can get the wheel in but it's not shifting cleanly between the gears?

If you're sure you have the rear wheel in correctly you could try just indexing it yourself again.
Click down the smallest gear on the back with your shifter
Screw the barrel adjuster on the rear derailer all the way in - clockwise
Click up one gear on your shifter
Unscrew the barrel adjuster slowly anti clockwise while pedaling until the chain shifts up a gear itself

Then just shift through the rest of the gears to test it out. If you have problems shifting to a bigger cog then unscrew a little more on the barrel adjuster and if you have problems shifting to a smaller cog screw it back in a little.

If it was right when you took the wheel off though, it should be right when you put the wheel back on unless you gave the derailer a hefty knock or were messing with it.

dancecatz2000

You can try this sometimes its easier looking at videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pp5MRJwJ6c&feature=related

mel.b

Thanks everyone for the help....much appreciated.

The problem was two fold...one, i could get the wheel on - it was taking about hakf an hour each time i tried and then, when i did get it on it was jumping gears. Watching as i pushed the pedals around it was jumping 3-4cogs at a time and on other gears was clicking each time. These problems ony seemed to be ther though when moving from the small cog to the big....coming down it seemed fine so i took it off again (and then couldn't get it on at alll:o)

Anyway, i took the bike into work and a friend got a friend to put it on and of course he did it in 5 sec and no problem with the gears:rolleyes: i got him to show me and then practised a couple of times. My mission tonight is to take the wheel off and put it back on 10 times. No point in being able to change a flat tyre if i can't get the wheel back on!