Derailleur not shifting properly

Pompous

I have a strange problem after installing a new derailleur...

I am using:
Tiagra 9 speed shifter
Sora 9 speed derailleur
KMC 9 speed chain
Tiagra 9 speed cassette

The chain shifts all the way up to the biggest ring (9th position) and the shifter is only in the 8th position. It skips a ring along the way and it seems that no amount of cable adjustment will tune the derailleur properly. The main issue is how the chain reaches the biggest ring too soon and I can't shift the shifter higher even though it's not yet in it's max position. Hope that makes sense.

Has anyone come across this problem before?

Cee-Jay-Cee

Start again. Put chain on smallest cog on the rear. Undo RD cable, click small shift lever at least 3 or 4 times to ensure its on smallest gear setting. Re-attach RD cable and try each of the gears and use barrel adjuster to tweak out any rough patches until you get to top gear.

If it still catches or is missing gears along the way then the cable is possibly snagged at the shifter and you may need to fit a new gear cable.

07Lapierre

This should help:

http://youtu.be/Bbk5RcH0bbQ

Pompous

Cheers guys.

I have indexed the derailleur loads of times. The limit screws are set correctly but it just refuses to index properly and I can't get the shifter to make that 9th click either. Which is the strange part.

I have a new cassette and gear cables on the way. I'm hoping that solves my problem. Thanks for the video Lapierre, those are some good tips at the end.

Eamonnator

Is your hanger out of alignment?

07Lapierre

Sounds like you know what your doing.. If the limit screws are correct, it's possible the derailleur is worn. There should not be any "play" in the jockey wheel cage. If there is, no amount of adjusting will sort it. A new derailleur is needed. Could also be a damaged hanger, worn chain, worn cassette etc.

Pompous

It's a brand new derailleur and chain, so once I replace the cassette and cables the hanger is the last possibility. I'm really hoping it's the cables, but it seems like it might be the hanger.

Buying and replacing a hanger is the one thing I don't know how to do. But sure I have to learn some time I suppose...

07Lapierre

canu remove the hanger? Take it off, place it on a flat surface... If it's bent it will benoticable. If it was me, I'd put it between two pieces of wood and squeeze it in a bench vice to straighten it (if it's bent that is)

cdaly_

Pompous wrote: »

Buying and replacing a hanger is the one thing I don't know how to do. But sure I have to learn some time I suppose...

http://derailleurhanger.com sorts the buying part. Replacing is just a matter of a couple of allen keys:

1. Remove rear wheel.
2. Unscrew rear mech from hanger.
3. Unscrew hanger retaining bolts from rear dropout (the hanger forms part of the dropout).
4. Screw new hanger in place.
5. Screw mech to hanger.
6. Refit rear wheel.
7. Re-index gears.

Cee-Jay-Cee

07Lapierre wrote: »

canu remove the hanger? Take it off, place it on a flat surface... If it's bent it will benoticable. If it was me, I'd put it between two pieces of wood and squeeze it in a bench vice to straighten it (if it's bent that is)

Hangers are cheap, it would be better to simply replace it if it is bent.

Pompous

I was thinking the indexing wasn't just off since the derailleur was just shifting in bigger jumps than my cassette is designed for. I swapped out the new derailleur for the old one and the shifting is perfect, indexing took two seconds. I also replaced the inner and outer gear cables today.

So I think it is safe to rule out the cables, hanger, and cassette as possible causes. Which leaves derailleur I guess.

Everything is Tiagra now and works together, but when I use a Sora derailleur I run into the problem described in my OP. It always skips the 4th/5th sproket, indexing be damned. Basically the Sora derailleur behaves like an 8 speed. It's just odd...

This is the derailleur I ordered:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-sora-9-speed-rear-derailleur-1/

It should have been compatible: "...is compatible with all 9 speed drivetrains."

Oh well, back to the drawing board for now since the old derailleur seems to have a problem too. Cheers for all the replies folks.

Eamonnator

A new bike might solve the problem.

Pompous

I've considered it many times in the last couple of weeks

I'm a student on a budget though... and I want to use that money to cycle all over Ireland in the summer (need to buy a tent and equipment and such). I've replaced every part on my bike in the last 9 months. If I get this derailleur working she'll be as good as new. I can't give up now

07Lapierre

Pompous wrote: »

I was thinking the indexing wasn't just off since the derailleur was just shifting in bigger jumps than my cassette is designed for. I swapped out the new derailleur for the old one and the shifting is perfect, indexing took two seconds. I also replaced the inner and outer gear cables today.

So I think it is safe to rule out the cables, hanger, and cassette as possible causes. Which leaves derailleur I guess.

Everything is Tiagra now and works together, but when I use a Sora derailleur I run into the problem described in my OP. It always skips the 4th/5th sproket, indexing be damned. Basically the Sora derailleur behaves like an 8 speed. It's just odd...

This is the derailleur I ordered:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-sora-9-speed-rear-derailleur-1/

It should have been compatible: "...is compatible with all 9 speed drivetrains."

Oh well, back to the drawing board for now since the old derailleur seems to have a problem too. Cheers for all the replies folks.

That derailler should have worked...sounds like it's faulty and if I were u I'd return it and request a replacement. I recently fitted a new rear derailler and the chain wouldn't run correctly thru the two jockey wheels. Turned out the jockey wheel cage was slightly bent (possibly damaged during delivery) I was able to bend it back into shape and didn't have to send it back.

07Lapierre

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Hangers are cheap, it would be better to simply replace it if it is bent.

Meh I'm a cheapskate!

Pompous

07Lapierre wrote: »

That derailler should have worked...sounds like it's faulty and if I were u I'd return it and request a replacement. I recently fitted a new rear derailler and the chain wouldn't run correctly thru the two jockey wheels. Turned out the jockey wheel cage was slightly bent (possibly damaged during delivery) I was able to bend it back into shape and didn't have to send it back.

Yeah I was thinking it must be faulty too.

I've taken the tension pulley out of it and put it into the old Tiagra derailleur though. And the pulleys themselves cost nearly as much as the Sora derailleur so I think I'll cut my losses.

The new pulley seems to have solved most of my original problems with the Tiagra derailleur. Now the only problem is the chain skips a bit on the smallest sprocket. Which I think is a sign of a worn cassette.

If all else fails I'll probably try to get a refund on the Sora mech. Because you're right, it should have worked.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Pompous wrote: »

I was thinking the indexing wasn't just off since the derailleur was just shifting in bigger jumps than my cassette is designed for. I swapped out the new derailleur for the old one and the shifting is perfect, indexing took two seconds. I also replaced the inner and outer gear cables today.

So I think it is safe to rule out the cables, hanger, and cassette as possible causes. Which leaves derailleur I guess.

Everything is Tiagra now and works together, but when I use a Sora derailleur I run into the problem described in my OP. It always skips the 4th/5th sproket, indexing be damned. Basically the Sora derailleur behaves like an 8 speed. It's just odd...

This is the derailleur I ordered:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-sora-9-speed-rear-derailleur-1/

It should have been compatible: "...is compatible with all 9 speed drivetrains."

Oh well, back to the drawing board for now since the old derailleur seems to have a problem too. Cheers for all the replies folks.

A few things: you replaced the derailleur, cable and wire so you can't say the derailleur was at fault as it could have been a cable/wire that were snagging?

Why did you replace the Tiagra RD in the first place?

cdaly_

Pompous wrote: »

I'm a student on a budget though... and I want to use that money to cycle all over Ireland in the summer (need to buy a tent and equipment and such). I've replaced every part on my bike in the last 9 months. If I get this derailleur working she'll be as good as new. I can't give up now

Lidl had a bunch of camping gear last week, including 1-man hike tents and various sleeping mats. Dunno if there'd be any left by now...

Pompous

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

A few things: you replaced the derailleur, cable and wire so you can't say the derailleur was at fault as it could have been a cable/wire that were snagging?

Why did you replace the Tiagra RD in the first place?

The chain wasn't feeding properly into the tension pulley of the old derailleur. This caused the chain to skip a lot, regardless of what gear I was in. I think the pulley itself was worn because the issue was resolved when I replaced the pulley.

Replacing the cable and wire had no effect on the shifting of either derailleur. The new derailleur is still unusable after replacing the cables. The old derailleur shifts properly (it always did) and the new one shifts like an 8 speed.

Fingers Mcginty

My head was wrecked trying to setup the indexing on my bike. Tried so many times. I got it close. It was shifting but still needed a little coaxing on some gears. Eventually I aligned the hanger properly to the wheel.
Brought the bike out yesterday and what a pleasure it is to have confidence in the gears again. Bent hanger was the problem all along. Can't think for the life of me how it got bent in the first place. Had a few tips here and there but it was always on the LHS of the bike.

Pompous

Did you use a tool to align the hanger or did you do it by eye or did you replace the hanger?

Fingers Mcginty

I did it with a park tool DAG-2. The hanger is perfectly parallel with the cassette so i suppose you could eye ball it. The tool is expensive but if you're into riding it would be a worthwhile investment. There are cheaper ones out there ...dunno if they're any use though.