A little advice please

Squirrel

Hey,

I have a Giant Rock SE, about 9 months old. I've been having problems with the gears on it for a while and was wondering if anyone can give me some advice.

Changing between the 4th and 5th ring usually doesn't work unless I go up to the 6th and then drop back down, all the others work fine, anyone know how this can be sorted? Shimano gears btw. Also, how long should brake pads last, using the bike about once every two weeks or so?

Johnny Jukebox

All cables stretch, get dirty etc and when they do you need to either replace the cable or tune it up.

Theres *lots* of stuff on the web about how to tune the rear derailleur, if you don't want to do it yourself, drop it into somewhere like Cycleways.

As for the brake pads, depends entirely on the amount of braking you do. Just check them regularly, and replace if the pad is starting to disappear into the shoe.

daymobrew

I have almost exactly the same problem but been too lazy to do much about it.

There are good repair guides at Park Tool Company site, including one for rear derailleur adjustment.

uberwolf

gears - cable needs slight tightening by the sounds of it. There is typically a barrel adjuster at both ends of the cable (shifter and derailleur). Pick one, figure out which way tightens and give it half a turn.

Brake pads - depends on your rims, pads, weather, speed, etc, etc.
But how can you tell if they're worn? - they typically have inverted ridges - i.e the surface is broken up into three or so sections. Once those sections are no longer distuinguishable (sp) then thye're worn. Equally they may have a ridge along the length - and once they're worn down to that ridge they're worn out

jman0

Squirrel wrote:

.... Also, how long should brake pads last, using the bike about once every two weeks or so?

They should generally last longer than 1 or 2 weeks.
Maybe you are getting a really cheap brake pad.