Gear cable sticking or what?

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Thornyone
Posts: 388
Joined: 7 Dec 2017, 11:15am

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by Thornyone »

Interesting suggestion that it may be the freehub. I changed the rear cable inner and outer, and whilst the gear change does seem slicker (my imagination?), I’ve had the issue a couple of times in the 45 miles I’ve done since.

Whilst I had the bike on the workstand to adjust the cable, I noticed that with the rear wheel spinning and the cassette and chain stationary, the cassette visibly appears to gyrate slightly. Also, whilst changing up and down, I did once notice the chain go from cog 7 onto cog 9 (largest) before dropping back onto cog 8 (it should have gone to 8 because that was the shifter position). This sort of “false shift” is what the fault feels like when it happens. If there is sloppiness in the freehub, might the cassette, on occasion, “offer” the wrong cog to the chain? Furthermore, if I hold the cassette at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock I can waggle it a little bit. Might this be the source of the fault? I have a RD which I can try out, old but vgc and little-used, and a brand new freehub body. I wonder whether to swap the RD or replace the freehub body.
yostumpy
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Joined: 29 Oct 2010, 6:56pm

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by yostumpy »

Also, don't forget to put a dob of grease on the plastic gear slider piece under the bottom bracket, otherwise it's dry cable rubbing against dry plastic = friction
Brucey
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Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by Brucey »

Thornyone wrote: I wonder whether to swap the RD or replace the freehub body.


I suggest whichever is easier, so RD probably.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thornyone
Posts: 388
Joined: 7 Dec 2017, 11:15am

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by Thornyone »

Brucey wrote:
Thornyone wrote: I wonder whether to swap the RD or replace the freehub body.


I suggest whichever is easier, so RD probably.

cheers

Thank you Brucey. In fact, since thinking that the freehub body may be the source of the problem, I’ve found quite a lot of stuff online related to “wobbling”, or gyrating, or oscillating, freehubs, with no consensus on whether or not it is an issue to be concerned about. I don’t think my “wobbling” is more than slight. I will certainly find it easier just to swap the RD. I wonder if you could advise me whether my alternative RD is likely to be OK. It is a long cage XT (quite a few years old now, but in vgc), and I think designed for 8 speed, though I have it currently mounted on a 7 speed. I wonder whether it will work with 9 speed? If the cage is as long as my current RD, presumably it will be fine? But might it be necessary to swap the jockey wheels over because of the thinner chain?
reohn2
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Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by reohn2 »

All 7,8 and 9sp rear mechs are intechangeable,so yes it will work.
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Thornyone
Posts: 388
Joined: 7 Dec 2017, 11:15am

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by Thornyone »

reohn2 wrote:All 7,8 and 9sp rear mechs are intechangeable,so yes it will work.

Thanks.
fatboy
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Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 1:32pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by fatboy »

I'd wager on the freehub! Every Shimano freehub that I've had has done that once in a while. It's a bit irritating but not surprising when you think of the design of a freewheel. I've chosen to ignore it (other than grumble occasionally!).

Additionally I'd say it's not the rear mech as the symptoms of a knackered rear mech are different IMHO!
"Marriage is a wonderful invention; but then again so is the bicycle puncture repair kit." - Billy Connolly
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Sweep
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Joined: 20 Oct 2011, 4:57pm
Location: London

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by Sweep »

Seem to remember that I had a similar issue recently on a 9 speed rear. Sorted it by removing/sliding up the cable the looped outer at the back and wiping the inner. Some crud had got in there.
Sweep
Brucey
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Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by Brucey »

Thornyone wrote:
reohn2 wrote:All 7,8 and 9sp rear mechs are intechangeable,so yes it will work.

Thanks.


In shimano, apart from Dura Ace 6/7/8s mechs which use a different shift ratio.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thornyone
Posts: 388
Joined: 7 Dec 2017, 11:15am

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by Thornyone »

Just a quick follow-up for info.

I was going to swap the derailleur for a vgc old one, but fortunately it had too short a cage. “Fortunately” because whilst working on it I discovered that there was a lot of play in the freehub/cassette. It turned out that the cassette lockring had actually worked loose. I admit I hadn't tightened it much when installing it because on a previous occasion I had over tightened one and simply couldn’t remove the worn cassette. However, despite tightening the lockring, the freehub still had very excessive play. So I replaced the freehub with a brand new one and tightened the cassette lockring well. The result is that my problem seems to be cured (several hundred miles done since fitting). I think that the derailleur may be good for another 40,000 miles :lol:
philvantwo
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Joined: 8 Dec 2012, 6:08pm

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by philvantwo »

Thanks for letting us all know you've fixed it!
nigelnightmare
Posts: 709
Joined: 19 Sep 2016, 10:33pm

Re: Gear cable sticking or what?

Post by nigelnightmare »

Glad you got it sorted.
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