Cycling UK Forum

I've got a Pashley with the SA wide range 5 speed hub and the SLW5N R5 shifter lever. Mostly it's great but the lever doesn't hold down in 1st gear. I've tried re-adjusting the cable but this doesn't seem to help. Is it possible to increase the stickyness of the lever?

Are you quite sure that the cable is at the right tension? i.e. with the red (or blue) marking on the toggle chain in exactly the right place when in gear 2? I ask because I had a standard 5 speed hub and there was virtually no room for error in the cable adjustment. If "out" by about 1 mm either way, all 5 gears couldn't be selected. I also found that to properly select first gear, I had to back-pedal for almost one complete rev' of the cranks to get the hub to slot into first'.

Hope this helps.

+1 The adjustment of the 5 speed has to be spot on. I found I had to tweek it to get all 5 gears after the cable had stretched a bit. I was having to hold the lever under tension to keep it in first but a very slight increase in cable tension restored all 5 gears. Has been OK since.

Definitely follow the previous posters' advice first but the current 5 sp lever appears identical to the Nottingham-built lever. If so, under the central coloured plastic piece, there is a screw that can be tightened to compensate for wear in the lever. Don't overdo it.