Fixing bicycle gears (shimano)...aaarrgghhh!?

Question

was shopping with my mum yesterday and happened to spot a mountain bike on sale for £55, was so sad as I didn't even that amount to spend :( However today my mum arrived at my house with the bike...woohooo...early xmas present! Sadly it is a build it yourself model haven't had to do that in over 20 years. Got it all built and everything working great apart from the gears. It's an 18 gear model and so far I can only get 2 of the high gears (smallest and largest) and two of the lower gears (2 smallest ones). I really hope someone here knows a thing or two that could help me out as I'm dying to get out cycling!

P.s tried tightening the cables as there was a lot of slack in them and that is how I ended up with the gears I've got, before that there was only 1!

Answer 1

Go to your local library and look for Richards bicycle book.

You might find some friendly cyclists here

http://www.pushbikes.org.uk/

Answer 2

As stated already it is quite complicated, but if you are determined to do it yourself have a look at this web site.  I have found it very good.  http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto...

Answer 3

Never, ever, buy a bike in a box if you don,t know what you are doing, they are much more complicated to set-up than people realise, particularly the cheap ones.

I frequently see mail order returns being sold at this sort of price from factory units who have no idea about bikes and will never supply aftersales service of any kind.

Take it to your local bike shop and pay to have it set-up by a professional, they might save your life.

Answer 4

The answers that say take it to your bike shop are right.  It will cost about £6 to have them set up your gears.

However, if you want to have a go, then you need to set up the upper and lower limits of chain movement on your derailiers (Front and rear).  This is controled by the + and - screws on the derailiers themselves.  I could go into a detailed account here but:

www.parktool.com

do it with pictures (See the how to section - indexing gears).

However, setting up your gears, while straightforward, can seem like dark arts.  It is probably easier to take it to the bike shop.

Luck

Answer 5

It's dead easy. Get a book from the library to guide you, then do it yourself. That way you will be able to do it in the future.

Who cares that you bought a bike in a box. At least you've got a bike. Great!

Ignore the other lame brains on here.

Answer 6

Save yourself a lot of heartache, and take it to a bike shop. They'll adjust the gears for a tenner or less...

I can copy the instructions out if you *really* want to have a bash - but even having them there on paper does not come close to guaranteeing good results. I've tried fairly frequently, and only got it right once or twice - most times, you'll wind up with a few that still click out when under load.

Not worth the hassle. Honestly.

EDIT: Fish, were you dropped on your head as a child? If it's that easy, provide instructions other than 'go to the library'. Otherwise, do everyone a favour, and stop typing.