Gear changing problems

[Husky430]

After falling off a piece on 'north shore' a couple of days back, I now seem to have some shifting problems with my electronic derailer.
Works fine in the higher gears 6-11, but when changing down to the lower ones it starts clicking as though it wants to change to the next gear and if you go all the way down to 1st the chain jumps off the sprocket and jams in between the back of the sprocket and the spokes. Will also, when in 4th and change to 5th not change at all and then with another change, jump to 6th. You can then shift back the other way to get 5th, all a bit inconvenient and time consuming.
A mate has exactly the same bike e160 900E and I'm planning on taking it around to his place just to see the angle the hanger is sitting on. Might just need a gentle 'tweak' left or right.
Thought I'd throw it out there to see if anyone else had problems in this department before, cheers Steve

 

[118]

I'd take a guess at your hanger also, especially if the bike fell on that side.. sounds like your hanger is bent inwards towards the wheel, if it's hopping off the large cog. As you are running electronic, it can't be a poorly tensioned cable..

 

[Husky430]

Yeah running the electric and looking at it from the back it looks to be leaning in toward the wheel side. Think getting it along side my mates one and then giving it a bend will fix it?

 

[118]

Yeah running the electric and looking at it from the back it looks to be leaning in toward the wheel side. Think getting it along side my mates one and then giving it a bend will fix it?

For sure, however go gentle with it, incase there's a hairline crack, or you over fatigue/stress it. If that's then the case you'll need a new hanger, obviously. Many a bent hanger have been straightened (some on numerous occasions), previously. As you have the luxury of a 'workshop' I'd recommend removing it off the bike, and using a flat surface, ie a bench vice, to tease it back into shape. You could even use a set of soft vice jaws within to straighten it, however sometimes this method doesn't get things as straight as a hammer on a flat surface would.. It all depends on what equipment, your friend has to hand..

Good Luck

 

[Husky430]

Thanks for that 118, will let you know the outcome, hopefully do it this arvo as have another mate getting his 900 tomorrow and have planned a ride both Saturday and Sunday

 

[118]

Top job.

 

[steve_sordy]

What you need is a mech hanger alignment tool. Here is a Park Tool one, but there are others for less money.
Park Tool Derailleur Hanger Alignment Gauge DAG2.2 | Chain Reaction Cycles
They call it a gauge, but it is also the tool that does the adjustment. It works really well; robust and simple to use.

I used to have Eagle 12-speed transmission and I seemed to be always having gear shifting problems that I just could not fix. None of my usual adjustments worked. So I gave up and took the bike to the LBS. Twice, (or was it three times?) it was the mech hanger alignment that was out. So I bought my own tool/gauge and set it up myself. I could afford to take the extra time to get it absolutely spot on instead of near enough. End of shifting problems.

 

[Husky430]

Excellent idea and didn’t even know there existed such a tool. Updated story is my mate had a look at it and it was definitely slightly bent, he gave it a tweak by hand and all is well again in shifting side of things. Will check the alignment tool out though, you can’t have enough I reckon, plus just makes the job easier

 

[steve_sordy]

Excellent idea and didn’t even know there existed such a tool. Updated story is my mate had a look at it and it was definitely slightly bent, he gave it a tweak by hand and all is well again in shifting side of things. Will check the alignment tool out though, you can’t have enough I reckon, plus just makes the job easier

Before you use the gauge, shift the cassette into the smallest rear gear. I would recommend that you take a close up pic of where the mech fits onto the hanger, just to remove that niggling bit of doubt when it comes to replacement.
Then unbolt the mech from the hanger and move it out of the way. Hold it out of the way with a zip tie if you need to do so. You do not need to remove the chain.
Then do the job. Here is the Park Tool video on how to align your mech hanger.

The video says 3mm is close enough. I took a few mins more and got it spot on. Worth the effort I believe, as I'm not on the clock.

 

[Husky430]

Many thanks Steve, just done a24km ride and all went well, so all good for now until my tool arrives or a crash and burn again and need to realign it