Question about Tightness in new Gear/Brake lines

[chicagofan76]

i just replaced my gear and brake lines on my 12 speed road schwinn. 1st time i have done this in over 20 yrs.

i am having trouble shifting gears now. what did i do wrong? do i still need to adjust my derailleur? i don't have a mount to keep the bike from moving so i did this with the bike upside down. i put the gears to the top[ most stetting so both r closet to the handlebars. i had a lil bit of slack in rear gear line and tried to pull it tight and when i shift to a different gear it pulls the line tight but the gears r not shifting. help?

[Bill]

Are the deraillers (both front and rear) movable by hand? If not try putting some lubrication on their pivot points like a light oil. Double check and make sure the cables are installed without being kinked.

[GeorgeET]

If its the first time for maintenance go through all your bearings , wheels, crank, head and clean and lube. How to videos on this site.

As per shifters and cables clean and lube, make sure they are not binding anywhere and that they are routed the same as before. Putting a tight bend in can cause a lot of friction, loose is best.

[chicagofan76]

Thank you both. I know the derailers are movable by hand and i will check on the rest and let ya know.

[nameused]

I just redid my gear cables yesterday and I found it easiest to do if I left my gears in the lowest in the front (1) and the highest in the back (7), so the smallest gear for both of them. I swapped the cables and when I put them back in I just made sure the cable was pulled tight and attached it. The derailleurs work exactly the same as they did before and it was easy to do.

[cyclerUK]

(05-05-2010, 06:30 PM)chicagofan76 Wrote:  I don't have a mount to keep the bike from moving so i did this with the bike upside down. i had a lil bit of slack in rear gear line and tried to pull it tight and when i shift to a different gear it pulls the line tight but the gears r not shifting. help?

No problem in putting the bike upside down.
With the rear gear, put the chain on the smallest cog and make sure the changer is in the corresponding position.
There should really be no slack in the cable.
There is, usually, an adjuster on the derailleur which allows you to tighten or slacken the cable.
If the cable is too slack (runs out of adjustment) then unclamp it and pull (with pliers?) to take the slack out it, and visa-versa. Re-tighten and test.
Move the gear changer to the next cog and adjust the cable if the chain doesn't change or goes to far.
It's fairly straight forward. You really can't do any harm and just takes patience/time.

The front gear is similar. Put the chain on the smallest ring. Change up to the next ring. Tighten or loosen the cable to suit.
The front derailleur doesn't have an adjuster on it.
There may be adjuster on the frame or on the changer or in-line.
If there is no adjuster then it's down to trial and error with the cable clamp!!
You might find the front gear cable does have a little slack when on the small ring but this not unusual. The front derailleur has STOP screws which are there to keep the chain from dropping off, onto the bottom bracket or over-shifter the big ring.

The rear derailleur also has stop screws but as long as you haven't moved them, and it worked perfectly before, then should be O.K.

Have a look at Alex's videos for assistance.

The Park Tools website also has articles on bicycle maintenance:-
http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailler-adjustments-derailleur