I adjusted my girlfriend's Specialized Rockhopper front derailleur last week. Made certain everything was tight, cable in good shape, etc. I tested the bike and it was working perfectly. All the related components are in fine working order.
Today, she rode the bike and the shifting was HORRIBLE! The bike refused to go into low range and shifting was choppy. I tested it myself and found the same problem. The symptom indicates that the cable got shorter!
I spent about 5 minutes, fine tuning the cable again and worked great the rest of the day.
The only possible cause I can think of is a temperature change. It was almost 80 degrees when I first tuned the bike. Today, it was only 48 degrees. Could that cause the cable to shrink enough to create issues?
Any ideas out there.... I am considering a replacement cable
I adjusted my girlfriend's 2005 Specialized Rockhopper front derailleur last week. Made certain everything was tight, cable in good shape, etc. I tested the bike and it was working perfectly. All the related components are in fine working order.
Today, she rode the bike and the shifting was HORRIBLE! The bike refused to go into low range and shifting was choppy. I tested it myself and found the same problem.
I spent about 5 minutes, fine tuning the cable again and worked great the rest of the day.
The only possible cause I can think of is a temperature change. It was almost 80 degrees when I first tuned the bike. Today, it was only 48 degrees. Could that cause the cable to shrink enough to create issues?
Any ideas out there.... I am considering a replacement cable
I doubt that the cable would shrink that much over a span of 32 degrees but a replacement cable probably wouldn't hurt. One thing that I have found in cases where shifting or braking suddenly changes is that a cable housing has slipped out of the housing receptacle. This condition is pretty easy to cause when when mounting or dismounting a bike from a vehicle mounted bike rack. If the cable housing is not fully seated when you make your adjustments, the cable will become slack when the housing fully seats in the receptacle. If the housing comes unseated in the receptacle, it will make the cable tight.
I adjusted my girlfriend's Specialized Rockhopper front derailleur last week. Made certain everything was tight, cable in good shape, etc. I tested the bike and it was working perfectly. All the related components are in fine working order.
Today, she rode the bike and the shifting was HORRIBLE! The bike refused to go into low range and shifting was choppy. I tested it myself and found the same problem. The symptom indicates that the cable got shorter!
I spent about 5 minutes, fine tuning the cable again and worked great the rest of the day.
The only possible cause I can think of is a temperature change. It was almost 80 degrees when I first tuned the bike. Today, it was only 48 degrees. Could that cause the cable to shrink enough to create issues?
Any ideas out there.... I am considering a replacement cable
Check out her cable housing ends. I've worked on several bikes that had tiny individual wires projecting from the cable housing end ferrels. When that happens the cable housing gradually shortens through use and the shifting wanders
