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Front derailleur slowly changes gears on its own

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Front derailleur slowly changes gears on its own

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Old 06-27-11, 03:10 PM
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email68
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Front derailleur slowly changes gears on its own

My front derailleur is a SunTour xc.

When I move the shifter to the largest cog and let go, it almost immediately lowers back to the center cog. Over a short time, it continues down to the smallest cog on its own.

I've released some tension on the cable at the derailleur but I cannot seem to find the solution.

Any ideas are appreciated.

-Tim
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Old 06-27-11, 03:14 PM
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Well you forgot to check the shifter i guess. If the shifter moves, the cable will move and the rd will move.
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Old 06-27-11, 03:23 PM
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Maybe there is a tension screw or ring that lets you adjust the tension on the shifter? If so, tighten it slightly and see if the shifter now holds.
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Old 06-27-11, 03:24 PM
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Is there a way to tighten the shifter handle? It's moving for sure. I'm guessing its a friction shifter?

I'm new to this as you can probably tell.
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Old 06-27-11, 03:42 PM
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Depending on the vintage of your XC shifters, it may have a flat screw slot with D-ring integrated to that screw. If the D-ring is intact, flip it up. Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey. Tighten it and try to shifter to see if it holds position and is still usable.
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Old 06-27-11, 03:47 PM
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The shifter says SunTour Accushift. I'm attaching a photo.

I turned the silver nut on the side about an 1/8 of a turn and it seems to have tightened it up a bit. So far it looks ok.

I hadn't thought about tightening the shifter, I was looking for a cable adjustment nut which is either buried under the handle bar wrap or does not exist on this type of shifter.

Thanks for the tips.

-Tim

Photo posted upside down for some reason.
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photo 2.jpg (95.0 KB, 16 views)

Last edited by email68; 06-27-11 at 04:37 PM.
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Old 06-27-11, 04:09 PM
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Looks like someone has mangled the top finish of the shifter, and the D-ring that's supposed to be there. If you can find a replacement metal wire in about the same gauge, you can make your own. On a small, narrow crescent/box wrench might fit and allow you to turn it.
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Old 06-27-11, 04:37 PM
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I was able to turn the silver nut and tighten up the shifter. I seems to be holding now.

I'd like to see a photo of one to see what maybe missing as you point out. However the rear shifter looks the same.

Thanks for the help. It was getting frustrating having to keep this gear in place while riding!
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