sram

Hey.
My gears have a problem. They're 9sp, on a Shimano Deore LX derailer/shifter combo. When you're in 6,7,8+9 there's no problem shifting between them, but when you get to 5th it starts to not downshift, or downshift stickily. Also, it won't ride properly on 1,2+3. I've had this problem before, on another bike, and was told it's a cable tension issue, which made sense to me as it was a well maintained used bike I'd bought a few weeks ago, so I thought it was the cable stretching. I spent a whole day at this yesterday, however, following the instructions in my bike book, and it won't fix. It gets to a point where the cable gets tight enough to function on lower gears, but interferes with the gears up higher. My bike book tells me my cable is too tight, but too loose at the same time. The derailer ain't bent, the chain is unstretched and the cogs are unworn. Limit screws are set.
Any ideas? Could the shifter or derailer be an 8sp (I don't thinks so, just a point my book raised). Would the b-screw have anything to do with this, I can't find anywhere to adjust this.

Also, hairspray won't secure my grips on, even after washing bars and grips then drying, trying different tins and waiting 12 hours for it to dry.

Also also, my brake rotors are untrue, but I don't have a disc truer, or money/time to leave it in the shop. Could I just take them off and hammer them flat?

Thanks alot for even reading this all, please help!

fietsbob

You bought a beat up used mountain bike? syncing indexing is a pain, part of the scheme.

No video or pictures Cant see a thing , try the bike shop. or work harder on clear descriptions

1, 2, 3 have no meaning .. what is the physical location? this highest 3 cogs on the cassette or the lowest?

sram

The gears. 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Where I give a number, I mean the gear, with first gear being the largest sprocket.

I thought the bike was well maintained since it was running smoothly and had a host of new parts on it.

John Montgomery

Hmmm is this a cross-chain issue; are you trying to go big chainring / big cogs?

sram

Well no it's a Specialized P3 with the front mech replaced with a single chain ring conversion kit and a chain guide, but it is pulling some serious angle on the extreme gears. However, the thing that gets me is that it was fine before, then got worse.

wrk101

Hammer them flat? Two tools that should never see your bike are a hammer and a drill. Stopping is pretty important, I would take it to a shop.

If you want to take on shifting/derailleur issues, visit the Parks Tool site, it is excellent.

cny-bikeman

If the shifting is inconsistent when downshifting (shifting to larger cogs) I would have to say the most likely culprit is a misaligned hanger or twisted derailleur, in spite of you believing things are straight. The movement of the derailleur when properly aligned is simple geometry. Each click of the lever produces the same horizontal travel on the derailleur, and the cassette cogs are each the same distance apart. The only thing I can think of that would interfere with a proper shift when you are pushing the derailleur to the next gear (as opposed to depending on the springs) is the geometry not being proper.

sram

Yeah, I see how that would be a bad idea.

I'm just gonna take it to a bike shop and see what they think, I have absolutely no idea what's wrong or how to fix it.