Mountain Bike Gear Not Shifting

On modern mountain bike shifters barrel adjusters are mounted on the shifter right where the cable housing exits the shifter body.

Mountain bike gear not shifting. I am often asked how to fix a bike that won t shift gears or will only shift to some gears. If you are skipping gears and facing problems the indexing is to blame. When indexed properly the gears shift one after the other with ease. The toggle is positioned right next to the handgrips just beside your thumb.

The gear refusing to shift is the most common problem with a very simple solution indexing. That s why you must know how to index your bike s gears. A bike with 30 or more gears is not an indication of a machine designed to break the land speed record any more than a bike with only a single gear. Shifting explained for beginners.

The most obvious and common causes for poor shifting are down to poor adjustment and the most common thing to go out of adjustment is cable tension. How to shift gears on a mountain bike. I take apart a trigger shifter and show the most common reason why old shifters won t shift. This applies to both mountain bike trigger shifters as well as r.

Many times gunk grime and debris from the road will get lodged into your shifter and prevent it from cycling through the gears as it should. The problem will be the shifters derailleurs or cables. While the practical nature of shifting gears may seem as easy as just clicking the shifter there are a few shift related techniques that are good to follow. Cable tension and limit setting.

How to shift gears on a mountain bike like that is to simply push the gear toggle forward or pull it back with your thumb of course. Websites such as utah mountain biking and bicycle tutor provide tutorials regarding shifters cables and derailleurs and the operation of the gear system on your bike. Turn the b screw clockwise to make the gap larger and counterclockwise to close the gap. These will help to ensure that you have fewer dropped chains and reduce the wear and tear on the drivetrain.

There are two methods to take depending on the type of shifter your bike employs some allow you to take apart a panel and gain easy access inside but others most require you to cut the adjoining cable.