Twistie - HELP!

[Twitchin Kitten]

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OK I've exhausted my patience.

I got the neighbors bike rigged up in my "bike shop" and I'm TRYING to set the gears. The front derailleur is a goddamn mess. I have it now completely apart because this dick left the bike out in the rain for months. The springs are rusted. The cable won't pull to the larger sprocket.

I took it apart and put liquid wrench on the spring and have been working it by hand for the last half hour.

I put it back a couple of times and I just can't get this thing right. It's a crap derailleur too. The stupid cable rides and rests on the working mechanisms.

Never mind the back.... I got 3 out of 5 sprockets rusty. I am 99% sure I can sort that derailleur out once I get the front one sorted.

The set screw that holds the cable is not even one with the hole through the center to keep the cable tight but one I have to pull with a pliers and let it "wrap" a tiny bit to grab. It really sucks.

I can get it aligned properly and height set correctly (5 mm above the big sprocket) but I can't seem to get the cable tension right so I can adjust the screws.

The screws are marked, which is a time saver.

I also took apart the piece on the handlebars that works the cable. Fucking thing had spider eggs in it and sand. The cable surprisingly is not rusted there. I tossed a drop of 3 in 1 oil on that thing and wiped it clean. That too is crap. Nothing but plastic and nylon pulling that cable.

LOL I thought my bike was crap. At least I took care of it and didn't fuck up the gears so much that they're not useable!

He had that thing locked in 10th gear! You should have seen the sand and grease I got off of it. I now have tons of metal flakes in my fingers too.

OK back to the front derailleur.

I can get it to go to the smallest sprocket fine, but I can't make it go to the big one. I can only get as far as the middle one and this is with the set screws completely released and as much tension on the cable as I can.

I have a spare cable set if I need to replace it.

Any suggestions?

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Crisis averted.

The bike is still crap but I got it working good enough until Matt decides if he's going to bike ride with me steady and we'll get him a decent bike. Then me.

Falcon derailleurs. Ever hear of them? What crap. You can barely fine tune them. I can't get them perfect and I'm certainly not going to dump a ton of $$ into the thing. There's no tension screw on the first derailleur's cable. Ugh.

[twisteroo]

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Nope never heard of a falcon, I'm sure you are correct about it being junk.

Anyway, my limited knowledge of derailers and such. I think those adjustment screws you are talking about are the limit screws, probably marked "H" & "L", I think. They are a set it and forget it kinda thing, they just limit the overall movement of the derailer, stopping it at the high end and the low end before the chain shifts right off of the chainring.
I can and have had luck working on decent stuff. Most of my working knowledge actually comes from my "big blue book of bicycle repair", and the internets, youtube has tons of videos on adjusting derailers and stuff. Although they sometimes make it look way too easy and only give you basics.

Rear derailers: Set the high-low limit screws, high being the highest gear, meaning the small one on the back or the big one on the front, low being the opposite. Then.....all the shifting adjustment comes from cable tension from that barrel adjuster.
I'm quite sure that I'm not much help.

BTW, the three bikes that I actually ride, all shift like a motherfucker. That meaning that they are dead balls, spot on, click, snap, in and go, no slipping, no bullshit, no second guessing, click it's in any you can jump on the pedals and don't get that suprise jump to another gear.

Brakes are a whole other game too.
When are we gonna see a pic of this thing so I can make fun of it?

[Twitchin Kitten]

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OK start making fun because on top of it being total shit and rusted, it's a girls model too. The tires are a tad bald on top of it.

It took me ALL DAY to fix that thing to being useable! The gears are still not perfect and using it you're going to have to learn to fiddle with the front and rear derailleurs on each shift between front sprockets.

I found two good videos on the YT but they show a NICE bike with Shimano derailleurs. NEW Shimano's too. My crappy Huffy at least has Shimano gears and derailleurs and it's dead on balls on too. I take care of my things even when they are not used!

The set screws are a little more complicated than you think, but your description is 99% on target too.

You should see the rust on it! We'll be getting him a new bike once he says if he likes riding with me or not. If it's a not - I get the good bike first.

I'll snap a pic for tomorrow.

[twisteroo]

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Oh man, bike shopping, I can hardly wait!!!
You want I should pick one out for you?

[Twitchin Kitten]

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No thanks. I've a limited budget and it won't happen until at least next year. That seat looks painful!

[twisteroo]

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But I liiiiiikkkkkkkeeeee bike shopping.

[twisteroo]

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Just look at the used stuff we can choose from!!!

http://newyork.craigslist.org/bik/

[Twitchin Kitten]

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OK I'll let you help. Once I figure my budget we'll go bike shopping. I did buy a new seat today. I hope I like it. My old one decomposed on my ride today.

[twisteroo]

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I'm sure you have loads to learn about buying a bike, like getting the right size and the right style for your needs. I suspect you want a hybrid.