How to Adjust a Gear Shifter

The gear shifters on your road or mountain bicycle serve an important purpose. The gear shifter pulls and pushes a cable that runs to the derailleur, which in turn moves the chain onto the different gears, changing pedaling difficulty. If your gear shifter is out of adjustment, however, the bicycle will not shift correctly into gear, making for a frustrating and difficult ride. Learn how to adjust the gear shifter on your bike, and never deal with an out-of-adjustment shifter again.

Things You'll Need

• 5mm hex wrench
• Needle nose pliers

Instructions

1. Set your bike in a dedicated work stand or stationary trainer so that you can spin the rear wheel as you work. This is necessary in order to make any proper adjustments.

2. Spin the cranks of the bike and shift into the lowest gear on the shifter. Reset the barrel adjuster of the shifter by spinning it clockwise until it stops.

3. Loosen the derailleur-cable stop using a 5mm hex wrench. Pull the cable tight in the cable stop using a pair of needle nose pliers. With your free hand, re-tighten the cable stop.

4. Spin the cranks of the bike forward and shift down one gear, using the shifter on the handlebars. Watch the derailleur at the rear of the bike. The chain should move over one cog onto the next-largest cog. If it doesn't shift, the barrel adjuster will need to be adjusted.

5. Continue spinning the cranks of the bike and twist the barrel adjuster on the shifter counterclockwise a small amount at a time. When the chain moves to the next-largest cog, twist the barrel adjuster further one-quarter of a turn.

References

• The Big Blue Book Of Bicycle Repair; 2009; Park Tool