Thursday 27 December 2007

PREP


".....and I know I was wrong when you said it was true that it coud've been me who'd been caught in between without you" *

Been getting ready for tomorrows ride to Llandegla forest.Last week the Meta was acting up a bit.The gears at the back were misbehaving.I put it down to a 'sticky' cable . It's a common 'fault' with mountainbikes. A few manufacturers are getting wise ( UK ones ),but the majority are still running cables that' stop and start' on their way from the shifter to the mech.I'm sure in the barren wastelands of California ,and even Andorra, this isnt too big a problem,but over here where it actually rains and then water saturates the ground creating mud , it is.After a few rides moisture is drawn into the cables which corrodes and causes the cables to stick.Your thumb is strong enough to shift up the cassette and overcome this stickiness,but the spring in the mech that returns it back down the block isnt and you end up in between gears.The cure is a simple one.Run an uninterrupted piece of cable ,inner+outer,all the way from the shifter to the mech and tape/tie wrap it to the frame.Shit cant easily get in .
OK ,so that's todays job.Simply replace the cables on the meta.Hmm.Not dead easy.The SRAM x-9 shifters have a cover on top that is held in place with a silver screwed on retainer,they look like the old x-0s.Upon removal of the cover you have to unhook a( fragile looking )spring and 'fish out' the cable from under a coiled second spring,again a bit like the old x-os. It's abit tricky ,but hard to cock up really,not an impossible job ,but not as easy as some i've done over the years. 'Fish in ' a new inner and put everything back,slide on a new full length bit of outer and clamp up the inner onto the derailleur.Job done.Ace.
Except it isnt.It still doesnt seem to be shifting right.The larger of the two shifter arms,for changing up the cassette,isnt 'snapping' back into it's natural default position after a gearchange.It's not a wasted job but it might not be the cable at all. I'll keep you posted.Everything i've read about SRAM shifters is that theyre mega reliable but thats not to say it couldnt be a rogue.It's not had a knock that I know of.See how it goes tomorrow. TIM

* The cure. In between gears.

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