Derailleur setting up

Wayners

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 5, 2023
409
89
55
Gloucester
Hi all.

I've fitted 2 new shifters for 3 cog front and 6 speed rear freewheel.
I've also fitted a new derailleur.
Setting up is impossible although I'm having another go today.
Watched loads of YouTube videos but none show what I need to look at. Turn a few screws and its all smooth changing they say. No chance.
Either chain jumps off or sits on wrong cog.
I'm thinking it's likely to be a bike mechanic job Vs DIY?
Any thoughts or advice before I try again. Tbh I need cheering on a bit with it. Ha
 
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Bikes4two

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 21, 2020
1,006
432
Havant
Hi all.

I've fitted 2 new shifters for 3 cog front and 6 speed rear freewheel.
I've also fitted a new derailleur.
Setting up is impossible although I'm having another go today.
Watched loads of YouTube videos but none show what I need to look at. Turn a few screws and its all smooth changing they say. No chance.
Either chain jumps off or sits on wrong cog.
I'm thinking it's likely to be a bike mechanic job Vs DIY?
Any thoughts or advice before I try again. Tbh I need cheering on a bit with it. Ha
First of all, is the chain jumping off at one of the 'end' cogs (called sprockets in the 'trade' :rolleyes:) , i.e. the biggest or the smallest? If it is, then this is down to the 'limit' (of travel) screws on the rear Derailleur (aka rear mech).

If all that's double dutch to you, and youtube is still not helping, then maybe you will have to go to a bike shop.
As for shifting accurately between gears: this is all down to how much gear cable is 'pulled' when you operate the shifters and then how much the rear mech moves across the sprockets - in this respect the shifters and rear mech need to work together to match the gaps between each of the 6 sprockets on the free wheel.

So you'll need to tell us which rear mech and shifters you've got (presumably you selected both to work with a 6-speed freewheel?).
 

Wayners

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 5, 2023
409
89
55
Gloucester
524975249852499

Thanks for replying
Im not sure about the height of the derailleur. One guy on YouTube mentioned 5mm gap? Just going to watch that again to try work that out.
The high low adjustment I understand however, I'm having trouble setting that up. Looks good to me but the chain won't jump sprocket. I think its because I've got the derailleur height adjustment wrong.
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
6,812
3,150
Telford
Hi all.

I've fitted 2 new shifters for 3 cog front and 6 speed rear freewheel.
I've also fitted a new derailleur.
Setting up is impossible although I'm having another go today.
Watched loads of YouTube videos but none show what I need to look at. Turn a few screws and its all smooth changing they say. No chance.
Either chain jumps off or sits on wrong cog.
I'm thinking it's likely to be a bike mechanic job Vs DIY?
Any thoughts or advice before I try again. Tbh I need cheering on a bit with it. Ha
There are 6 separate adjustments you have to make in the prescribed sequence below. It's best to do them with the chain on whichever front cog that you will mainly be using, which is normally the big one on an electric bike:
1 High gear stop screw. There are two screws together normally marked H and L, sometimes not marked. You select high gear on the cable, then slacken off the cable by unfixing it. You adjust the scre until the derailleur holds the chain in the middle of the hich gear (smallest cog).
2. Cable length. You pull the cable end around its fixing until it is just tight, then fix the clamp screw.
3. Cable length adjuster. You select the next gear and adjust the sleeve adjuster on the end of the cable outer until you can shift consistently and correctly between top gear and the next.
4. Low gear stop screw. It's the one next to the high gear stop screw. You select bottom gear on your shifter and adjust the screw until the derailleur holds the chain in line with the low gear sprocket (largest cog).
5. Check that all gears shift correctly. if they don't, you use small adjustments of the cable length adjuster until they do.
6 B-screw. The B-screw is on the back of the derailleur, and it sets the chain tension. The idea is to get the top idler wheel on the derailleur close to the gears with enough room for the chain to be able to shift properly. Normally, there's no need to adjust it, except if your chain is the wrong length. It's not a critical adjustment. in theory, the closer it is to the gears, the more accurate the shifting, but sometimes shifting works better if there's some tolerance on the shifting accuracy. In other words, you only adjust it if you get problems shifting when everything else is OK.

The procedure is the same for the front derailleur, except there's no B-screw, and it's the other way round - big cog with cable slack. It's probably better to do the front first.
 

matthewslack

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2021
1,854
1,341
The basic thing is that the derailleur must move sideways the same distance as the sprocket spacing for each shift. A compatible shifter and derailleur work together to make this happen.

Different makes/models of shifter move the cable different amounts for a shift, and that is where your problem lies. The Sram shifter moves the cable the wrong distance for the Shimano Tourney derailleur.

Lots of stuff on ebay, including actual Shimano Tourney which if I was playing safe is what I would go for.

 
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Raboa

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 12, 2014
787
298
52
Shimano and Suntour systems have different pull ratio, this is the amount of cable each turn / click on the shifter pulls.

You can get adapters that allow you to mix systems, the site lists what will work with your system

 
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saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
6,812
3,150
Telford
All what these guys are saying is what you have to do for PERFECTv shifting, but whatever you have, as long as you get bottom and top gears correct, it'll work. I've used 7 speed freewheel with 9 speed shifter and derailleur, 8 speed freewheel with 6-speed bike, and many other combinations. Presently I have the a cheap 9-speed steel cassette with my Shimano XT 9-speed bike, which has different spacing, but it works OK. Sometimes, like on cheap catalogue bikes, I have to do two clicks forward and one back to get the gear I want, but that doesn't bother me. it's no problem on a bike with a hub-motor, but I wouldn't advise it with a crank motor.
 

matthewslack

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2021
1,854
1,341
I found my 11 speed shifter works as well as the 9 speed shifter with 9 speed cassette if I lead the cable the wrong side of the clamp bolt! Alters the effective pull ratio roughly the right amount.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,191
30,598
All what these guys are saying is what you have to do for PERFECTv shifting, but whatever you have, as long as you get bottom and top gears correct, it'll work.
Agreed. I set up both my pedelec conversions with SRAM twistshifts and Shimano rear mechanisms and never had the slightest difficulty in gear changing, even spanning to Megarange sprockets.
.
 

Wayners

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 5, 2023
409
89
55
Gloucester
All sorted. I managed to work it out however, I only really need 3rd, 4th and 5th gear. With the highest gear I'm paddling fast enough at around 17mph. I assume I really need a higher ratio MTB if I want to go faster although I don't. That's the maximum speed of my kit when I peddle..
Thanks
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
6,812
3,150
Telford
All sorted. I managed to work it out however, I only really need 3rd, 4th and 5th gear. With the highest gear I'm paddling fast enough at around 17mph. I assume I really need a higher ratio MTB if I want to go faster although I don't. That's the maximum speed of my kit when I peddle..
Thanks
You MUST set the low gear stop correctly, otherwise you can pull the derailleur into the spokes and smash everything, then you have to carry your bike home because the wheel won't turn. it's very easy to do with twist-grip shifters. I've seen it happen many times when I've been out and about on my bike: A couple of times I had to go and get my van to rescue guys (made a couple of friends through it); one time I was able to straighten the derailleur enough for the guy to push his bike home; one was left where he was because I was too far from home and didn't have suitable tools to repair; and one said he had already rung for help.

Your low gear stop screw doesn't look right in the photo. Maybe the camera just makes it look weird.
 
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