Pro Connect Gear change cable adjustment

[oriteroom]

Hi all.

The gear change cable on my Pro Connect is now at the extent of the adjustment available at the shifter end (the screw adjuster is right out). In gear 4 the two yellow lines on the hub do not quite match up but there's no further adjustment available to get them to match up exactly - especially if the cable 'stretches' any more. Currently I'm not having any gear/gear change problems but maybe it only a matter of time before I do (I needed to make an adjustment soon after taking delivery a couple of months ago when I had an odd 'crunch' in the drive train).

I assume the only other adjustment is at the hub end - the inner cable fixing bolt unit? Is this right and is it an easy 'operation'? I've got a copy of the shimano service instructions (Thanks again to this valuable forum for the links). However, I'd like advice on the difficulty of doing such a task as a reasonable competent 'novice' but my only previous experience of hub gears is the good old Sturm-Archer 3 speed!

I've read various posts on the Pedelecs site about the hub cassette etc. re changing sprockets/removing rear wheel etc. but would like to get a grip on the level of difficulty in 'fiddling' with the inner cable fixing bolt unit if that's what I need to do.

Hope you can help.

Mike

 

[JamesC]

Hi all.

The gear change cable on my Pro Connect is now at the extent of the adjustment available at the shifter end (the screw adjuster is right out). In gear 4 the two yellow lines on the hub do not quite match up but there's no further adjustment available to get them to match up exactly - especially if the cable 'stretches' any more. Currently I'm not having any gear/gear change problems but maybe it only a matter of time before I do (I needed to make an adjustment soon after taking delivery a couple of months ago when I had an odd 'crunch' in the drive train).

I assume the only other adjustment is at the hub end - the inner cable fixing bolt unit? Is this right and is it an easy 'operation'? I've got a copy of the shimano service instructions (Thanks again to this valuable forum for the links). However, I'd like advice on the difficulty of doing such a task as a reasonable competent 'novice' but my only previous experience of hub gears is the good old Sturm-Archer 3 speed!

I've read various posts on the Pedelecs site about the hub cassette etc. re changing sprockets/removing rear wheel etc. but would like to get a grip on the level of difficulty in 'fiddling' with the inner cable fixing bolt unit if that's what I need to do.

Hope you can help.

Mike

Yes Mike.

You have already discovered that the inner cable stretches with use, and that the outer sheath must be extended by "unscrewing" the adjuster at the Alfine SL-S500 lever.

If you run out of adjustment at the lever, then it is neccessary to move the "inner cable fixing bolt" at the wheel end of the gear cable.

The instruction sheet that you are going to need is here - Alfine SL-500 Shifting Lever

Set gearshift to 1st Gear.

Screw the adjuster on the gearshift lever most of the way into the housing - leave 2 turns or so to provide some fine tuning at the last stage.

Check that the outer sheath is still seated into the bottom of the adjuster with a gentle pull towards the lever.

Bike upside down with a pair of wooden blocks under the grips on the handlebars, to protect the expensive gubbins on the bars.

Use column 3 of the instruction sheet to unhook the cable from the "cassette joint". Note the very useful tip at the bottom of the column, using a thin Allen key or old spoke to rotate the cassette joint to gain slack on the inner cable.

With the inner and outer parts of the cable free from the joint, and the shifter still in 1st gear, check once again that the outer sheath has pushed all the way back to the lever housing.

Looking at the wheel end of the cable, Instruction 6 in Column 5 of the sheet shows the correct distance of 101 mm between the end of the sheath and the inner cable fixing bolt.

You are expecting to find that the inner cable has stretched, and that the bolt is further away than this - perhaps 103 mm.

Making sure that you never stress the cable and cause a kink, loosen the bolt using 2 spanners (10mm and ?) to prevent any twist on the cable.

Move the bolt that little bit closer to the sheath.

Reassemble the cable into the cassette.

Set bike upright, and engage 4th gear in the normal way to set the alignment of the yellow marks.

Hope it all goes well.

James

 

[oriteroom]

James

Thanks very much for such a very clear, informative and encouraging reply which I'll follow. I'm only surprised that it needs adjustment after such a short time - surely the cable isn't under a lot of strain?

Mike

 

[flecc]

All the cable inners stretch and outers compress the most initially Mike, but then tend to settle into stability for a long time.
.

 

[Danny-K]

I'm only surprised that it needs adjustment after such a short time - surely the cable isn't under a lot of strain? Mike

All the years I've been a cyclist the constant refrain from the collective experience, handed down from generation to generation has always been:

'Watch out for new inner gear and brake cables stretching after the first hundred miles or so; they'll need to be readjusted back into alignment - then they won't bother so much after that'.

Have you ever tried to stretch inner gear or brake wire? It's impossible! A million dollars to the first man who can, (has to be dollars as I have a fake, toy, million dollar note - just in case )

- that stuff is NOT made to stretch - if it did a) in the case of inner brake wire it would be potentially a dangerous death trap, and b) Manufacturers would simply select some other material that didn't stretch.

No, what happens in practice, I believe, is that the outer plastic cable housings etc., compress and/or 'bed in'/into the plastic ferrules and barrels adding up in total to unwanted changes in operation - it is they, who are responsible for altering settings - inner gear wire NEVER stretches. Yet you''ll see VERY experienced cyclists who after fitting new gear and brake cables, getting hold of the inner wire and pulling it for all they're worth. Pointless.

It's like rubbing a sore jaw because you have toothache. Right symptom; wrong area.

On a new bike, just recheck and adjust as necessary after the 'running-in' period has allowed everything to settle and bed-down.

 

[flecc]

I agree with you on the bedding down of ends etc Danny, but there is a small degree of inner stretch and outer compression as well. As you say, it's not seen by simple tugging, but under leverage it happens. My assessment has always been that most of it is outer cable compression rather than inner stretch, and the other part is the inner bedding down into a stable path on the lining of the outer and compressing the lining over the arc of the curves in the outer.

However, rather than going into a long winded explanation of the minutiae every time someone needs adjustment advice, it's much simpler to just refer to cable stretch, so that's what I do
.

 

[Danny-K]

Flecc, I was having a Michael Caine moment: Not a lot of people know this but do you know...

 

[flecc]

Flecc, I was having a Michael Caine moment: Not a lot of people know this but do you know...

. Nothing wrong with that, I do it myself at times, but I never made the Caine connection.
.

 

[JamesC]

All the years I've been a cyclist the constant refrain from the collective experience, handed down from generation to generation has always been:

'Watch out for new inner gear and brake cables stretching after the first hundred miles or so; they'll need to be readjusted back into alignment - then they won't bother so much after that'.

Have you ever tried to stretch inner gear or brake wire? It's impossible! A million dollars to the first man who can, (has to be dollars as I have a fake, toy, million dollar note - just in case )

- that stuff is NOT made to stretch - if it did a) in the case of inner brake wire it would be potentially a dangerous death trap, and b) Manufacturers would simply select some other material that didn't stretch.

No, what happens in practice, I believe, is that the outer plastic cable housings etc., compress and/or 'bed in'/into the plastic ferrules and barrels adding up in total to unwanted changes in operation - it is they, who are responsible for altering settings - inner gear wire NEVER stretches. Yet you''ll see VERY experienced cyclists who after fitting new gear and brake cables, getting hold of the inner wire and pulling it for all they're worth. Pointless.

It's like rubbing a sore jaw because you have toothache. Right symptom; wrong area.

On a new bike, just recheck and adjust as necessary after the 'running-in' period has allowed everything to settle and bed-down.

When brakes and gears depend on a "clamp bolt" on the end of the inner cable, it is possible that the bolt has slipped a little. This gives the appearance that the cable has stretched.

On the other hand, clamping the bolt very tight on the cable can cause a weakness.

It takes a little experience to feel the ideal tightness.

James

 

[Danny-K]

Quite agree with you James; slippage from the clamp bolt etc., is the kind of thing I was alluding to.

But I do hold the view that, (even though it would be possible under engineering laboratory workshop conditions to induce a measurable 'stretch'), the material used for inner gear and brake wire is quite high in tensile strength, and the forces involved in shifting (even braking) are not great enough to exceed the metal's yield strength.

 

[flecc]

But I do hold the view that, (even though it would be possible under engineering laboratory workshop conditions to induce a measurable 'stretch'),

And certainly not enough to amount to the over half inch of thread adjuster that's commonly used up in the first weeks of ownership.
.

 

[oriteroom]

Thanks JamesC for your excellent instructions - I made the adjustment at the clamp end and all's working well. Thanks to you all as well for the intersting discussion on causes.

James also made an important point in another post about Pro Connect chains and lubrication of the jockey wheel tensioner:

"But keep an eye on it moving too easily. At 100 miles (when changing the sprocket), I discovered that the single pivot bolt that carries the tension arm and coil spring had come loose, allowing the arm to swing sideways and want to climb out of the chain."

Whist doing the gear change adjustment I also checked the jockey wheel pivots on both mine and my wife's Pro Connects. Both were slack. We've covered about 400 odd miles or so. It's obviously a a good idea to give new bikes a careful check over after a suitable running in period. Does anyone else any points to watch out for in the early days?

What a REALLY great site this is!

Mike