I am totally new to roadbike shifting, and I might me doing something wrong. I can’t seem to get the bike into second gear. All the other gears works just fine, it’s only the second gear. I tried slacking the chain and putting it on when the bike is in second gear, but it just goes straight back to first. On the video attached you can see how it moves when I shift up and down on.
I got the bike just a week ago, it’s an Canyon Endurance 6 AL.
All help is very appriciated! Thanks in advance!
Why won’t my bike shift into second gear?
byu/Skmbank inbikewrench
by Skmbank
8 Comments
Calvin Jones to the rescue! https://youtu.be/ZNG7g83lI-s?si=kJ_wO82Ec-fU_LaU
Contact Canyon. Don’t know their policy, but I’d imagine they should be paying to get this to work right for a 1 week old bike.
As far as what would fix this, you need to know how front derailleurs work. As you can guess, the cage isn’t pulling out far enough away from the frame to get the chain over to the big ring. Two possible causes.
1. The cable is too slack, so shifting over doesn’t pull enough cable. If you’re lucky, a turn or two of the front derailleur cable barrel adjuster is enough. If not enough, then the solution is to re-clamp the cable at the front derailleur about 2 to 4mm shorter to get more tension. For a newbie, this is easier said than done, because you normally have to pull a lot of tension by hand before re-clamping the bolt. So I suggest doing this only if you’re willing to commit. **But the foregoing won’t work if the L-Limit screw prevents that movement.**
2. The other cause is that the H-limit screw is preventing the cage from moving any further outboard. Simplest way to test it is to leave it on the stand like you have in video. Start pedaling with your right hand, and keep pedaling. Then shift your front shifter to the highest gear position, even if the chain won’t shift. Now put your left hand directly on the front derailleur to try and manually shift to the big ring by pulling the cage out and away from the frame. If you’re able to fully shift the chain onto the big ring, then it’s a cable tension issue you have. If you’re not able to manually move the cage over, then your L-limit screw is in too far and is preventing the cage from doing its job.
As others has mentioned: cable tension, L and H Limit Screw of your front derailleur. Refer to first comment on how to adjust them.
Tension cable. That cable looks like it needs to be pulled up more so that it can pull the derailleur out more to shift the chain into that outer ring.
Check the cable routing for that model on si.shimano.com.
Call up the shop that sold it to you and explain. Be kind and you’ll get it back for free working great!
the cable isn’t tight enough. you can see as you shift first the slack disappears and then the derailleur moves. if it’s new, cables stretch, and it’s totally normal. look for a barrel adjuster in the cable routing before you attack the restraining bolt, sometimes a couple of twists is all that’s needed.
This is where inline barrel adjusters are worth their weight in gold