Brompton Gear Change Problem
Discussion
Would be grateful for a bit of help and advice, as I'm no expert on bikes.
Took my bike (Bromton with an 8 speed Sturmey Archer hub) into a shop to get a new chain fitted. Upon collection, they'd fitted a new chain, sprocket and gear cable, and "serviced" (which I guess is adjusted) the gears. They then proceeded to tell me that there was a problem between gears 7 & 8, in that there seemed to be no noticeable difference between the two, and that to address it would mean stripping the hub to take a look. Given that I don't really use 8th, and didn't fancy adding to the expense, I said to leave it for now, and took the bike home.
Upon riding the bike later, I discovered what I believe to be the problem, which is that the gears weren't properly aligned to the shifter. By that I mean that position 1 on the shifter is actually giving me second gear, therefore position 7 is actually 8th, hence no change when selecting 8, as there's no additional gear beyond that. I know this is the case as, when the shifter is in position 1, if I push it backwards (behind 1) the bike the drops into a lower, ie 1st gear. In other words, all 8 gears are working fine, they just don't correspond to the shifter positions.
Anyway, I took it back and explained this, and they played around it with for half an hour and said that they'd need to keep it overnight to get to the bottom of the problem, and would call me when they figured it out.
Now, given my lack of knowledge, and the fact that the bike was shifting properly before I took it in for the chain change, I'm assuming that the problem is simply them not setting the gears properly, and that they'll figure this out, fix it, and all will be well, and this may well be what happens. However, I'd like to be prepared, just in case they come up with some convoluted explanation that claims there's now a fault with a previously working hub, that would require them taking it apart, and me spending more money.
So, my question is, is this likely just an adjustment issue that they got wrong, or even possibly the wrong size chain or sprocket fitted? Or is it possible that there's some existing fault with the bike/hub, that would only materialise after fitting a new chain, sprocket and gear cable?
I hope my explanation of things is clear, and thanks for any help and advice you can offer.
Took my bike (Bromton with an 8 speed Sturmey Archer hub) into a shop to get a new chain fitted. Upon collection, they'd fitted a new chain, sprocket and gear cable, and "serviced" (which I guess is adjusted) the gears. They then proceeded to tell me that there was a problem between gears 7 & 8, in that there seemed to be no noticeable difference between the two, and that to address it would mean stripping the hub to take a look. Given that I don't really use 8th, and didn't fancy adding to the expense, I said to leave it for now, and took the bike home.
Upon riding the bike later, I discovered what I believe to be the problem, which is that the gears weren't properly aligned to the shifter. By that I mean that position 1 on the shifter is actually giving me second gear, therefore position 7 is actually 8th, hence no change when selecting 8, as there's no additional gear beyond that. I know this is the case as, when the shifter is in position 1, if I push it backwards (behind 1) the bike the drops into a lower, ie 1st gear. In other words, all 8 gears are working fine, they just don't correspond to the shifter positions.
Anyway, I took it back and explained this, and they played around it with for half an hour and said that they'd need to keep it overnight to get to the bottom of the problem, and would call me when they figured it out.
Now, given my lack of knowledge, and the fact that the bike was shifting properly before I took it in for the chain change, I'm assuming that the problem is simply them not setting the gears properly, and that they'll figure this out, fix it, and all will be well, and this may well be what happens. However, I'd like to be prepared, just in case they come up with some convoluted explanation that claims there's now a fault with a previously working hub, that would require them taking it apart, and me spending more money.
So, my question is, is this likely just an adjustment issue that they got wrong, or even possibly the wrong size chain or sprocket fitted? Or is it possible that there's some existing fault with the bike/hub, that would only materialise after fitting a new chain, sprocket and gear cable?
I hope my explanation of things is clear, and thanks for any help and advice you can offer.
Thanks both for your answers.
Bike's about 12 years old I think. New sprocket and chain were fine, as I supplied them with the original specs from the supplier (Kinetics). I picked the bike up this afternoon and all is fixed, with no additional costs to me.
Apparently there's a little wear in the shifter, so they adjusted things to account for that and it shifts fine through the gears, and the gears match the shifter again, so all's well with the world.
Thanks again, much appreciated.
Bike's about 12 years old I think. New sprocket and chain were fine, as I supplied them with the original specs from the supplier (Kinetics). I picked the bike up this afternoon and all is fixed, with no additional costs to me.
Apparently there's a little wear in the shifter, so they adjusted things to account for that and it shifts fine through the gears, and the gears match the shifter again, so all's well with the world.
Thanks again, much appreciated.
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