Shimano Deore XT - setup after repair/\/\/\/\/\/\/

I picked up a Cannondale Super-V 2000 last year and loved the bike. A
few weeks ago I accidentally backed over it after a long ride (long
story I'd rather not discuss for obvious reasons!) and did very little
damage except to break the rear derailleur mount. Got a replacement
and got everything back together and now I can't seem to get the gear
shifting adjusted correctly. The rear down-shift lever (part of the
XTR brake handle) will be totally loose and I have to completely cycle
it a couple times for it to shift, and it is totally out of whack.
It's XTR brakes with Deore XT - Integrated 8SIS 8 gear rear.
Occasionally (probably due to the mis-adjustment) when in the higher
gears, the rear will down shift and then upshift all on it's own,
too. And sometimes it acts as if it's between two gears and when I
click the up-shift once it doesn't change gears but it settles into
the one it's in.

If there is some hints to the basic setup and adjustment somewhere, or
if someone can clue me in on how to set this, I would greatly
appreciate this so I can start riding again. And is there a special
screwdriver to get to the adjusting screws on the front derailleur as
it appears the screw heads are barely below part of the main assembly.

Thanks in advance for your assistance,
Scott

On Feb 26, 12:42 pm, wrote:
I picked up a Cannondale Super-V 2000 last year and loved the bike. A
few weeks ago I accidentally backed over it after a long ride (long
story I'd rather not discuss for obvious reasons!) and did very little
damage except to break the rear derailleur mount. Got a replacement
and got everything back together and now I can't seem to get the gear
shifting adjusted correctly. The rear down-shift lever (part of the
XTR brake handle) will be totally loose and I have to completely cycle
it a couple times for it to shift, and it is totally out of whack.
It's XTR brakes with Deore XT - Integrated 8SIS 8 gear rear.
Occasionally (probably due to the mis-adjustment) when in the higher
gears, the rear will down shift and then upshift all on it's own,
too. And sometimes it acts as if it's between two gears and when I
click the up-shift once it doesn't change gears but it settles into
the one it's in.

If there is some hints to the basic setup and adjustment somewhere, or
if someone can clue me in on how to set this, I would greatly
appreciate this so I can start riding again. And is there a special
screwdriver to get to the adjusting screws on the front derailleur as
it appears the screw heads are barely below part of the main assembly.

Thanks in advance for your assistance,
Scott

I find Sheldons site to me most helpful. Check out
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer_adj.html. You may wish to start
at www.sheldonbrown.com and navigate there yourself, as you'll likely
find some other cool & informative pages.

Wrote:
I picked up a Cannondale Super-V 2000 last year and loved the bike. A
few weeks ago I accidentally backed over it after a long ride (long
story I'd rather not discuss for obvious reasons!) and did very little
damage except to break the rear derailleur mount. Got a replacement
and got everything back together and now I can't seem to get the gear
shifting adjusted correctly. The rear down-shift lever (part of the
XTR brake handle) will be totally loose and I have to completely cycle
it a couple times for it to shift, and it is totally out of whack.
It's XTR brakes with Deore XT - Integrated 8SIS 8 gear rear.
Occasionally (probably due to the mis-adjustment) when in the higher
gears, the rear will down shift and then upshift all on it's own,
too. And sometimes it acts as if it's between two gears and when I
click the up-shift once it doesn't change gears but it settles into
the one it's in.

If there is some hints to the basic setup and adjustment somewhere, or
if someone can clue me in on how to set this, I would greatly
appreciate this so I can start riding again. And is there a special
screwdriver to get to the adjusting screws on the front derailleur as
it appears the screw heads are barely below part of the main assembly.

Thanks in advance for your assistance,
Scott
I agree with the other poster that Sheldon Brown's site is likely to be
helpful.
http://sheldonbrown.com/autoshift.html
is another link that might apply.
It sounds like you may have significant friction in the housing/cable
interface & possibly derailer hanger alignment issues.
http://parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=64
http://parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=39
http://parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=116
may also help.
You want the Compressionless shift housing with properly prepared ends
and correct lengths.


--
daveornee

I agree with the other poster that Sheldon Brown's site is likely to be helpful.http://sheldonbrown.com/autoshift.html

Looks like great site(s) for help with this. Just browsed them and
they look great (and I wish I could of stumbled across them with a
search engine and saved the post). If I have follow-ups I will keep
it in this topic but looks like this should get me back on the trails.

Thanks for the quick response and for the helpful information!
Scott

In article
m,
wrote:

I agree with the other poster that Sheldon Brown's site is likely to be helpful.http://sheldonbrown.com/autoshift.html

Looks like great site(s) for help with this. Just browsed them and
they look great (and I wish I could of stumbled across them with a
search engine and saved the post). If I have follow-ups I will keep
it in this topic but looks like this should get me back on the trails.

Is the derailleur hanger straight? Has it been checked
to be exactly straight by someone who knows what he is
doing? Anyway, look up how to check it yourself. Also
look up the string test for testing the frame
alignment.

--
Michael Press

On Feb 26, 11:02 am, daveornee daveornee.2mm...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:

It sounds like you may have significant friction in the housing/cable
interface & possibly derailer hanger alignment issues.http://parktool.com/repair/readhowto...wto.asp?id=116
may also help.
You want the Compressionless shift housing with properly prepared ends
and correct lengths.

I'll ditto that also. I have those same components (8-speed XTR
shifters, later Deore XT rear derailleut) and it usually shifts fine.
When the cable and housing gets old and gummy, it starts to have
problems. I'd recommend double-checking the cable routing for excess
friction (particularly on an old Super V) and making sure it's smooth
from shifter to derailleur. Replacing the cable and housing is cheap
insurance, though.

Jeff

It sounds like you may have significant friction in the housing/cable interface & possibly derailer hanger alignment issues.http://parktool.com/repair/readhowto....com/rep...may also help

I'll be checking that soon. We rode some Florida rustic trails and
lots of powder sand and small streams so the entire bike got a good
dusting. Alignment and cleaning coming up :O)

You want the Compressionless shift housing with properly prepared ends and correct lengths.

Hopefully that's in the websites (printing the info out as we speak)
as it had a crimped end and to remove the old deraileur mount (that
was broken) I had to remove the cable which meant clipping the crimp-
on end off. The crimp-on end was not against any part of the housing,
appeared to be just to prevent cable fraying.

I'll ditto that also. I have those same components (8-speed XTR shifters, later Deore XT rear derailleut) and it usually shifts fine. When the cable and housing gets old and gummy, it starts to have problems.

Cleaning seems in order (or possibly replacing the cables).

I'd recommend double-checking the cable routing for excess friction (particularly on an old Super V) and making sure it's smooth from shifter to derailleur. Replacing the cable and housing is chean insurance, though.

Good local shop could do it cheap but I'd much rather figure it out on
my own so if I run into issues in the field I know what I'm dealing
with. The shop is great but not much help 12 miles out in the woods
with darkness closing in :O)

Thanks again,
Scott