Friction shifters, when to adjust tension

[Indyjps]

Had my old mountain bike derailleurs dialed in this summer, and now it's all out of whack again. It has friction shifters.

When do I adjust the tension? Before or after derailleur adjustment? Should the tension be a fine tuning at the end, or set it and leave it?

I've read thru several tutorials in derailleur adjustment, set these up before successfully. I'm slow but able to get them working well.

Need advice on the tension and I can set this back up. MtnBk is vintage in my avatar, I'd like to keep the old equipment running if possible.

 

[user 135]

What is it doing? Front or rear?

If you cable has stretched a bit, then you should have a hard time reaching your lowest gears in the rear and the highest gear on the front.

If your limit screws have come out of adjustment, then you may have a hard time reach either inside or outside gears. Or the chain fails off.

Tension should be easy as loosening the derailleur anchor and pulling the cable while retightening the anchor point ( make sure you are shift to the high gear in the rear and low gear in the front). If you can't shift all the way to the last gear, then turn the barrel out to add a little more tension.

Friction rocks because of how simple it is.

 

[Indyjps]

I think the tension is too tight, was pulling out of gear. Loosened it up and the derailleur are out of whack now. I can't get it back in shape with just the tension setting, I lose the top or bottom adjustment.

I can tune in the derailleur again, just never dealt with setting the tension.

 

[RustySprockets]

Tension shouldn't be much of an issue with friction shifters--they're simple. I disconnect the cable and pedal the bike to the derailleur's natural state, which is usually high gear (the smallest outboard cog). Make sure the shifter is also set to the highest position and remove all the slack from the cable, then clamp it down. You're done.

Front derailleur is essentially the same procedure, but performed on the small inboard chainring. If you're still having shifting problems after removing all the slack, your limit screws are probably out-of-whack and need some adjustment. Those just define how far inboard and outboard the derailleur can "swing." They have no effect on the interstitial gear settings--that's the shifter's job.

Proper cable tension is more impactful when working with indexed shifters, but on friction shifters, not so much.

 

[deorman]

If your derailleur pulls out of gear, your friction screws are too loose. Worn compression damaged ("stretched") cable housing can also be a source of shifting troubles. As far as the adjustment I think you're talking about, check this>

 

[Bicycle808]

A lot of good advice here in terms of adjusting cable tension, but you may want to look at other factors that could cause ghost-shifting (ie, "pulling out of gear"), which could include: a worn chain, worn rear sprockets in the freewheel (or cassette, depending), and the most annoying: the derailer hanger might be out of whack.

HTH

 

[Duchess]

All the above and cable housing run with too much restriction—tight bends, close compound bends, cable ends not cut and finished properly, etc. It's more of a problem with indexing shifters, but excessive friction can cause cable hang ups that delay shifts until a bump or application of torque can help the derailer spring enough to overcome the cable friction and finally complete the shift. I suppose the derailer itself could also be worn, but I doubt that's the problem.