Can you adjust the gears on your bike yourself? Of course! Before that, however, you should definitely shift up a gear when it comes to maintenance! Biking is only really fun when all components – especially the gears – work perfectly. A bit of maintenance and the right adjustment ensure smooth functioning and significantly extend the lifespan of the gears – here’s how you do it!
The gears are counted among the components of the drivetrain. Other bicycle parts that belong to it include the chain, crank, or pedals. A clean and properly adjusted gear ensures that all parts of the drivetrain last longer, as many of these parts are typical wear parts.
|
Regular maintenance, cleaning, and good care save you a lot of money – because you need replacement parts less often. A little love and the right adjustment of the gears also save your nerves, as you won't be slowed down by avoidable breakdowns . |
In this blog post, we want to help you get your chain gears in top shape through proper cleaning, repairing, and adjusting.
Spare parts for bicycle gears & drivetrain
Gear groups & spare parts | Chains | Cranks | Cassettes | Chainrings
What do you need to adjust the bicycle gears?
If you want to clean, repair, and adjust the gears on your bicycle, you can't do it without the right accessories and appropriate tools. The list looks long, but don't worry, you don't always need all of it. Depending on the task, the required material can be completely different. Basically, it’s enough if you check with an Allen or Torx key after cleaning to see if all screws are tightened. With a bit more equipment and bicycle cleaners and special care products you are definitely prepared for all eventualities.
Clean, repair & adjust bicycle gears – tools & care:
- Bicycle cleaner
- Drivetrain cleaner / chain cleaner
- Chain oil or chain spray
- Brushes in various shapes
- Lint-free cloths
- Hex keys (Allen keys) in sizes 1.5 - 8 mm
- Torx keys (star keys) in sizes T15 - T25
- Cable cutter or sharp side cutter
- Pliers
- Torque wrench
- Cassette remover
- Chain whip
- Chain breaker
- Chain lock & possibly chain lock tool
- Chain checker
- Bottom bracket tool
|
Our tip: Cleaning and adjusting the gears is much easier if you have a repair stand . It holds the bike securely, but you can move the drivetrain freely, which makes your work significantly easier! |
If your bike looks like this, you should clean the gears thoroughly before adjusting them, otherwise you're just moving dirt around!
Cleaning the bike gears
Whether on paved roads, rough gravel sections, or natural trails, sooner or later dirt, dust, and grime will settle in your gears and affect the entire drivetrain system.
|
Our tip: Always clean the gears before adjusting them. |
When you get up close to your gears, you can see whether they just need adjusting or if dirt and wear have taken their toll.
Why do you need to clean the bike gears regularly?
Chain, sprockets, or chainrings naturally work best – in the true sense of the word "frictionless" – when they are clean. A clean gear system also lasts significantly longer because dirt wears down the material. Therefore, it is especially important to clean your gears regularly.
The “quick” cleaning of the bike gears
After a tour, a small cleaning action is often enough.
- Wrap a suitable cloth (Important: one that doesn't shed fibers) around the chain and turn the crank a few rounds backward so that the chain runs through your cloth. This removes coarse dirt.
- Then apply a drop of chain oil to each chain link. You should drip the oil onto the inside of the chain links.
- Next, shift through all the gears two to three times to distribute the oil well.
- Wipe off excess oil from the chain with the cloth.
The “thorough” cleaning of the bike gears
The first steps of the thorough cleaning of the gears correspond to the “quick cleaning,” but this cleaning is a bit more thorough as you also clean the cassette, chainrings, and derailleur jockey wheels.
- For this, you can use either a suitable brush and clean the chain in place.
- After cleaning your drivetrain with an appropriate cleaner, rinse it with clear water.
- But you can also remove the chain and soak in degreaser (also works with a suitable bicycle cleaner and drivetrain cleaner). However, you must then reinstall them; overall, this approach is time-consuming and not always necessary.
Without a proper gear adjustment, nothing rolls on the bike – that's why it's crucial to clean, maintain, and replace worn parts in time.
Adjust the bicycle gears – optimize the shifting performance!
As a layperson, you might not dare to adjust the bicycle gears, but with some tools and know-how, it's not difficult!
In the following section, you will learn step by step how to adjust your bicycle gears.
Adjust the front derailleur
Front derailleurs are becoming endangered, as 1x drivetrains are on the rise. If your bicycle has a front derailleur (the front “gear mechanism” over the crank), most groupsets have two screws to adjust the correct end stops and cable tension settings on the shifter.
- The chain should be about one millimeter away from the outer guide plate of the derailleur. Visually, this is almost centered, with a tendency outward (if you stand on the bike facing forward, it's to the right). You make this adjustment by tightening or loosening the shift cable with the adjustment screw on the shifter.
- By turning the “H” screw, you set the upper stop of the derailleur, i.e., the outermost position. This ensures that your chain does not fall over your largest chainring and jump off.
- The “L” screw ensures the lower stop, i.e., that your chain does not slip between your smallest chainring and the frame.
With the screws shown on your derailleur, you adjust how far your chain moves.
2. Adjust the bicycle derailleur
The adjustment of the derailleur is also relatively simple and achievable for any biker with some practice.
Here you will learn step by step how to adjust your bicycle gears:
First, correctly adjust the shift cable
- If you are installing a new one, pull it from the shifter on the handlebar through the outer casing and route the casing either externally or internally (within the frame). Ensure that the shift cable moves through the outer casing without resistance. You can use some WD40 to help, allowing the shift cable to glide optimally through the outer casing.
- Now insert the shift cable into your derailleur and secure it with the appropriate Allen or Torx screw.
Make sure that the shift cable is properly tensioned and that you have previously shifted to the smallest gear at the shift lever.
With these adjustment screws (on the shift lever and derailleur), you adjust the tension of your shift cable.
- Now shift through your gears and check if the gear changes are executed directly when shifting.
- Check the shifting operations in both directions, upwards and downwards.
- With the adjustment screws on the shift lever and the derailleur itself, you can correct the tension of the shift cable without tools.
- If the chain does not move to the next larger chainring when shifting up, you should increase the cable tension . If the chain only moves with difficulty from the larger to the smaller sprocket, you can relax the shift cable a bit.
This is how you adjust the chain stop
As with the front derailleur, you adjust the stops of the chain on the derailleur using the screws “H” and “L” . This sets how far the chain can move to the right (outside) or to the left (inside) when shifting into the hardest and easiest gear.
↪ In the smallest gear the top pulley of the derailleur should run exactly under the smallest sprocket of the cassette. If this is not the case and your chain is not in the correct position, adjust this with the H screw .
↪ For the upper stop first shift into the easiest gear and adjust the L screw so that the pulley of the derailleur also runs exactly under the largest sprocket.
The distance between the largest sprocket and the upper derailleur pulley should be about 6 mm
The finish of the bicycle gear adjustment
In the final step, you should check the wrap and adjust it with the appropriate screw if necessary. The wrap refers to the distance or angle of the upper pulley of the derailleur to the largest sprocket.
- There should be approximately a 6-millimeter gap between the two components to ensure optimal function.
- On newer Shimano In der case of derailleurs there is a mark on the back of the derailleur to control the wrap. In SRAM derailleurs the wrap is also called B-Gap. Note: There is a special tool for setting the wrap.
Flying branches, dirt, and mud are fun, but they are a real challenge for your bike's gears. If you can adjust and repair your gears yourself (and get them clean again), you can save a trail day.
More guides in the Bike Blog:
- Cleaning & maintaining the bike in winter
- Cleaning the bike – our best tips
- Bike storage
- The secret of the torque wrench
