Can you adjust the gears on your bike yourself? Of course! But first, 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. Some maintenance and the right adjustment ensure smooth operation and significantly extend the lifespan of the gears – here you’ll learn how it’s done!
The gears are considered part of the drivetrain components. Other bicycle parts that belong to it include the chain, crank, or pedals. A clean and properly adjusted gear ensures that all drivetrain components last longer, as many of these parts are typical wear parts.
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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 everything. 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 lubricants, you are definitely prepared for all eventualities.
Cleaning, repairing & adjusting bicycle gears – Tools & Maintenance:
- 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 gauge
- Bottom bracket tool
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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 thoroughly clean the gears before adjusting them, otherwise you're just moving dirt around!
Cleaning the Bicycle Gears
Whether on paved roads, rough gravel sections, or natural trails, sooner or later dirt, dust, and grime will settle in your gears and cause trouble for the entire drivetrain system.
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Our tip: Always clean the gears before adjusting them. |
When you get up close to your gears, you'll see whether they just need adjusting or if dirt and wear have taken their toll.
Why do you need to regularly clean the bicycle gears?
Chain, sprockets, or chainrings naturally work best – in the truest sense of the word “smoothly” – when they are clean. A clean gear system also lasts significantly longer, as dirt wears down the material. Therefore, it is particularly important to regularly clean your gears.
The “quick” cleaning of the bicycle gears
After a tour, a small cleaning action is often sufficient.
- Wrap a suitable cloth (Important: one that doesn't shed threads) 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.
- Afterward, 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 bicycle 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 pulleys.
- For this, you can either use a suitable brush and clean the chain in place.
- After cleaning your drivetrain with an appropriate cleaner, rinse it with clear water.
- You can also remove the chain and soak in degreaser (also works with a suitable bicycle cleaner and drivetrain cleaner). However, you will need to reinstall them afterward; 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 especially important to clean, maintain, and replace worn parts in a timely manner.
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 bike 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 at 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 are standing on the bike facing forward, 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, preventing your chain from slipping between your smallest chainring and the frame.
With the screws shown on your derailleur, you adjust how far your chain travels.
2. Adjust the bicycle derailleur
The adjustment of the derailleur is also relatively easy and can be done by any biker with a bit of practice.
Here you will learn step by step how to adjust your bicycle gears:
First, adjust the shift cable correctly
- If you are installing a new one, pull it from the shifter on the handlebar through the outer housings and route the housing either externally or internally (in the frame). Make sure the shift cable moves smoothly through the shift housing. You can use a bit of WD40 to help, so the shift cable glides optimally through the outer housing.
- Now you 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 on the shift lever.
With these adjustment screws (on the shift lever and on the 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 processes in both directions, upwards and downwards.
- With the adjustment screws on the shift lever and on 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.
How to 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 to the hardest and easiest gear.
↪ In the smallest gear the top jockey wheel 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 to the easiest gear and adjust with the L-screw the jockey wheel of the derailleur so that it runs exactly under the largest sprocket.
The distance between the largest sprocket and the upper jockey wheel of the derailleur should be about 6 mm
The finish of the bicycle gear adjustment
In the last step, you should check the wrap and adjust it if necessary with the appropriate screw. The wrap refers to the distance or angle of the upper pulley of the derailleur to the largest sprocket.
- There should be approximately a distance of about 6 millimeters between the two components to ensure optimal function.
- On newer Shimano derailleurs there is a marking on the back of the derailleur to control the wrap. With 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 gear system. If you can adjust and repair your gear system yourself (and get it 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
