I’ve moved up so far as to say I’m in Milton Keynes proper now.
Had one stop in-between. That was at somewhere called ‘Peartree Bridge’ which I guess is the South East edge of Milton Keynes. It’s on the edge of a park, surprise surprise. I didn’t mind it there. My bike wasn’t quite working, and I didn’t really have chance to do anything cycling wise, so there aren’t many pictures or adventures.
I did manage to fix the problems with my Trek hybrid bike, that was that the gears were shifting, also they would crunch and the chain would jump off of the front sprocket, or chainring, as they call it on pushbikes.
Fixing the ‘Ghost-shifting’ on my bike
Problems first started when I replaced the rear wheel. I replaced the chain shortly after.
After this, the new chain used to jump continuously off the front or back sprockets and make a crunching sound under any pressure. This made it impossible to ride up hills and unsafe to ride in traffic.
I used Gemini AI, and we gently worked through the problems. These are the steps I took to repair the problem.
Fit new chain: 8 speed chain from Halfords. Didn’t sort the problem, made it worse. Split pin chain, anyone can fit one of these although it is fiddly. Cost £9.
Fit new front chain-ring: This is the front set of gears. I have three rings. The original gears made it difficult on steep slopes, (28x38x48t). When I replaced the front chainring, I got a higher geared alternative (24x34x42t). I also increased the stem size on the crank by 5mm. This is not noticeable, but it meant I could get the gearing I wanted. I bought it off Amazon. Cost £27.79. Also required a Crank Puller to get it off. Total Cost £3.99 + £27.79
Replace front derailleur: After I changed the front chainring, a problem developed. It would no longer shift gears. I had to buy a new front derailleur that was compatible with the new number of teeth. Once I’d done this, it shifted correctly. Cost £18.25
Rear cassette: The chain was still jumping. Ghost shifting. I put it to Google what the problem might be. As a result of me having carried out all the previous steps above, which I’d fed back, Gemini was fairly convinced that the problem would be a worn rear cassette. I replaced the rear cassette with an identical (spec) one from Amazon. Cost £19.88
Fit new chain: 8 speed chain from Halfords. Didn’t sort the problem, made it worse. Split pin chain, anyone can fit one of these although it is fiddly. Cost £9.
Fit new front chain-ring: This is the front set of gears. I have three rings. The original gears made it difficult on steep slopes, (28x38x48t). When I replaced the front chainring, I got a higher geared alternative (24x34x42t). I also increased the stem size on the crank by 5mm. This is not noticeable, but it meant I could get the gearing I wanted. I bought it off Amazon. Cost £27.79. Also required a Crank Puller to get it off. Total Cost £3.99 + £27.79
Replace front derailleur: After I changed the front chainring, a problem developed. It would no longer shift gears. I had to buy a new front derailleur that was compatible with the new number of teeth. Once I’d done this, it shifted correctly. Cost £18.25
Rear cassette: The chain was still jumping. Ghost shifting. I put it to Google what the problem might be. As a result of me having carried out all the previous steps above, which I’d fed back, Gemini was fairly convinced that the problem would be a worn rear cassette. I replaced the rear cassette with an identical (spec) one from Amazon. Cost £19.88When I followed all of these steps, the problem was solved! I did all the work myself, of course. A total cost of £78.91
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