2

I just got 26 inch Huffy mountain bike at Walmart. It looks fine except front derailleur spring is too tight. I checked everything. Cable is moving fine, I checked derailleur on my similar bikes, so more or less I confident that derailleur spring is too tight. It makes it very difficult to shift it into the highest gear.

I was thinking to replace spring, but looks like whole derailleurs are not too expensive. So my question how do find correct replacement for my derailleur: SR Sunrun 42T. For example, would this one work: ebay.

Also given that this is new bike, should I just return it to Walmart or try another one? I am concerned that for this price there will be always something to replace even on the new bike

Update

I tried to loosen H and L screws completely. On front derailleur it is easy to see how they work and I can confirm that I set them temporarily to provide to limiting at all.

I also tried disconnecting cable and handle twists freely without any problems. So if it is routing issue, then it is probably something beyond my area of expertise, I can only check something obvious.

user1700890
  • 121
  • 3
  • 4
    Remember walmart is not a bike shop, they just want to move items. – Criggie Mar 09 '21 at 01:11
  • 2
    Try loosening the hi-limit screw of the FD by one turn. It could be badly adjusted and keep the FD from just moving that tiny bit further to throw the chain on the big ring. – Carel Mar 09 '21 at 08:33
  • 2
    Sounds to me more like an adjustment issue or excessive cable friction (possibly due to incorrectly routed cable). I can’t think of any quality control issues which would make the spring itself significantly too strong/tight. – Michael Mar 09 '21 at 10:43
  • @ Carel, thank you updated my post. – user1700890 Mar 09 '21 at 13:55
  • @Michael, thank you as well, I updated my post. – user1700890 Mar 09 '21 at 13:55
  • 2
    Argenti has a good troubleshooting guide at this link https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/60169/bike-won-t-shift-to-6-or-7-gear-because-shifter-is-too-stiff – David D Mar 09 '21 at 14:48
  • @DavidD thank you! Jammed derailleur could be the issue, I cannot tell without disassembling it. – user1700890 Mar 09 '21 at 15:01
  • 1
    @user1700890: So to summarize: the derailleur does move (far enough) but it requires excessive hand strength on the shifter? It pretty much can only be cable friction (and/or low quality components) Is the cable properly routed around the bottom bracket? Cable housing properly seated in the cable stops and all cable end caps properly seated? I think there are some derailleurs where the cable can be clamped in different places which changes the lever length. Some photos of the bottom bracket area, derailleur and handlebars might help us spot something obvious. – Michael Mar 09 '21 at 18:06
  • 1
    @user1700890 can you troubleshoot by pulling the exposed inner cable with your hand? This should actuate the derailleur, without using the shifter. It won't stay, but it may point at the shifter or the derailleur as the root cause. – Criggie Mar 09 '21 at 19:04

1 Answers1

5

I would suggest you return the bike to Walmart. If the derailleur doesn't move it is not a spring that is too tight. There is something either out of adjustment or broken. The problem with buying a bike at Walmart or other department stores is the skill of the person assembling the bike varies from competent to no idea what they are doing. The bikes they sell are at the lowest possible point. They generally don't work well right out of the box. If you replace the derailleur yourself you have potentially voided the warranty for any other issues that show up.

mikes
  • 18,592
  • 4
  • 32
  • 51