Video: Tech Tuesdays - How To Set Up Your Shifting

 I'm a simple guy, I see a video with Henry in it. I watch it. I like it

 autoplay me daddy Quinney

 @phazedplasma: Heavens

 It's easy to hate Autoplay when it's auto-muted at the same time. Maybe put a stache on Mr Quinney and he'll be the next Charlie Chaplin!

 @phazedplasma:
I get auto play lite- always begins muted. I’ll take it.

 this....after that, check the chain wear.....THEN proceed with the derailleur adjustment. 9/10 times when I think my derailleur needs adjustment its actually my chain that needs to be replaced.

 @SATN-XC:
Amen to that!
I’m obsessive about chain maintenance, then I throw it away.
Cheaper than a ruined cassette and chain ring!

 Derailleur hanger alignment is critical and elemental, and should be checked before touching cable tension or limit screws or b tension - but only AFTER making sure the axle is all nice and tight. I can't believe the number of times someone says their drivetrain shifts kike crap and/or their brakes rub, and there's an easy two or three turns of through axle tightening to be had before it's even snug.

 @SATN-XC: So true! I know that for SRAM they will get too much side to side play before the pins wear and it get's "stretched" past .5 on the chain checker.

 @SATN-XC: The industry knows way better. 9/10 times when you think your derailleur needs adjustment, you actually need headset routing. Geniuses.

 @rrolly: LOL!!

 SRAM gives you a little plastic alignment tool with the cassette. I used it as per instructions- even at the suspension sag point, and I just now discovered it’s crashing the big cog.
Yes, I used the 52 tooth tool, not the 50.
Setting to barely clear the big cog is where it’s at. Thanks Henry!

 Do you have a reference online of what that line is? I can’t find it when looking for it on my M8100 derailleur.
Thanks

 @FunctionalMayhem:

Go to page 21 - si.shimano.com/en/pdfs/dm/MARD001/DM-MARD001-05-ENG.pdf

Sight thru the rear wheel from the non-drive side. The line is on the cage by the upper jockey pulley.

 I don't usually use it, I found out that if I adjust it a little bit below the line, and sit on the bike, under sag, the cog teeth will be in line with the marked line and THEN it is set up correctly. You gonna pedal under sag, so this needs to be kept in mind.

 @nnowak:
Thanks so much!

 @riejuspike: same

 @FunctionalMayhem: it’s on the back of the derailleur above the upper jockey wheel. Just wind the b screw tension screw until the line on your mech matches the teeth on your biggest sprocket.

 I actually mark the tension line on XT and SLX with a silver metal marking pen so it is as easily seen as on the rather pointless XTR derailleur.

 I mean, even with AXS you don't need the app to adjust the shifting.

 ill send the butler with the bike in the bentley if it needs a tweak , you are right no one reads instructions here

 @Planet-26 No, he reached for the correct brake based where he grew up and must have spent most of his time working on bikes. Plus he was in NZ where they also ride brakes moto style like we Brits do. But now he's living in the bike-nirvana that is Squamish, he should probably be careful with that sort of hardwired slander...wouldn't want him to become an outcast!

 @ajl-mtb: I've never understood why in NA we go opposite hands than moto. For me, being right-handed, it makes so much more sense to have my right hand be the hand for my front brake. I can use my strong hand with way more finesse for braking than my left hand. Using my non-dominant hand for the rear brake, where a too-strong pull isn't likely to send me over the bars, but rather just start a minor skid, is a way better arrangement. Plus for riding on the right-hand side of a road, you signal with your left arm, so having the ability to use your right hand on your strong brake if an emergency stop is needed while signaling seems like a no-brainer.

 As a Frenchman who moved to the UK a while ago, I learned left hand front as a kid but relearned right hand front eventually. As I also ride a motorbike this now seems to make most sense all around.

To those who ride left hand front on Mtb but also ride a motorbike, does this affect you in any way? How do you deal with swapping between the two?

 @froddd: The fact that people can swap is incredibly impressive. For the record, I kinda wish I rode US/EU style, if only for the ease of cable routing and now bike testing.

 @henryquinney: isn’t it just! Maybe you should do a month-long vlog on switching to US/EU and let us know how you found it

 @froddd: Ha - I genuinely tried, only on road bikes much - and it scared the living shit out of me. It could be fun to revisit on may an XC bike on flow trails or something though. I don't fancy it in the sloppy tech!

 @froddd:
I have a friend that did exactly that-Moto on his motorcycle, left-hand front on his mountain bike.
Said it was never an issue.
I don’t believe him to this day..

 @henryquinney:
To me it’s like left foot braking in a car. I do it 99% of the time, until it’s a full-blown panic stop, then the right foot jumps into action!

 @henryquinney: The mind works in mysterious ways.
Most people never even realize the numbers are like this on a calculator and a keyboard number pad:

7 8 9
4 5 6
1 2 3
0

…but like this on a phone and on a ATM:

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
0

Completely the other way around, but nobody even thinks about it going from one to the other…
Apparently our brains can handle that just fine.

 @froddd: Ride NA-style brakes on bicycles since a kid and ride Moto since high school. Never had an issue, just mentally switch over without even thinking automatically. Lots of people do it more than you think, actually know a few professional moto guys retired and current that ride bicycles NA style. AG is a pretty good moto rider but still has his brakes NA.

Just need to "oPeN yOur MInd"..... more energy, more passion..... I kid

 @froddd: I rode MTB back to back with motorcycles for a couple decades and never had a problem switching back and forth because they are really quite different. I even hauled my MTB to a race on the back of my motorcycle.

On a motorcycle, left hand is your clutch, left foot shifter, right hand front brake, and right foot rear brake. Even if you match the front brake to the right hand on a bike, you are not matching the other functions to those of a motorcycle. No matter how you set up your MTB, you need to remember that your left hand is not running a clutch otherwise you will be abruptly locking one of the wheels.

Front brake/front shifter on the left, and rear brake/rear shifter on the right just makes sense on a bike. It is actually the current motorcycle layout that is a bit odd. The clutch should be on one of the feet, and both brakes should be at the hands. If you ever get stuck in stop and go traffic on a motorcycle, using your left hand to run the clutch gets miserable pretty quick. For those that drive on the left side of the rode, it would also make more sense to have the foot shifter on the right side. I am pretty sure the weird mix that is the current motorcycle control layout is just a legacy of mechanically actuated controls that predate hydraulics. My first motorcycle had a rear drum brake that was actuated by a long steel rod that was attached to the foot pedal. The clutch was cable operated.

 @nnowak:
I want left-hand/rear brake on my next Moto bike!
And then a good slipper clutch..

 @froddd: I've ridden motorcycles for close to 3 decades, bicycles for even longer than that. Never had any issues switching back and forth. I think that's 'cause on motos you switch gears on the left (left hand clutch, left foot shifter), and stop on the right (front brake right hand, back brake right foot).

I think if I were to switch the brakes around on my mtb I *would* get confused though.

Can't explain why, but it's just never been an issue switching between bikes and motos.

 @nnowak: good point about the clutch, I’ve never got confused by that. I guess the brain just switches the whole body into a different context and adapts muscle reflexes accordingly.

Left lever for rear brake is the way powered scooters are setup, it does make sense having all breaking done with hands but I don’t think foot clutch would work — think slow traffic and having to stop!

 @nnowak: I _think_ some old British motorcycles had brake and gear shifter on different side. Don’t quote me on that…

 @froddd:
How about the old school MotoGP left hand thumb brake Mick Doohan came up with for rear braking?
Like an ATV throttle on the left, underside of the bar. Plenty of room for a clutch lever.
I like left hand rear brake moto because I can still work that brake with my foot off the peg.

 @WhateverBikes: Well no, it does actually confuse when I've got to dial a number from a computer keypad which I'd otherwise dial from a phone (which is getting less common these days). But for the ATM, it is the shape of the PIN-code which I've got hardwired in my brain. If I need to know the actual number, I really need to reconstruct it.

 @Flc3344: so said emergency stop will send you out the front door while signaling with your hand... haha!

 @henryquinney: the ease of cable routing does exist, and it is outside of your preferred through headset. This age old, archaic way... I believe it is called external...? Hahaha

 @Untgrad: You're a double pedaler in a vehicle? Is this how people with automatic transmissions drive? The finesse you have using your right foot on the throttle directly translates to the finesse you will have when applying the brake...

 @WhateverBikes: you think it may have something to do with the fact that the corresponding number is printed on each button...mindblown!

 No, cable tension sets the overall location of every shift across the cassette. If cable tension is set correctly, the upper and lower limit screws are largely superfluous.

 @nnowak: Nuance:

ONCE cable tension is set correctly, the upper and lower limit screws are largely superfluous.
IN ORDER TO set that cable tension correctly, you need to start with the derailleur in the right position, and you do that… by setting the high gear limit screw correctly.

 @nnowak: Outer limit screw has a direct influence over the starting location of the derailleur. If the starting location is off, every shift point will be off. The cable tension barrel adjuster is to dial in the perfect cable tension. Yes, cable tension will influence shifting performance up and down but it does not determine the location of each shift point.

 For shimano users, save your time and go single speed.

 For single speed users, save your time and get a gates pinion drive.

 @thustlewhumber: For pinion drive users, save your time and get a razer scooter.

 They're mostly not under tension in normal operation. High-limit only sees anything when in 12th gear, and if the cable is loose in that gear, and it's only fighting the return spring at its lightest. Low-limit only sees "tension" when the mech gets pushed inboard when in 1st or 2nd gear.

In fact, doing it without the cable installed guarantees there will be "tension" on the high-limit.

 RE #2: You don't even need to sight the jockey wheel with the small cog, just tighten the H limit until the chain jumps up to the 2nd smallest cog, then back off until it drops onto the smallest cog. Treat your limits like a go-no-go setting.

Then I normally connect the cable and begin adding tension on each click as I move up to bigger cogs. Indexing is normally pretty close by the time I'm in the big cogs, then set b-gap and low limit. Full setup shouldn't take more than 5 minutes if the cable is lubed right and hanger aligned..

 @GTscoob: I am going by SRAMS documentation. May not need to, but alas it works every single time. Also setting b-gap later in the stage is not practice. IE shifting will be crap no matter what if b-gap is off too far.

 I guess you forgot to disengage the clutch and then reengage it at the end.

 Came down here to say this too. deerailee ur is not a pronunciation. We don't have to like the French, but we should respectfully pronounce it... ps, I like the French.

 @andyk:
Derail-Your?
Derail-Yur?
De Rail UR?

God do I feel like an American..

 @Untgrad: mech