so my buddy has a 15.5″ ’09 hustler, it has suffered ghost shifting ever since he has had it,no amount of new drive chains/mechs etc etc has ever cured it,does anyone else know of any inherent problems with this?
he has written to cove but they basically said “unlucky buddy” we’re not interested.

Ghost shifting is nothing to do with the mechs, it’s down to the cables and how they’re routed. When the suspension compresses it’ll be pulling a section of cable tight which causes the shifting. Check all the routing, drop the shock out of the frame then cycle the back end through it’s full travel, you’ll soon find out where it’s snagging. Same at the front end if the cables tighten up when the bars are turned.

Helps if you have the best cables you can afford as well. Sealed ones prevent all the crap getting in there which is another cause of mis-shifting.

routing looks fine, , we’ve replaced cables with full outers and gone back to normal routing now as it make jack all difference, changed mechs as a last resort!!!
its so frustrating!!

I have a Hustler and never had a shifting issue. However, I have always used an Avid Rollamajig on all my FS bikes – works like a dream as it takes out the big loop of cable going into the mech. Also make sure the cable outer that runs past the seat clamp isn’t snagging on it under full compression.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=1802

its weird as none of us in our group are mechanical numptys,yet this is seemingly impossible to sort,

may try the rollamajigy if all else fails.

could you get a pic up of the way the cables are routed at the mo?

try crossing them over behind the seat tube if that makes sense.

I had a mis shift problem with mine for a while, I tracked it down to the cable outer catching the seat clamp when the suspension was compressed, turned the clamp round, prob solved.

In my experience, ghost shifting is usually caused by cables/outers that are too short – particularly the last bit that goes into rear mech. Try longer outers; sometimes looks less near, but usually sorts it.

tried various lengths to no avail, seatclamp is already turned as it fouls the rocker plates (great design fault on the 15.5″ frames)
not tried the crossing over thingy,will look into that.
will strip it all off over the weekend and look at it.
cheers all.

i had bother with my small hustler, the cable used to get caught over i think the rocker, i’ll have a think about it and get back to you

is it routed like this :

or does the front mech come round the left hand side?

I had a med hustler and had similar issues, snagging on seat clamp and poor shifting.

I used stick on guides and routed the cables down the down tube, and along the chain stay, wasn’t that neat, but it solved the rear shifting problems.

Hope you get it sorted.

This was my medium Hustler – rear mech cable routing down the right hand side, as I hope you can see, and never had any problems with ghost shifting.

Car Park Cove by Ginger F0x, on Flickr

is it the front or rear?

If its the rear it can sometimes be caused by the cassette not being attached properly or play in the freewheel. Grab the cassette and give it a wiggle.

Damn, just typed everything out and lost it!

I have an 08 that’s done lots of miles and no issues like that. My cable routing is pretty much exactly like Kit’s above. On occasions I’ve had problems with shifting, that’s been traced to various problems… knackered shifters (they were slipping), knackered CK hub giving wheel wobble, loose rear mech, knackered frane bearings, wobbly cassette (knackered freehub body on CK hub!), bent dropouts… I think that’s the list of problems I’ve had. None I can blame the bike for!

What about the shop you got it from, they might help? I got mine from BaseCamp and they’re ace, I’ve also spoken to the guys in Canada a fair bit and they seem totally spot on.

shop not been able to get to the bottomof it either as its been back several times for cable re routing,fault finding etc etc but to no avail since then we just tinker with it all to frequently, cove in canada also not helpful according to my buddy which bummed him out quite a bit as he was expecting at least some help from them.
rollamajig thingy ordered and going to try re routing ala all one side like above to see if that helps, all else attached to the bike cassette etc all sound. thanks for your help.

To eliminate cable problems, find the gear the shifting usually occurs in, remove all cables and use the limit screws and/or a 3″ bit of cable to position the mechs in that gear.

Then go and test ride it as a singlespeed, over similar terrain to where it shifts.

If you still get shifting – it’s not the cables. If you don’t – it probably is.

bj

that’s a fairly good idea, may try that as it shifts just riding along the road most of the time.

Fatma have you emailed Adam Trotter at Cove? He has always helped me in the past.

at@covebike.com

rumble i’ll forward the details on to my mate,many thanks indeed.

A pleasure. I’m sure you’ll get it sorted.

so new cassette and avid rollamathingyjig fitted and cable routing checked…. the ride home after completion produced perfect shifting.
next morning go for a ride….back to its old self within about 10miles shifting around mid cassette just riding on the road….he wasn’t happy.

Honestly to me that looks a bit of a strange way to route it, as soon as the suspension compresses the cable outer will probably bend in a funny way around the seat tube possibly even pushing up against the seat QR lever. Also as the brake hose is above it, zipp tied to it and slightly shorter again when the suspension compresses it’s probably stopping it from moving freely.

I’d try to have the front mech cable on the left hand side with and the rear on the right, that way the brake hose is going to have free movement as is the rear cable.