I bought a second hand tandem recently with Shimano 3x8 gears; Acera rear derailleur and Revoshift twist shifters.
The tandem retails at about £430 new. I guess it's the equivalent to a £250 solo, so I'm not expecting quality components.
The gears seem terrible, with chain suck, ghost shifting, not shifting, stiff to twist shifters and so on.
Is it worth persevering with new cables and a proper machined inner ring instead of the cheap stamped one maybe, or should I just give up and get a mid range 3x9 set up ?
Are Acera and Revoshift really that bad ?
I've got very little experience with derailleurs, I ride Rohloff or SS.
What's best value for quality and reliabilty rather than weight as a priority ?
What's best value for quality and reliabilty rather than weight as a priority ?
Second hand 8spd XT with thumb shifters.
Stupid question from a derailleur newby;
New rear derailleurs are listed as 8 speed [b]or[/b] 9 speed.
There's a few on ebay listed as 8/9 speed.
So, will the same derailleur work on an 8 or 9 speed cassette, with the correct shifter of course ?
My understanding is that rear derailleurs are not that fussy between 8 and 9 speed. There might be some differences between the jockey wheels etc but not enough to make a significant difference.
My suggestion would be to try new cables first of all to try and cure the shifting problems. However, I'd be worried that on a cheap tandem frame you are causing it to flex leading to ghost shifts.
When you remove the cables you'll be able to feel if the stiffness in the shifter is due to cable fricton or friction in the shifter itself.
Chain suck should be curable with a new chain and chainrings but watch out as you might also need a new cassette to go with the new chain.
I'd start budgeting for new shifter. Revoshift are horrible things.
APF
The bike my wife used a while ago had Acera/revoshift and gearchange was atrocious.
I have a set of Alivio 8 speed here, almost unused shifters, front and rear mech and HG51 cassette if you're interested. Not a huge upgrade i know but worked very well. Alivio stuff is pretty reliable but not particularly light.