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I'm still marvelling at the levels of thought, time and money that went into the design of the Halfords GTi Drive bikes. How many engineers & CAD ‘aces’ did it take to produce this flawed and functionally inept system?
A friend asked if could sort his front mech out as he was struggling to engage granny-ring whilst riding. Easy, says I, couldn’t be much more than a quick cage alignment & limit screw ‘fettle’!
How ‘enlightened’ I was that, under load of the rider, the ‘dynamic’ rotating BB (never seen anything like that since my days on the steam railway) arc, combined with the location (the only location) of front mech, actually resulted with tensioning the cable so much that it changed to middle ring on it’s own (after a perfect un-loaded set up I might add).
I must have spent 30 mins trying to establish if I’d ‘missed the point’, or had performed an uber fudge up but no! Sit on the thing, and the front mech changes – brilliant!
I’m clearly in the wrong job. Umm, let’s think...how about marketing a fish for ruck-sac?
First or second generation I drive?
The Second generation I drive was a very effective, I certainly never had any problems with ghost shifting.
Outer cable too short? Wrong type of front mech?
route the cable for top-pull ?
(may need a band-on cable stop)
I thought this thread was going to be about Hope..
Seems a bizarre issue, something else muct be up?
You'd have thought that they would notice this when reviewing the bike on BR.
Never had any issues like that on my brothers one
I've had this on my old I-Drive - it was because I had put too short a length of outer cable on it. Probably you or your mate are equally as inept as I was that day?
The system is really good and completely under-rated.
If it's gen 1, pull all that over engineered c**p out and convert it into an eccentric BB and run it single speed!!
[img] http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=43227&stc=1&d=1244003207 [/img]
/\ /\ /\
Not mine, always liked the idea of it though
cable outer +1
so we're looking at;
inept mechanic rather than flawed bike design.
as the result then?
Brilliant thread... STWer finds that GT wasted however many thousands in R&D and sold bikes all over the world that were flawed*. You're obviously in the wrong business.
*My brother has had two I-Drives and never had a problem with ghost shifting on either.
Thought this thread was about the new Rolls Royce Trent engine.
Work colleague of mine had a GT I-Drive and don't ever recall this being an issue.....
Chances are you've done something wrong.
Inept amateur mechanic not nearly as clever as team of engineers and designers for major international manufacturer. Some mistake, surely?
never had any problems like that on my origonal GT Idrive. Must be user error. 🙄
Defect has been identified as being in the space between the bike and the tool bench and he is holding the extra 'unnecessary' bit of cable outer
Defect has been identified as being in the space between the bike and the tool bench and he is holding the extra 'unnecessary' bit of cable outer
😆 Yeh I never had any problem with the 3 i-drives I had plus two of my mates were sweet shifters too. 😆
Ever thought of applying for a job in Halfrauds Mr 'Love Tubs' 😆
If it's gen 1, pull all that over engineered c**p out and convert it into an eccentric BB and run it single speed!!/\ /\ /\
Not mine, always liked the idea of it though
Goes to look for a cheap iDrive frame on eBay...
My main riding mate has an I-drive and it works brilliantly. No problems with shifting either.
....it was produced for Halfords distribution only apparently! It was a cheapy I think...but it still made me laugh.
Cable too short, I've heard them all now 😆
Specific under the BB cable trunking, could braze an eyelet on but it's a lost cause imho. The flaw is in the mech moving with the rear-sus triangle, it's not isolated. Thus, it sets up beautifully in the stand but sitting on it 'virtually' lengthens the cable; bit like bending a bow (as in bow and arrow) backwards with a hinge in the middle....if you catch my drift.
A bit like this one, front mech mounting was on a very short bit length of tube; barely enough for adjustment.
[img] 
[/img]
Essentially, it's a heap of crap!
Love Tubs - you're wrong.
[s]I noticed the OP isn't responding so hiding their shame ?[/s]
Does he/she mean the cable stop is on the frame, not the mech ?
upload a proper picture so we can see the issue...
wwaswas,
wrong = no data stored for this string
I've had several Marins through the workshop where front mech set up is a pain due to the chain only running through the correct part of the cage when the suspension is sagged.
One of the owners is a good foot taller than me and a lot heavier so I can't even check that one by riding it round outside the shop (without upsetting his saddle and suspension settings).
Cable too short, I've heard them all nowSpecific under the BB cable trunking, could braze an eyelet on but it's a lost cause imho. The flaw is in the mech moving with the rear-sus triangle, it's not isolated. Thus, it sets up beautifully in the stand but sitting on it 'virtually' lengthens the cable; bit like bending a bow (as in bow and arrow) backwards with a hinge in the middle....if you catch my drift.
1. Are you running a piece of outer cable from the frame to the swingarm? your supposed to in order to account for the movement of the suspension
2. The mech is supposed to move with the rear triangle, thats the way GT designed it, and it worked fine for the other thousands of iDrives they produced, me thinks your failing to see your mistake and blaming the bike, unless this 'Halfords one' is extra special (hint; its not!)
3. Send us a pic, i could do with a laugh.
:0)
Odds favour the moon falling down, than me doing something wrong....
Ok, what am I missing here 🙄 😉
Granted, the mech is a tad bashed but as I've said it shifts almost 'utterly-butterly' in the stand but load that rear suss....??????
I wasn't going to look at it again, but the STW collective have installed an inferior craftmans complex (ICC) 😛
Must get back to work.
"THE highest level of engineering SHITE ......EVER?"
I half expected this to be about:
the Ever Ready Night Rider lights of 25 years ago that, were almost useless and had a recall on them, were the hightofshite. But despite that they get a mention in one of Stuart Pugh's books on good design.
I've ridden I-drives since '99 and really get on with the system (unlike quite a lot of people) and the only reason to get this problem is as people above have said .
The gear outer between the underneath of the BB housing back to the cable stop on the downtube needs to be longer , a longer section of outer will cure the problem!! Fact.
If the inner has been trimmed too short you might need to replace that too
If it's gen 1, pull all that over engineered c**p out and convert it into an eccentric BB and run it single speed!!
I suspect you'll find that the iDrive gubbinses is still present in that bike, otherwise you couldn't run it as a singlespeed unless you locked the suspension out.
See here... the cable mount is on the other side of the bb, you use a piece of outer cable to connect the frame to the swingwarm, therefore removing the 'lengthening' effect.
[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2030/1910383517_ffa5173652.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ejcamez/1910383517/ ]GT idrive 021[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ejcamez/ ]ejcamez[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2304/1910367671_cd2262a6ef.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ejcamez/1910367671/ ]GT idrive 017[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ejcamez/ ]ejcamez[/url], on Flickr
not my pic BTW.
Love Tubs - MemberOdds favour the moon falling down, than me doing something wrong....
you are Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory (and I claim my 5 pounds).
Friend built it up. I'm assuming he's replaced all the bits correctly...there, perhaps, is the crux of the problem.
Um, will take another look at it.
I remain steadfast that it's an utter pile of shite, sporting p1ss poor design.
[i]not my pic BTW. [/i]
I'd want to distance myself from those shoes too 😉
[i]I remain steadfast that it's an utter pile of shite, sporting p1ss poor design[/i]
It wouldn't stop you being wrong, though.
a perfect example....
[url= http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3624/3459657943_c3da1b5abc.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/10305235@N05/3459657943/ ]I-drive[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/10305235@N05/ ]gt_heini[/url], on Flickr
Friend built it up. I'm assuming he's replaced all the bits correctly...there, perhaps, is the crux of the problem.
I love the smell of back pedalling in the afternoon..
At least this thread had brought a smile to our Autumnal faces 😉
Laughing at your statement KINGTUT........
Love Tubs, are you an 'engineer' by any chance?
Ah, but they [i]look[/i] completely shite, so he has a point.
Ah, but they look completely shite, so he has a point.
1st gen definitely looked grim, second generation is passable to look at.