Whatever I do, however hard I try, the rear shifting on my road bike just doesn’t work properly. I’ve never had a problem setting up gears before, usually it’s just a case of setting the limit screws, clamp the cable and tweak with the barrel adjusters. The 08-09 era Ultegra shifter and 2013 105 derailleur (both 10sp) just don’t want to play at all. The first click barely moves the derailleur, the second isn’t much better. The only way to get it shifting is to put so much tension on the cable it won’t shift back down again.

The cables are new and there are no snags, the hanger is also pretty new and hasn’t been crashed on. The only things I can think of are that the shifter and mech aren’t compatible or one (or both) are knackered.

Any thoughts?

I found I had the rear outer loop from frame to mech too short and it was affecting how the mech moved when I had shifting issues on a new setup.

I read the title completely differently 😀 😳 then this…

Whatever I do, however hard I try, the rear shitting

I read the title completely differently then this…

Whatever I do, however hard I try, the rear shitting

Many a tricky dump has been navigated in the past 😳

I found I had the rear outer loop from frame to mech too short and it was affecting how the mech moved when I had shifting issues on a new setup.

The rear outer loop is firmly in the mid-length range.

Is the inner cable clamped in the correct place, obvious… But we’ve all done it.

Get your hanger alignment properly checked and also what happybiker said.

Hanger alignment seems ok,cable clamped in the right place as well 😕

The Ultegra 10 speed shifters are pretty crap. I just replaced one on my bike this afternoon. Stuck on a 10 speed Tiagra shifter. Much better quality. Longevity is not one of the qualities of 10 speed Ultegra. I think the 11 speed version is much better.

Hanger alignment seems ok

I presume that you’ve checked it with a hanger alignment tool then?

An eyeline check only as I don’t have an alignment tool