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Bikes 6 weeks old , seem to be having cable issues , getting tension just so . Today couldn't get it to stay fully extended for climbing without a lot of fiddling about with the cable adjuster . Managed to avoid a 5 mile ride stood up on the pedals ! Bike shop I bought it from will get it sorted by a local shop as it's 2 hours away but wondered if I can sort it out myself . Not sure if it's just a cable issue or something's not right inside the post . Any ideas out there ?
They're really not finnicky about cable tension, you've got a window of 5-10mm in which it'll work properly. So it's not that simple but there's simple mechanical causes, it could easily just be gunk in the little lever at the post end. The original cable on mine was pretty nasty too and got replaced fairly quick.
So starting points... Get everything really clean and a little lube on the workings under the seat
Does the thumb lever move and return smoothly
Does the seatpost end lever also move and return smoothly (test it both from the thumb lever, and by poking the seatpost lever with a finger)
How much slack is in the cable- you don't want much at all
Are all the cable ends still on right
Is it one of the new ones with the little lever on the post within the clamp, if so have you taken the seat off and checked it is fixed tightly.
Interesting to hear this – been running one of these all year and have had a few issues myself – all sorted in the end with cable adjustment. Can I just check that it’s the one with the cable that’s attached to the seatpost lever just beneath the seat via a tiny little black collar/nipple thing with a grub screw? If so then I agree with the previous poster re cable tension not being an issue but it seems cable length and cable condition seem to make a massive difference.
Firstly the length. If it’s the same as mine then the actual cable attachment moves up and down with the seat? So if you look at it with the seat up, the cable pulls on the lever at a completely different angle than when the seat is down?
I messed about with this for ages but have finally settled on cutting the outer just about as short as I can get away with! Obv adjust the tension from there. You may find different as your bike may have a different cable run than me but it seems to be about making sure the activation lever is actually pulled and released ok wherever the seat is in its travel.
Other things that seemed to affect mine were any tightness in the retaining clamps, run of the cable from the lever, any kinks in the cable which seem to happen quite quickly because of the aforementioned different pull angles, and general lubrication/wear.
As a result I have fitted 5 new cables in around 1500km although the rate of change has slowed down as I have shortened the cable length. I’ve also taken it apart and cleaned and lubed it a few times too. And regularly sprayed the activation lever with lub so it slides back and forth as easily as possible.
Re actual tension adjustment, whilst it doesn’t seem critical in proper operation, I have found that when it has started playing up, a little tweak on the trail may temporarily solve the problem until I can get home and give it all a clean etc.
All-in they are a bit of a faff really and I will replace it with an LEV in the future.
Hope that helps?
Mtbguiding if you have one of these new style ones
Then they are much improved with the only issue for me being the actual attaching of the cable under the seat clamp which is a faff. If you have the older one they do struggle more with the cable and muck in general
Ah sorry, I didn't know there was a newer Supernatural- mine is the old model so my comments might not apply
@sproker, no, mine must be the older style one... not sure which the OP has but bet it's the same as mine?
The new one is a big improvement to be honest and comes in a fair bit cheaper than the lev with the 150 drop
Good to know... thanks
Thanks folks as the bikes only 6 weeks old going to let bike shop sort it . Spoke to them , going to start with the cable and go from there . I spent half an hour in the garage farting about with it last night and gave up 🙁