Shimano nexus 7 spd - wheel removal

[lewis noble]

My wife has a Dawes City Vision, quite a few years old, which she is determined to keep - I would like her to have one of the small framed RTs, but no, she sees no reason to change.

We hope to do more riding soon together, and I have been checking her bike over, freeing rusted nuts etc - but removing the back wheel looks a right pain and I cannot find the original instructions.  Brake cable (hub) comes off OK if you keep it clean and greased, but the gear cable??  With cold hands in the rain??  Any tips, anyone??  What gear do you put it in to help?  I cnnot find any helpful websites.

Lewis

[Dirk]

Hey Lewis, My wife has a nexus hub on her bike and also wouldn't part with it for the world. It looks an intimidating set up  and it's been a long time since she had a puncture, but as I remember, I left the gear cable attached when changing the inner tube. I made mistakes when dismantling it and detached cables at the wrong point etc, but I did it in my kitchen with a nice cup of tea.  
Good luck.

[Bill]

Lewis
You need about four hands to do it properly, but the way to get the wheel off and disconnect the cable is to put the gear shifter into 4 th gear.
Then you have to take the cable housing out of the outer cable housing bracket. There is a slit on the inside of the casing holder so firmly grip the housing, pull it away from the bracket until you can push the cable itself through the slit.  Then you have enough slack in the cable to disengage the cable from the hook on the casette joint pulley.

I had to use a pliers to pull the housing back.

To replace the wheel you have to do this whole process in reverse which is even more complicated. Changing the tire is a royal pain.

Sheldon brown has an explanation,including diagrams.
http://sheldonbrown.com/nexus-mech.html

[lewis noble]

Thanks Bill and Dirk - yes, it looks fiddly enough for the workshop, never mind out on a moor somewhere.  I think I will just make sure that everything is in the best possible shape before setting off, and perhaps use some instant repair stuff to get home or to a bike shop.  

Is there anything that Sheldon Brown hasn't dealt with?? Thanks for the reference.

Lewis

[lewis noble]

Further discussions - no, she won't change to a Tour 430 step through . . . and all my cycling friends have leaned on her . . .  so I'll just fit the strongest tyres I can!

Thanks for the help.  I can see how to do it now, at least a bit easier than before.

Lewis

[Dirk]

After her first puncture I changed the tires to Schwalbe Marathons coz I'm dead lazyjavascript:insertsmilie('[]')

[JonHammond]

It's a bit fiddly, but not that hard (although I suppose I wouldn't like to be doing it in the rain on top of a moor).

The official Shimano instructions are available from this page: http://techdocs.shimano.com/techdocs/blevel.jsp.  Filter on 'Service Instruction' only, and then go for the 'Shift-Brake Levers' documents.

I'd recommend setting the shifter to 1st gear.  That way there's enough slack in the inner wire to allow the outer to be pulled out of and back into the housing bracket without resorting to pliers.

Also, take a clear note of exactly how the inner wire wraps around the pulley, and which way round the fixing bolt goes, before removing it.  That will save frustration (and possibly naughty words) when trying to put it back.

And it's as well to know exactly how to do this, as the cable itself is likely to require replacement sometime.

Jon.

PS - I know, but I'm not going to swap my City Vision 7 just yet!