Could worn suspension bushes......

Cause my 98 FSR to skip smaller gears on the cassette?

It has done this for a long time, i never rode it when i first bought it last year, instead stripping it down for refurb, as i built it back up i noticed the skipping.

So far i have changed.....

The cassette
The chain
Gear cabling

It have set the chain to the right legnth, i have stripped down the rear mech to make sure everything is nice and free, i have not changed the front chain rings yet as it skips in all 3 of them anyway, so i have ruled that out for now (and they dont look worn)

The rear cassette did not look worn either tbh, nor did the old chain.

I am wondering now if it is simply play in the rear bushes causing the chainline to drift out of shape under large amounts of torque?

It could do. The mech would obviously move with the cogs, as your arse waggles around, but wear could still be the problem.

Are the jockey wheels original and fitted correctly? The top one should have m,ore play. I seem to remember that many after market ones didn't have any play, so adjust,ment needed to be spot on across the range .
Are the cables long enough and moving freely?

Are the replacement block and/or chain worn too?

That's all I can remember about gears. More trouble than they're worth...

:idea: Do you have a stiff link in the chain?

I did change the jockey wheels as well but i forgot to mention it, i wonder if the ones i fitted (spares box) do not have enough free play on the top wheel, causing the problem.


I will check out the wheels tomorrow.

I kept the old ones handy just in case, which could be handy.

All cables were replaced yesterday, the cassette and chain were brand new and have done around 30 miles max so far, the front chain rings look fine, although i am pretty sure i saw the chain slipping over the rear cassette tonight after work when i was powering down hard and i looked down, it will not jump when the bike is on the workstand.

The only other thing i can think of is maybe its "ghost shifting" but the cable runs are per factory spec and brand new.

Could also be a bent/misaligned mech hanger especially as there is less chain wrap on the smaller cogs so it makes it easier for the chain to skip. Just something to investigate as you have already replaced the usual suspects for causing this although were the cassette and chain both new? If they weren't then that could be the root of the problem especially if you didn't replace both at the same time.

as above, could be a bent mech hanger

even if it looks straight it may be just a gnat's out of true, which can cause skipping gears