For good reference, the Park series are solid:
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Along those same lines, a great tip to figure out which way to turn the barrel adjuster is to remmebr to turn it in the direction you want the chain to go.
Having trouble getting into a larger cog? Turn it that direction (relative to the cassette). Having trouble getting it to come down the cassette? Turn it the opposite direction.
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Great pointer. I use this all the time and it’s the most logical way to teach new mechs. 
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Thanks for the advice, I’m going to take it in, just don’t seem to be getting it.
Does this help?
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Think of the Barrel Adjuster as a “Steering Wheel”:
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“Steer” the barrel to the RIGHT, adjusts the RD to the RIGHT (red arrows)
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“Steer” the barrel to the LEFT, adjusts the RD to the LEFT (blue arrows)
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Had a guy I was riding with that was ripping mechanic after mechanic. ‘They are all incompetent!’. I was kind of stunned.
Well, he went out of the area, and guess what: The frame had a crack on the chain stay. Well, that kinda throws it all against the wall, and it all falls down. He was kind of a jerk anyway, and eventually burned enough bridges, he can’t get his bikes worked on, and quit biking (according to people not seeing him out at all) and he bought a Harley, posted on FB, and rides that instead.
(I had a BSO (bicycle shaped object) at a recycle a bike that I could not get to index shift for anything. I aligned the hanger but it just wouldn’t work. Threw a metric ruler on the stays, and none of them were the same length. OUCH! TOSS!!!)
It definitely helps, I think I had the direction correct but I was never able to get past the original issue - either can’t get into smallest or biggest cog.
My LBS is great so I’m sure they’ll get me taken care of.
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Not sure if this is an issue with the GRX stuff also but the Ultegra/105 11 spd stuff eats shift cables at the shifter. Whenever I can’t get into the small cog (on 105 R7000) there’s a 99% chance that the shift cable is about to break in the shifter.
Have you replaced the cable recently?
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I have not and that was exactly it, will be picking up the bike after work. I’ve had the bike for less than 18 months but my regular after work ride is a hilly loop and I am nearly constantly shifting while trying to hit the prescribed power of the workout.
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Yeah, all current Shimano road shifters (to include GRX) bend the cable tighter than they really should. It leads to frays and breaks that either cause shifting issues or fail entirely. It can be noted at the lever function by a somewhat sudden “hitch” in force and action compared to the smoothness of a new setup.
Depending on use, I think it’s appropriate to consider swapping these cables once a year or more often. Sadly, it’s a known issue and one without a solution other than regular maintenance. Glad it was a simple fix though.
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Yup, just keep that in mind in the future. It’s super common with Shimano’s stuff. the first symptom is not being able to get into the 11 tooth cog. Replace it as soon as you get that cause once it breaks it can be a huge pain in the ass to fish the broken pieces out.
Not sure how many miles you’ve gone in 18 months but I’d say a rear cable lasts me between 4000 and 7000 miles on average. But that could be less if there’s gunk in there from gravel or whatever else.
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Second this! Fishing broken cable out is a complete bastard. Don’t put it of to next weekend, or if you don’t have the spares to hand ride something else!
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