Front gears wont work

[Broughtonblue]

My wife has a giant Sedona se, it's quite old but works perfectly, or so I thought! Just got it out of shed and it wont change on the front gears. The cable hangs loose but the levers seem to work fine, just dont moving anything ! The main spring was loose and could be moved round with my fingers. I've put it back to where it looks like it came from but still no good. Local bike shop is full and cant fit me in till after Easter. Any ideas? If more photos or info are needed let me know.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I'd give it a good clean and lube, it looks well rusted up. Those cables need replacing too.

 

[cougie uk]

Yep. Wash the whole bike - if that's not working then is everything else?
Spray it with GT85 and then wiggle it around manually to see if it starts working. And yes - that cable could be replaced but that's not the issue here.

 

[Sharky]

Does the front mech move at all, if you move it by hand?

If you can't spot what's wrong, just take the front mech off completely and run it on the middle ring until you can take it to the LBS.

 

[Cycleops]

Seems like it's a mountain bike with trigger shifters. These often get clogged up with old grease and the operating pawls inside don't catch properly. You say it works but worth doing anyway.
Remove the cover and spray liberally inside with WD40 or similar. At the same time put in a new cable and grease it. Make the sure the derailleur itself is moving as suggested above. Put a little light oil in the shifter when done.

 

[Broughtonblue]

I bathed it in gt85 yesterday and wriggled it till my arms ached, but to no avail.

Yes it can be used on one ring, but its hilly here in Norfolk 😉

 

[Cycleops]

In which case unless you want to take it apart I suggest you buy a new one. They sometimes just give up the ghost.

 

[Milkfloat]

Does not look not sound/look like the shifters are the issue. You said the spring in the mech was loose, so either you have not put it back together properly or it is knackered. I would play around with the mech and see if you can move it by hand, and potentially take it to peices, but I would suggest just getting a new one and recable at the same time.

 

[T4tomo]

something odd has happened for the cable to go slack like that, it isnt going to work all slack, as any lever movement isn't going to move the Mech, just take up cable slack.

so either the cable has slipped where it joins to the mech - but photo doesn't suggest that, or something has happening in side the mech, or the cable nipple end has somehow slipped out of the trigger in the lever, or snapped from end of cable in the lever?

 

[hatler]

Click the shifter so that it is in the lowest gear. Get hold of the loose cable. Click the shifter as though you were moving the mech to a bigger gear. Is it pulling cable ? If not, there's a problem with the shifter. If it is, downshift (keeping the tension on the cable). Is cable released ?

If the shifter is working then that indicates a problem with the mech.

Detach the cable from the mech and try jibbling it back and forth. If it won't budge, then take it off and fettle until it moves as it should.

 

[si_c]

@hatler has covered the best way to diagnose the issue, loosen the cable from the derailleur and hold it taught and cycle through the gears. This will tell you if the shifter is still working - most likely it is but best to rule it out.

With the cable detached you should be able to freely move the derailleur in and out changing gears as it does so, if this fails then clean it, lubricate and try again. When you release the derailleur it should spring back into it's default position (usually the lowest gear). If it does then put the shifter in the lowest gear, and clamp the cable to the derailleur arm again and it should shift up and down.

If not then the derailleur probably needs a service, this will likely cost more in labour at the LBS than replacing the part.

 

[iluvmybike]

Bike cruelty - please change it's cables for a start. Also it looks as though it has been put away wet/dirty so possibly the pivots on the mech have rusted up. they may free off with a bit of lube but as other said it is a cheap component so give it a spring treat. ps your chainrings are looking like the are getting well worn...

 

[MichaelW2]

Cables usually break at the attachement points . The tug of cable method and change shifter as described above will let you know if the cable is broken. It should be replaced anyway.