Whoops, probably not my best ever buy

[Scotmitchy]

Picked up a cheap second hand mountain bike - £40 - last week, as I wanted to see if I actually liked mountain biking before I spent any money on it. My theory was that a cheap buy could be back in the snips again easily if I didn't like it.

It's a wee bit battered and well used, which I took to mean it was a good bike, not a pristine but unused bike shaped object.

Anyway, nipped out tonight for my first ride on it, move up a gear and clunk! Something moved and jammed the lot.

I suspect given it is an old bike it is probably dead. Sigh?

It is a metal flange which the chain goes through at the back, attached to the gears. I don't know if the spring has sprung, or if the flange has moved, but I think £40 has just gone down the drain.

 

[Cubist]

Can you post a picture of the "flange" and we'll see what we can diagnose. I doubt if it's all bad to be honest, they are repairable rather than disposable!

 

[biggs682]

+1 pics would help

 

[Scotmitchy]

Am on the iphone and cannot get pics to upload . Grrr

 

[Scotmitchy]

 

[Scotmitchy]

The long silver thng above has moved onto the chain. I actually think on reflection that the connection where it joins the upright on the bike had twisted round, so some allan keys may solve the problem!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

The long silver thng above has moved onto the chain. I actually think on reflection that the connection where it joins the upright on the bike had twisted round, so some allan keys may solve the problem!

Front derally thigmy? Even me I know that!

 

[Scotmitchy]

But it's nearer the back wheel? Confused.com

 

[asterix]

Looks like the tyres got some life left in it anyway..

 

[Pat "5mph"]

But it's nearer the back wheel? Confused.com

Oh, maybe it's the back derailly thingmy, you can screw it back on, though.

 

[Globalti]

£40?

You woz robbed!

 

[Brandane]

Kinda hard to tell from the pics, but for starters the front derailleur cage has moved in a way that it's not meant to move! The teeth on your outer (largest) chainring look as if they will be catching on it, which they obviously shouldn't do. The cage should follow the shape of the chainring, and should be perfectly parallel to the chainring. Certainly doesn't seem like a reason to write the bike off; like you say it would appear that something has worked loose, probably the clamp that holds the mech onto the seat tube. A competent bike mechanic should be able to sort it out at not very much cost (unless something is actually broken, then maybe a few ££ for a new mech).

What is the orange bit???

 

[swee'pea99]

I can't make out very much from that one photo - can you post a few more, from different angles/distances? One thing you might think of starting with is, if anything's cleared jammed into something else, see if you can remove it - there's usually a screw or a bolt or something holding things on. Then once you've done that, see where that gets you. (You might, for example, be able to see very clearly that something's got obviously bent. Then you might be able to get a new/old ebay one and substitute it. Checkout Sheldon Brown and Park Tools sites for 'how to's' on all sorts of things. Good luck. And post those pics.

 

[Peteaud]

More pics please

 

[MrJamie]

Id guess the front derailleur wasnt set up properly, the chain got stuck when you tried to change gear and dragged it out of position, have had the same thing happen. Should be relatively easy to see if you can re-hang it if you watch a youtube video of where it should be, i think theres a park tools one somewhere when i had to fix mine.