Bicycle Mechanics - Can't Shift but to like 3 gears

OK, Just to start I am very new to biking and i'm clueless to say the least. My bike sit in a storage building for about a year and a half with no maintence, no riding. I finally brought it back from home and when I went to shift it will only shift like one gear up and two down from where it was. After some work the chainrings(hope thats right) will all shift now, but the back won't. Any ideas?

Also, what kind of lube do I need to use on the derailurs and everything besides the chain. As a matter of fact, whats good for the chain?

It could be one of two things:
1. Derailleur might be damaged or worn
2. The brake cable has stretched. You need to retension the brake cable in order to fix it. -this scenario is far more likely.

And, it might depend highly on what rear derailleur you have. If you have a very low end, Xmart bike, the derailleur might be past it's expiry date :rolleyes:

Do you leave it in the rain a lot? This can really destroy bikes.

No it was in a sealed building. So how would i go about retensioning the cable, when i turn the gear shifter is won't turn, only to those gears. If that helps.

The derailleur cable might also be rusted. You might want to consider removing the cable from the derailleur and the housing to clean and relube it. There are various bike lubes. Ask the folks at a local bike shop. If you're unsure of how to remove and reinstall the cable (you will also need to readjust the tension afterwards), you might want to take the bike into a bike shop and have them do it for you. Ask them to show you how to do it in the future while you're at it. Actually, if you're not sure of what other problems there might be with the bike, it's probably not a bad idea to have the shop do a "tune-up" on the entire bike to get it back into riding condition. If you prefer to do the work yourself, check out the Park Tool website on rear derailleur adjustments (http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=64).

BTW, the title of this thread reminds me of a VW radio ad that's been playing around here...

Actually this car has three speeds... and the third speed is disappointment.

I agree your cable most likely needs retensioning. You might be able to do it with the barrel adjustment but don't count on that as a permanant fix.

If you got the front three to work, but the back won't budge, it sounds like you cable is rusted and seized in the housing.

The gear shifty thingy which pushes the chain over is called a derailleur. There are two. Front and Rear.

The levers at the handlebars are the shifters.

At the rear derailleur, there is a bolt that clamps down onto the cable. Loosen that. Then pull the cable out. If the plastic housing over the cable won't move freely it's rusted in place. Best to just replace it with a new one.

The guide at Park Tools is better than what I could describe to you.