Mountain Biking - problem with rear derailleur

ok so after one day of riding and a nice little tumble, my bike was stuck in one gear. If i tried to switch, it would go, but then fall back in to where it was.

So I rode the rest of the trail, went home and tried to figure out the problem. The cable was kinda loose so i fixed that up that problem. I also noticed that if I have the gears selector in the #1 position and manually put the chain in that position, I can run through the gears, but after on cycle through the chain wont return to that last gear, it will stay on the second gear even with the selector reading #1.

I'm thinking that maybe the Derailleur got bent on the tumble, I just dont wanna buy a new one if I dont need it. Sorry for all the mumbo jumbo but I'm still very new to the "mechanics of biking". If this makes sense to anyone I'd aprecciate any input.

I'd Dunno but you should ask on mechanical category

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=64

You may have bent your derailleur hanger a little. Go through the tuning steps provided in the Park Tools link above and if nothing comes of it go see your LBS. They'll do a proper tune-up and can determine if your hanger is bent and can straighten it precisely.

I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding the problem. It won't shift out of that gear at all? If that is the case, it has nothing to do with your derailleur, it's something wrong with the shifter and/or cable tension. I'd put money on the shifter though...

If it just isn't shifting up to the next gear, but shifts fine if you hit the shifter again, then it's an issue with the hanger, or a bent derailleur, or just needs to be adjusted.

Quick note: sram shifters have been known to get stuck in the "1" position, especially if you accidentally hit the shifter with no cable tension on it. Take it to the shop if this is the case, it just needs to be pulled apart and put back together correctly.

thanks for the link I'll check that out.



ZeCanon....when i came home that day and found the loose cable...it solved the problem of being stuck in only 1 gear.
But after that I still had the problem of the chain not switching down into the smallest gear on the rear. The shifter will go into position #1 but the chain never shifts.
So what I did was I put the shifter on #1 and then with my hands I put the chain in the correct position. I then shifted through to number 8 and back down to 1, the chain went through all the gears but wouldnt come down to the 1 position.

And now as Im typing this I'm also remembering that if I try to shift into 1 it does nothing as i had said, BUT if I keep a constant pressure and hold the shifter trigger in it will engage into #1 but will come out as soon as i let go of trigger.


Hope that helps a little to better understand.

May also be a problem with cable/housing bent or kinked.

maybe your cassette is bent?