Angry_Eeyore

Hello all, I am sure this is nothing new to anyone on this forum and I appreciate all the help I can get. Last February I bought a Giant Seek II and I absolutely love my bike... But I went across a short grass field and hit a hidden pot hole and now I am stuck in my third gear (the front largest gear). If I shift to the middle or 1st it will make horrid grinding sounds and sometimes the chain will come off. Also, on my back gears, it seems as if it is one off. Like if I shift all the way down to the 2nd to last gear it wont shift any lower when I go try to down shift.

On a side note, can someone recommend me a good bike chain oil?

Thanks all for the help. I look forward to being able to ride in comfort. Using my low gears to go up a hill kind of sucks. A lot!

HillRider

Without seeing the bike I can only guess but I expect your accident bent one or more of your chainrings and may have damaged the rear derailleur or bent the derailleur hanger. I recommend a trip to a good LBS to assess the damage and get the bike fixed.

As to chainlube, this is one of those very contentious issues and everbody has their favorite and defends it agressively. Do a search for "chain lubes" on this forum and bring popcorn. You will have a lot to read.

Angry_Eeyore

I checked the derailer and it wasn't bent. I am really wanting to avoid paying for a repair (Christmas financially killed me). I will look through the forums for chain lube. Thanks!

Bike Gremlin

no... not... ag... again...


Joking. Send a pic of your bike, perhaps some wise heads will spot the problem. Or find a mechanic nearby, he'll see what's the problem. Once you find out what the problem is, you could ask for how to DIY, or leave it to the pros.

kycycler

How did you check the alignment? Did you eyeball the derailer or use the tool? If you did eyeball you most likely will not be able to see the misalignment. Bite the bullet and take it to a LBS. Spend a few $$ and get it done right.

Angry_Eeyore

I will probably bite the bullet and take it into the schwinn shop I got it at.

cny-bikeman

Yes, having probs with both derailleurs and possibly connected to impact calls for a bike shop when you have little or no experience. The front derailleur must be adjusted for height over the chainwheels, rotation, cable tension and inner/outer adjustment.

As previously mentioned it takes a guage to check the rear derailleur mounting alignment, but the derailleur itself could still be bent. Once on an aligned hanger just pulling the derailleur back (rotating the pulley cage) will indicate if it has been bent/twisted.

wrk101

Crashed bike, lots of potential issues, could easily be more than one. As a self described newb, I'd be heading to a bike shop.

Checking the derailleur and derailleur hanger is something that either takes a lot of experience, or some really specialized tools. I fixed one a couple of days ago, I was amazed how far off it was (OK, when its off a lot, it can be pretty obvious). I used the Park DAG-2 on mine, a pretty nice tool (but not worth buying for one bike).

Angry_Eeyore

Any idea how much this could be costing me?

Myosmith

Ask your LBS to assess the situation and give you an estimate before doing any work. Most good LBS should be willing to do this before you fork over any money. There is no way to estimate the cost based on an internet description.

Angry_Eeyore

Will do. Thanks all for the advice.