greetings and derailleur replacement
 

Hello, to everyone. I found this forum when i was searching online for help, and figure this would be a great place for me to be able to get more involved with biking.

i have a bent derailleur. my trek navigator 1.0 will not go into first gear, as well as stay in the gear which has been selected. i use my bike to commute to class; one morning, i went outside of my dorm to a cut chain, my bike that had been stolen, crashed, and then returned. plenty of mud and grass was jammed into the derailleur and it hasn't shifted gears properly since then. :twitchy: it was finals week for some, and an early vacation for others.

i think the derailleur could use a replacement, my bike's four years old now, im in my senior year, and i suppose i could use an upgrade. thing is, that i do not know how to match aftermarket derailleurs, or install them, but i have some ambition to learn.

cheers

greetings and derailleur replacement
 

You might just need a new hanger. The derailleur hanger is usually a separate, aluminum piece that the derailleur bolts to. The hanger is made to bend first. Based on your description of what happened, I would check the hanger alignment. A special tool is needed. Any bike shop will have one.

Thanks! I'll inspect that part, and likely plan to take it into the shop.