HELP – I don’t know the first thing about bikes. My son fell off of his and now it doesn’t work. Is this repairable?
by ddeadtomato
HELP – I don’t know the first thing about bikes. My son fell off of his and now it doesn’t work. Is this repairable?
by ddeadtomato
10 Comments
Yeah it’s repairable, but if you don’t know nothing about bikes, just take it to your LBS.
New derailleur time
The bike very much so, but the derailleur in question will need to be replaced. Your local bike shop should be able to get it fixed within a few days.
The position of the deraileur is concerning for me. Part of me wonders if the chain is actually on the front cogs, since we can’t see them. The bend on the last photo is also weird.
If the chain isn’t off the front gear ring, take it to a local bike shop. They’ll be able to take a look and let you know. I’d bet its repairable without too much money, but I can’t really tell from what we see here.
it looks like the deraileur (the mechanical part that moves to shift gears) is bent. probably also the hangar, which is a small metal J-shaped piece that connects the deraileur to the frame (it’s a sacrificial piece to save your bike frame). if it was me, i’d try to straigten them out, but realistically you’ll want to replace those… it’s not a hard job and your local shop should be able to do it in an hour or less
If you aren familiar with derailleurs the easiest fix is get the bike shop to bend it back if possible or replace it, best case free, worst case like $30.
Yikes, but yes. It looks like the derailleur hanger is bent. I can’t really tell, but it looks bent in the final image, and explains the derailleur cage angle. To get the hanger back in place takes a specialty tool. The derailleur itself may or may not be junk now, I suspect it might be okay, but it’s very inexpensive since it’s 7 speed.
Like the others said, take it to a shop, unless the work costs way more than [the DAG-2.2](https://www.parktool.com/en-us/product/derailleur-hanger-alignment-gauge-dag-2-2) and a new derailleur, and your time.
The derailleur (black Shimano part) is out of alignment. It’s bent, as is the frame where it attaches. It’s a common thing to happen after a crash or even when it gets bumped from improper storage.
If that particular derailleur can’t be bent back, it is replaceable. The frame, it depends. If the bike frame itself is steel it’s easier to bend back, aluminum is dicier as it is more brittle and prone to snapping when bent. It’s possible that a derailleur hanger could be added in that case, a lot of bikes have them.
Your local bike shop could advise and do this.
Can anyone provide a link as to which deraileur I should purchase? Preferably off of Amazon?
Thank you very much for the responses, very much appreciated.
If the derailleur is not messed up, which I believe it is, then it’s not installed correctly. Take it to a shop, replacing a derailleur and setting it up properly can be a daunting task if you aren’t familiar with doing that sort of thing.