The first real breakdown

[pegkerr]

It was a lovely day to bike, sixty seven degrees F. I got the bike loaded up, a few minutes later than I would have liked, and headed out. About a half mile from home, I stopped for a stop light. When the light turned green, I shifted gears to get moving faster, only to hear an ominous clatter. I tried shifting again, and the pedals froze. Oh, no.

I pulled off to the side of the road, got off, and took a look. As I'd feared the chain had jumped off the sprockets. I tried to muscle it back on and immediately got myself covered with grease, with little to show for it.

A kind passerby stopped to give me a hand, telling me that he used to work at a bike shop. He helped me thread the chain back on the sprocket, but we were still unable to get the pedals to turn. "I'm afraid you might have a busted derailler," he said.

So I called Rob (yay for unemployed husbands who are at home in the morning and can come rescue their stranded wives), who brought the Jeep, a bottle of Go-Jo, and a roll of paper towels. I cleaned off the grease and we threw the bike in the back. He drove me to work and will drop the bike off at the bike shop today.

If the derailler has to be replaced, how much can I expect it to cost? Alas, I fear I will lose all my money savings from bicycling for the month, or maybe more.

Note to self: put some latex gloves in the bag for similar emergencies.

Mood: rueful

Comments

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Were you shifting front or rear? Could be either I guess. Try not to shift more than one gear at once, particularly if you're pedalling under load. If the chain overshot a sprocket, the derailler was probably not adjusted right. Either that or you were badly cross-gearing (using the lowest rear with the highest front, or vice-versa).

I paid $30 to replace my rear derailler after I wore out the last one. Well, $30 was the cost of the derailler. I just put it on myself, took about 10 minutes. I suspect if the LBS did it you'd wind up paying $50 or more. I think it's unlikely that it's broken, probably just bent or just misadjusted, and I'd personally try a little persuasive maintenance before throwing it away.

It doesn't make sense that a broken derailler would keep the pedals from turning. I guess I'd have to see it to guess what was up. I have some suspicions but it'd be hard to ask the right questions without looking at the bike.

If the derailler does need to be replaced, at least take heart that this should not be a regular occurance. My first derailler was a Shimano Altus, which I think is the cheapest piece of junk Shimano makes, and it lasted me 10,000+ miles. In fact the derailler was still fine, but the pulleys were worn to where there weren't any teeth left on them. I could still shift but it was very sluggish and I had to overshift a lot, and it just got irritating.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

BTW, use nitrile gloves. Non-allergenic, so they're more useful if you wind up in a first-aid situation as well. Also I think they're more durable, and easier to get on.

Harbor Freight has 100 for $5.99 right now. Gotta get to that store soon...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=37051

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

You are a font of useful information. Thanks!

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I've never had to replace a derailleur on any of my bikes, even the yard-sale $10 specials. Agreed, though, that most shifter failures wouldn't lock up your pedals unless the chain is still jammed at some point. Usually when the chain jumps off the sprocket, you end up with free-spinning crank...

The way you wrote up the incident, it sounded like you tried to shift gears while stopped at the light. That won't work -- derailleur shifters need to have the chain in motion.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

The way you wrote up the incident, it sounded like you tried to shift gears while stopped at the light. That won't work -- derailleur shifters need to have the chain in motion.

Well, I do know that, at least--I had originally shifted while still rolling, before stopping for the light. But obviously I did something wrong!

Anyway, I'll hope that the bike shop can sort it out without too big a repair bill. I'm reassured to learn that derailers aren't as expensive as I'd feared, if worst comes to worst.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

To clarify: as I was pulling away from the light, I was upshifting again, while rolling. That's when the problem occurred.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Will latex gloves work? I put a pair on to help a friend deal with water damage in his basement. They tore almost immediately and so were worthless.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

"If the derailler has to be replaced, how much can I expect it to cost? Alas, I fear I will lose all my money savings from bicycling for the month, or maybe more."

Or you could look at it this way: you've probably saved enough money biking to work to pay for a good part of the bike repair. You weren't doing it just to save money, were you?