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mongoose bike chain

Shimano Bike shifting repair help?

So winter has just passed and i haven’t really lubricated/taken care of my mongoose mountain bike. Anyway it has Shimano shifting and the right shifter, with number 1-8 work perfectly. However the left shifter, with numbers 1-3 are totally screwed. I mean, it was on 2, the same number I had left it on, but when I switched to one, it took like twenty seconds of metal grinding. I though shimano was one of the best shifting mechanisms, but then again, I didn;t lubricate. SO I did lubricate it but it didn;t help. Now the bike wont shift back to two. I’m not a bike expert but the think which moves the chain seems to only move sideways, which forces the chain into the side of the disc, on on the hinges. Should the thing which moves the chain also move up? How can I fix it? Here’s a link to a picture of my bike: http://www.liquidation.com/auction/view?id=1859473

The derailleurs move the chain from side to side, they don’t move it up and down. It _looks_ like it moves the chain up and down, but that’s a function of being pulled up onto or dropping down from adjacent gears.

I’m guessing your cable is so badly rusted that it won’t move the derailleur. It may even be broken. Can you actually move the shifter from position 1 to two and three or is it bound up and won’t move?

If you try to move the shifter and it moves but the derailleur doesn’t, then the cable is broken or has come loose from the binding bolt on the derailleur.

If the shifter will not move, then either the cable is so rusted it won’t budge, or the shifter itself might be corroded and non functional.

A mechanic will be able to diagnose the problem quickly, which is what you should do, take it to a local bike shop. Odds are if the left shifter is that bad, there are other things ready to fail as well, including the brakes.

You could replace the cable yourself, but that will only leave the rest of the bike ready to fall apart.

Shimano is good stuff, and their competition level components are some of the best, but on a bike of the level you have, it’s nothing special (your link is broken, btw). Just like anything else, if you don’t take care of it, it breaks.

NEW MAURICE MONGOOSE BICYCLE CHAIN RING BIKE PARTS 250 $10.95

NEW MAURICE MONGOOSE BICYCLE CHAIN RING BIKE PARTS 250 $10.95