Gears slipping causing me to fall off! Help needed!

pitchshifter

On my commute home this evening coming Out of a corner out of the saddle..... Bang! Manhood on the crossbar!

Not happy. The villan in question is a recently purchased 80's Raleigh sprint. 5speed simplex rear derailleur. On the smallest cog there is loads of slack in the chain which is causing it to be thrown in the other cogs when throwing the bike from side to side. The shifter cable is also very slack in the lower cog.

Is this just a case of tightening up my cable?! Or is the derailleur knackered?

Please help, my manhood needs you.

nyanza

Slack in the chain means it's too long, so take out some links. This places extra tension on the derailleur and will stop it wobbling about so easily when going over the bumps.

As long as the gears click into place on each click of the shifter then the slack cable in the bottom gear shouldn't really be a problem.

If that doesn't work, the fact you were out of the saddle says that you were placing a heavy load on the cogs. The skipping suggests that the cog teeth might be worn, in which case it's time for new cassette (the cluster of cogs) and chain.

wgwarburton

nyanza wrote:

...As long as the gears click into place on each click of the shifter then the slack cable in the bottom gear shouldn't really be a problem. ...

It's a 5-speed Simplex. It won't be indexed.

If that doesn't work, ... The skipping suggests that the cog teeth might be worn, in which case it's time for new cassette (the cluster of cogs) and chain.

Freewheel, rather than cassette, but otherwise I'd agree.

The main problem is either the chain being too long, or lack of spring tension in the rear derailleur, possibly both. If fixing that doesn't solve it then replacing drivetrain parts will probably be necessary.
If you're taking it to a bike shop, find an older one: the spotty youth surrounded by full-suspension mountain bikes won't have a clue how to fix your bike and will hide his ignorance by laughing at you and/or suggesting your scrap it and buy a new one.

Your bike is almost certainly fixable, you just need to find someone who knows how to fix it (or do it yourself).

Cheers,
W.

pitchshifter

Thanks for the replies.

I am going to assume that the chain was replaced at some point in time and wasn't adjusted to the correct length.

Going to my LBS this weekend to see what they say. My £40 "bargin" is turning out to be not so much of a good deal.

Cheers