broken chain link and jacked up gear shifter?

[TwoWheelsDC]

Welcome! Sorry to hear about your malfunction. I think best case scenario, you just lost a pin in your chain, which caused it to separate (could be an installation error or just a dud…) and you just need to fix the chain. You can do this by either buying a new chain or buying a link (if the chain is old, it may be worth it to just get a new one…a link is like $4 and the shop can help you figure out exactly what you need). Either way, you will need a chain breaker tool and probably some quick Googling to install everything, although a shop can do it pretty cheap and quick. Regarding your “silver gear shifting thing” (aka, the front derailleur ), my hope (going back to the best case scenario) is that it looks misaligned because it’s half-shifted, and not because it’s actually busted. If you toggle a downshift (little lever on your left shifter), it should release the tension and realign.

Worst case is that your front derailleur needs to be fixed, but even that would be a relatively simple job for a shop or a relatively skilled buddy (wouldn’t really recommend you doing that one yourself).

[Crickey7]

@lauren.kibbe 129147 wrote:

I have been experiencing some difficulty when shifting gears.

What kind of difficulties? Like the chain suddenly slipping, or like the gears shifting at random times? I would say in general that chain’s probably history, but depending on what the difficulty is, there might be other drivetrain parts needing replacing as well.

[baiskeli]

@TwoWheelsDC 129150 wrote:

Regarding your “silver gear shifting thing” (aka, the front derailleur ), my hope (going back to the best case scenario) is that it looks misaligned because it’s half-shifted, and not because it’s actually busted. If you toggle a downshift (little lever on your left shifter), it should release the tension and realign.

It could also be turned out of alignment, e.g. rotated around the downtube (for lauren: the tube it is attached to), so it could need a simple turn and retightening to line it back up. Let’s hope it’s not busted.

[baiskeli]

By the way, the technical bike term for what the status of your chain is “toast.”

[Crickey7]

I like the suggestion that the silver shifting thingie rotated or otherwise shifted position, thereby setting the whole train of events into motion. That fits with the observation that the bike was assembled out of parts that the brother had lying around or could get for free.

[Steve O]

@lauren.kibbe 129147 wrote:

I ride it 5 days a week to and from work

You are assigned to my team in Freezing Saddles!

[mstone]

This is like Car Talk for bikes, right here

[bentbike33]

@mstone 129161 wrote:

This is like Car Talk for bikes, right here

Except with way more chuckling knuckleheads dispensing the (more or less) bo-oh-oh-oh-gus advice.

[jrenaut]

In the first picture, the front derailleur seems much too low. This could happen if it wasn’t installed tightly enough, slipped down, and then the chain got stuck when you tried to shift.

My recommendation is to take it to the Bike Rack (conveniently located at 14th and Q) and have them take a look. It’s very likely you need a new chain, but beyond that it’s tough to judge from photos.

[lauren.kibbe]

@Steve O 129159 wrote:

You are assigned to my team in Freezing Saddles!

I’m in!

[lauren.kibbe]

Thanks to all who have responded! (I’m trying to figure out to respond to you individually but haven’t gotten there yet!)

All this feedback is so very helpful!..I have new found optimism that this isn’t the end for my beloved (and fast!) bike!…I think I’ll start with getting a new chain and see if I can “toggle” the “silver gear shift thing” (aka front derailleur) to get it back into place. If it’s has in fact slipped though I may need some more experienced hands in which case I’ll take it to the shop.

jrenaut, you recommend Bike Rack on 14th and Q?…I’m willing to give it a shot. I’ve been to several bike shops in D.C. and for the most part they are kind and helpful. I just would rather learn how to do some of this basic maintenance stuff on my own instead of paying to have it done for me. I have some people I know that can help fix it for free, which is nice to have on had, but at the end of the day, I think it will be much more efficient (and cheaper) if I can figure it out…plus I’m curious and want to learn!

[lauren.kibbe]

@Crickey7 129158 wrote:

I like the suggestion that the silver shifting thingie rotated or otherwise shifted position, thereby setting the whole train of events into motion. That fits with the observation that the bike was assembled out of parts that the brother had lying around or could get for free.

Ah, this makes sense. However, it feels pretty tight on there to me. I can’t seem to move it around at all. But maybe these are micro movements?

[lauren.kibbe]

@Crickey7 129153 wrote:

What kind of difficulties?

It just doesn’t shift smoothly. My other bikes have different shifters and I don’t feel the shift as much. It’s been tough for me to get the hang of the positioning of these shifters on the dropped down handle bars but also, when I shift it can take a few trys before it feels like it actually moves. Does this make sense?

it doesn’t feel like that chain is slipping though, is just feels kinda clunkily moving…:confused:

[DismalScientist]

I had this happen to me a few weeks ago. One link of the chain started to separate from the pin. The chain was catching something on every rotation, probably at the rear derailleur. I GINGERLY biked 3 miles to Phoenix and borrowed their chain breaker to fix it. I broke and reassembled the chain at that link without issue. This means the chain may not be toast yet. You can always just take out the one link that is bent from this incident (which will shorten the chain a bit). If you can get the bike to shift into both the big chainring and rear cog, then the shorter chain is still sufficiently long to work.

I wouldn’t replace the chain unless it was too stretched.

The first and fifth pictures suggest that the front derailleur is too low and may have slipped down the seat tube. The third picture suggests this is not true. Because of the angles of the photos, I can’t tell whether your front derailleur needs adjustment.

Having the bike not shift smoothly suggests that the chain problem has been slow in developing. If it were a bad shift that caught the front derailleur, my guess is that the chain would make mincemeat out of the derailleur rather than the other way around.

[dkel]

@lauren.kibbe 129169 wrote:

It just doesn’t shift smoothly. My other bikes have different shifters and I don’t feel the shift as much. It’s been tough for me to get the hang of the positioning of these shifters on the dropped down handle bars but also, when I shift it can take a few trys before it feels like it actually moves. Does this make sense?

it doesn’t feel like that chain is slipping though, is just feels kinda clunkily moving…:confused:

This sounds like a derailleur adjustment issue, though in rare cases it could be caused by a frayed cable. If you’re at the shop to get a new chain anyway (or have it evaluated), I can’t imagine it would cost more than $10 or $20 for labor to get the shifting tuned up; if you do need a new chain, adjusting the shifting may be part of the installation anyway.

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