I knew something wasn't right as soon as I made a few shifts with the rear derailleur. The shifts were just not as crisp as I was used to. Sure enough about 10 miles into the ride, the rear derailleur cable broke. This is not the first time I have had this happen, so I had a plan to fix it so I could at least get home.
This bike has 9 sprockets on the rear wheel and 2 chain rings on the crank for a potential of 18 speeds. When the cable breaks, the derailleur moves over to the smallest sprocket which is the highest gear. I positioned the derailleur over the third largest sprocket and locked it in place by clamping the remaining shifter cable under the rear wheel quick release nut. Now I had a two speed bike with one sprocket in the back and two chain rings in front.
I decided to continue my ride instead of taking a short cut home. The gearing was way low, even with the big chainring, for the flats and downhills. And on the climb out of Illahee, I could have used a lower gear. But I made it home and had a fast average too.
Since this has happened before, you would think I would carry a spare cable..... Nah!
Here is the rear sprockets or cogs. After I positioned the derailluer at the third largest cog, I pulled all the slack out of the shifter cable and clamped it under the red rear wheel quick release nut to hold the derailluer in position.
1 comment:
My uncle just retired and is spending all his time doing anything he can get his hands on. I think he would really like this story. He said he and a friend always go to bremerton transmission if anything happens to their cars after a long road trip. Maybe they should just stick to riding a bike :)
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