james1024

I recently wrecked my bike - I hit a possum doing ~25mph and came down on the left side of the bike. Since then, I have had problems shifting. The first ride I took after the wreck, only 2nd and 3rd were available. However, the hub (or something) would continuously pop out of gear, and I had to hold the twist shifter in place with my hand to prevent this. The other problem was that in 2nd gear, the shifter indicated 1st gear; and in 3rd it indicated 2nd. I was unable to shift down to 1st, and unable to shift up so that the shifter indicated 3rd.

After that first ride, the issue with popping out of gear resolved itself, but the other problems remain. There was never noticeably anything wrong with the hub, cable, or shifter, with the exception of the little plastic nut around the cable that screws into the shifter (it had come loose). This was an easy fix - I simply threaded it back into the shifter. I also don't know for sure that it came unthreaded during the wreck, it may have done so at some point prior. In either case, it seemed to be trivial, but what do I know?

I was hesitant to try adjusting the mechanism (I don't know what it's called, it interfaces the hub and and cable), because I was afraid of causing further damage. I stopped by my LBS today, and that is what I was recommended to do. I shifted to 3rd (so the shifter indicated 2nd. This is what I was told to do at the LBS) and tried to adjust. The adjuster was way off. I attempted to adjust, but the cable tightened down before the adjuster even got close to being on the mark. I then shifted to 2nd (shifter indicates 1st), and the adjuster was dead on. This is the proper gear to adjust the hub, so I'm thinking adjustment isn't the issue.

I'm thinking the issue is with the cable, but I don't know what to try next. LBS is over 30 miles away, with no way to get the bike there without riding it there and back. Any suggestions?

P.S. Sorry for the long-winded post. Please feel free to correct/educate me on proper terminology.

james1024

I forgot to mention that the bike has coaster brakes. Now I'm also wondering if maybe the hub was damaged by the ground catching the left pedal and forcing it backwards. That would now be my best guess, considering I came down on the left.

The coaster brakes are working fine, though.