Rear Gear Shift Problems

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Having been away at uni for four years i recently decided to get my old bike out! I have an 1999 Orange P7 hardtail mountain bike. I soon realised that the derailer was struggling to shift up to the large gear and down to the smallest gear! I have spent a couple of hours trying to adjust it using the cable tensioning screw and the H and L screws. when i fix it to shift to the smaller gear it wont shift to the larger gear and vise versa! I was wondering whether the derailer may need replacing as it seems to me that the spring may not be as strong as it should be. Whats the likely hood of it being the derailer spring or a rusted cable?

Having been away at uni for four years i recently decided to get my old bike out! I have an 1999 Orange P7 hardtail mountain bike. I soon realised that the derailer was struggling to shift up to the large gear and down to the smallest gear! I have spent a couple of hours trying to adjust it using the cable tensioning screw and the H and L screws. when i fix it to shift to the smaller gear it wont shift to the larger gear and vise versa! I was wondering whether the derailer may need replacing as it seems to me that the spring may not be as strong as it should be. Whats the likely hood of it being the derailer spring or a rusted cable?If the bike's derailleurs/shifters functioned BEFORE you put it away, then the problem can probably be resolved by lubing the cables and/or derailleurs.

It's best to pull the cables out of the housing, particularly if there is rust ... wipe them off (use an OLD scouring pad designed for teflon pans), put a dab of grease (almost ANY kind -- even VASELINE will do) between your index finger & thumb, and run the cable through the grease ...

Insert cable back into the housing (a drop of "household" oil is probably a good idea) ... connect ... test ...

If you don't want to pull the cable, then try to get some "houshold" oil OR the dreaded-and-feared WD-40 (or, some other aerosol "oil") into the cable's housing ...

If THAT resolves the problem (the object is to isolate the problem), then at some point in-the-future, you will want to consider buying some new cables and/or housing.

If THAT doesn't resolve the problem, the you have to check the shifter, etc.