HELP

[codnan]

hi there i was hopping that someone could help as i am completly lost and have no technical abillity at all ....
recently while riding my bike the deraileur must of been a bit bent and got caught in the wheel almost ripping of the deralieur bending it in several places,
so its obviouse to even me that i need a new deraileur but i am not sure what one i want and have no idear what any of it means realy ....
i have this bike
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0051F74...de=asn&creative=22218&creativeASIN=B0051F74U8
and i think the deraileur is a
SHIMANO ALTUS RD-M310?
but am not sure \ is there a cheaper alternative as i dont have much in funds ?
also where would be a goo and cheap place to get a deraileur from?
and do all chains need a chain link tool now and how would i find a weak link if there is one ?

i think thats enoughtth for now lol but if i manage to make it past the buying the right one stage i am sure i will be back for help fitting it lol (as i said i am useless and have no knoledge of bikes other than riding them but cant realy afford the bike shop repair prices)
cheers for any help

 

[monnet]

Hi and welcome codnan.

I confess that I'm no great expert on non road bikes, but you seem like someone in need of assistance so I'll have a stab and hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be able to shed further light on things.

A quick trawl didn't reveal an RD-M310 for sale anywhere. I reckon you're probably looking in the region of around £25. Something like this *might* do the job: Rear Mech Don't forget you'll also need new cables too.

If it's a Shimano chain the chances are you'll need to break the chain. No need to find a 'weak' link. You'll need a chain splitter which will force out one of the rivets that hold the links together. When you get a new chain you might want to get a KMC or SRAM one as these have quick links which don't require a chain tool to take them on (and possibly take them off too, but I'm not sure).

I know you say money is tight but it might be worth taking the bike to a friendly Local Bike Shop (LBS) and they will be able to give the bike a quick look over and advise you on the right components and how to fit them (if they're a good shop, they won't mind). They may also spot something you haven't. From what you say I'd recommend checking the state of the rear wheel too. To give you an idea, the work you need doing (on the face of it) should take a decent mechanic about an hour which will be about £30 labour.

Hope that gives you a starting point!