Rear derailleur advice needed

[mog35]

Hi all

I recently acquired an old(ish) road bike - a Viscount Super Sport - from a colleague who's in Spain for nine months. It's in good condition and has been enjoyable to ride so far but since yesterday I've experienced problems with the rear derailleur.

The bike has the old-fashioned style downtube shifters. The chain is kind of stuck on the smallest sprocket. When I try to change to a lower gear, the derailleur moves it across to the bigger sprockets, but when I release the lever, it pings back to its previous position and the chain goes back to the small sprocket. So it stays in the desired gear only as long as I hold the lever in place.

Could anyone advise me as to what the problem might be? I hope the above makes sense.

 

[Broadside]

Very likely to be a loose friction shifter (the gear leaver that just springs back) that just needs tightening. There is usually a fold out ring or wide plastic cap you can twist to tighten by hand, otherwise it will be a flat head screw driver slot. Either way just tighten it up, it is a 5 second fix. If that doesnt sort it then please post up a photo.

 

[mickle]

+1

 

[mog35]

That's exactly what it was. All sorted now. Many thanks for the tip