My bicycle wont down shift from 2 to 1, what do i do?

Question

it goes from 3 to 2, but then just stays in 2 when i put it in 1

Answer 1

Take it to be fixed, something is wrong with your gears.

Answer 2

If you aren't mechanical take it to a shop.  You need to adjust the cabling-it isn't pulling the chain over far enough to make it switch.  At least that is the usual cause.  Sometimes the gear thing (on mine it was a two-cog thing there is probably a name for) isn't aligned properly and that is a little more difficult to adjust.  This would be the case if the switcher thing I just mentioned pulls over and rubs against the wheel guard-it can't physically move over any further no matter how much you tighten the cable.  I had both problems at one point or another.

edit-ahh the derailer.  That was the word I wanted.

Answer 3

If you don't want to take it to a bike shop then don't use the first gear.

Answer 4

The only thing I can suggest is to take it to a bike shop you trust. You don't want to go messing with the gears if you don't know what your doing. You could do more harm than good. It may cost a bit to have your bike looked at. I'd rather spend a bit to have it fixed right than to be stuck somewhere when something goes wrong.

Answer 5

multiply by 2 and divide by 5

Answer 6

If you want to learn to do it by yourself, go to http://www.parktool.com and look in the "repair help" section....great photos and instructions.  You can do cable adjustments easily once you learn how (it's simple), and with common tools.   Also, if you try it and can't figure it out, you aren't likely to damage anything, so you can just take it to a shop and have them adjust it correctly for a few bucks.  

It sounds like it could be three common things:  

1)  Your derailleur is gritty and filthy so that the pivots are binding.  This happens a lot.  Clean it off with some degreaser or WD-40 and then put a few drops of lube on the pivots.  Stuff a rag in there to keep the solvent from getting on the rims or inside the bottom bracket and generally causing a mess.  

2)  Your shifting cable/housing is frayed, worn out, or gritty.  Inspect it, replace it, or remove the cable and lightly grease it (sometimes that's all you need to do).  

3)  Your shifter mechanism is binding because the grease inside dried up and got sticky, or the shaft nut came loose.  If you're going from 3 to 2 just fine, this probably isn't the trouble.  

Hope that helps....if you need more, post back with what you found out and we can help better.     :o)