buying parts??

I need to replace my back wheel and the rear derailler. I don't have much experience with bikes and I have already tried my LBS without much luck. How do I figure out what type of parts I need?

is there another LBS in your area you could go to?........or a bike club?? I have a buddy I ride with on occasion that built out my vintage Trek for me so I can always go to him with mechanical questions. (I'm also very lucky in that I have a Great LBS)

also, do you have any maintainence books? I have the Bicycling Mags Maintainence Book for all types of bikes but several of the ladies here like Zinns book. Might be another place to start.

and you go girl and good luck! imagine the feeling of accomplishment when you finish building your baby out!

Have you tried calling Cannondale? They might be able to steer you to another shop which is more helpful.

You have to look at things such as road or mtbike. Size of the wheel (700, 650, 26", etc.). Is the cassette OK? Are the rear drop outs and derailleur hanger OK? If your rear derailleur is damaged, I'd want the frame checked also. You really need someone to lay eyes and hands on the bike to give you an expert opinion on the damage.

There is not another bike store in my town and the bike club here seems more of a click than anything else. If you aren't fast, with an expensive bike then they don't seem to want to help SadieKate you used some technical terms I have no idea what they are. Heck, a cassette to me is something that used to play muscic. I guess I will just have to call another store in another town and hope they treat me fairly or just scrap the whole thing. Thanks for the information. I am a little frustrated and have been thinking I should just change exercise modes. I just got into cycling last summer and then this past summer this happens to my bike which I had only had since April and the hurricane hits my town so there is still much debris such as roofing nails etc on the roads. Sorry to sound so pitiful but it has been a hard past several months in Louisiana

So call Cannondale's tech dept. Locate a dealer on their website. Good options there.

http://www.cannondale.com/company/index.html

Also, try www.parktool.com. Look for service help and you'll get a diagram of a bike. It will help you identify parts.

The cassette is the set of gears attached to the back wheel. The derailleur shifts the chain across these gears. The hanger is the piece the derailleur attaches to on the frame. The dropouts are the parts to which the wheel skewer attaches.