the other day the gear cable on my grifter broke and fell out of the handle gear changing bit....
any way the gears are stuck in third but i usually ride the thing every day and im wondering if riding it without the gear change facility will damage the drum thing in the back wheel. sorry about my lack of technical terms... also in order to fix the thing what do i do!!!!

riding in top gear wont hurt it at all mate.
Replacing the cable is straight forward, just be careful when opening up the gripshift as there is a spring and bearing in there that may go flying!

thank you for the speedy reply, so to change the cable how do i get the tension on the cable? i as you might be able to tell have no idea about the technical side of owning this great bike.

Tension is regulated by the cable clamp on the rear of  the bike(where the outer cable ends)
As long as you get the correct cable all you need to do is fit it in exactly the same place as the old one and small adjustments can be made on the toggle chain (bit that goes into the hub)

where in the country are you, maybe someone on here can help.

I have a spare cable if ya need it  

that would be fantastic if you had spare cable... do you want paying for that?
i live in london... i think when i actually get the cable (are they available in regular shops or do i need to get on ebay or get your spare one!!) i'll need some help refitting the cable....
also the two screws that attach the gear shift handle to the handle bars seem to be stuck fast and i don't want to shear of the threads etc any ideas... although that said i will not be removing the handle thing until i have a cable as i need to ride the bike......

thanks again for the help

pm'd ya  ;)

cycling in top gear won't hurt?!! - my legs would be burning after going up a hill!

ha ha! theres always one smartarse!!