My beater bike self-destructed!

x-no-archive:yes

I got a 1993 Raleigh M-40 city bike to use as a beater bike so that I won't have to worry about it
being stolen. It has been in the garage all summer, but today I decided to take it out for a ride.
To my surprise, the grip shifters have self-destructed! The plastic parts where the cable attaches
have both broken off of the handlebar. Both side! I guess I have a single speed bike now....has
anyone else had this problem? I know it's hot in my garage in Texas in the summer, but this is
ridiculous! Maybe I could get some cheap grip shifters to replace the broken ones, but I really
didn't want to spend any money on it.

Pat in TX

In article <bm4r7i$igokt$1@id-194653.news.uni-berlin.de>, "Pat" <me@privacy.net> writes:

> Maybe I could get some cheap grip shifters to replace the broken ones, but I really didn't want to
> spend any money on it.

If you're lucky, you might be able to spot a discarded bike on the wayside, with top mounted,
thumb-lever shifters that work. Maybe keep your eyes peeled, and pack a screwdriver. That would beat
having to spend $$. I think top mounts are more mechanically reliable than grip shifts anyway.

cheers, Tom

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[point] bc [point] ca

a clear case of partial bike suicide due to depression from neglicence

Pat wrote:

> x-no-archive:yes
>
>
> I got a 1993 Raleigh M-40 city bike to use as a beater bike so that I won't have to worry about it
> being stolen. It has been in the garage all summer, but today I decided to take it out for a ride.
> To my surprise, the grip shifters have self-destructed! The plastic parts where the cable attaches
> have both broken off of the handlebar. Both side! I guess I have a single speed bike now....has
> anyone else had this problem? I know it's hot in my garage in Texas in the summer, but this is
> ridiculous! Maybe I could get some cheap grip shifters to replace the broken ones, but I really
> didn't want to spend any money on it.
>
> Pat in TX
>

Pat <me@privacy.net> scribed in <bm4r7i$igokt$1@ID-194653.news.uni -berlin.de>:

> x-no-archive:yes

hey Pat, you need to get that no-archive thing into the HEADER, I see it in the post, not in the
header, it is no use unless it is in the header as the body of posts is ignored by the servers.

no, I don't know how to add custom header lines in Outlook as I use Xnews which puts it right there
on the compose window as an option

> I got a 1993 Raleigh M-40 city bike to use as a beater bike so that I won't have to worry about it
> being stolen. It has been in the garage all summer, but today I decided to take it out for a ride.
> To my surprise, the grip shifters have self-destructed! The plastic parts where the cable attaches
> have both broken off of the handlebar. Both side! I guess I have a single speed bike

guess they were under continuous tension? if so, that's the cause, the plastic just let go over
time, aided by the heat.

swarf, steam and wind

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I once had a cheap bike and its grip-shifters broke apart. I fixed them up with epoxy putty and duct
tape and they worked for another year, when the bike wore out otherwise.

The good quality bike I ride most of the time now, has very solid grip-shifters and although
I've put a lot of use on them, they still keep working.

You could buy new grip-shifters at a full-service bike shop and they wouldn't be too expensive.
Personally, I wouldn't want to ride without this type. I can instantly shift the gears up or
down and respond without delay to a change in riding circumstances. And, there's no distracting
reach for shift levers required. The ability to shift quickly and easily, leads me to do it
more often and it saves wear and tear on my knees and other parts. With lever-shifters, I
always used to leave a bike in a higher gear too long and load my legs too heavily. In the 6
years I've used grip-shifters, I've experienced a reversal in my previously worsening knee
aches and disabilities, even though I'm riding harder and farther than before. My knees and
whole body are solid and pain-free now. And I ain't no Spring chicken.

Steve McDonald

"Pat" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message news:bm4r7i$igokt$1@ID-194653.news.uni-berlin.de...

> I got a 1993 Raleigh M-40 city bike to use as a beater bike so that I
won't
> have to worry about it being stolen. It has been in the garage all
summer,
> but today I decided to take it out for a ride. To my surprise, the grip shifters have
> self-destructed! The plastic parts where the cable attaches have both broken off of the handlebar.
> Both side! I guess I have a
single
> speed bike now....has anyone else had this problem? I know it's hot in my garage in Texas in the
> summer, but this is ridiculous! Maybe I could get some cheap grip shifters to replace the broken
> ones, but I really didn't want to spend any money on it.

Some of the older gripshifts were known to self-destruct. When they started out, they didn't have
their plastic formula quite right, so many of them succumbed to heat and U.V. rays. The x-ray
(translucent) series were particularly bad.

You can probably pick up some cheap 7-speed shifters to replace them. Talk to your LBS guys. They'll
fix you up! If not, mtb shifters are usually pretty cheap at Nashbar and on e-bay.

-Buck

"Buck" <s c h w i n n _ f o r _ s a l e @ h o t m a i l . c o m> wrote in message
news:dESib.32426$592.8342@twister.austin.rr.com... <snip>
> You can probably pick up some cheap 7-speed shifters to replace them. Talk to your LBS guys.
> They'll fix you up! If not, mtb shifters are usually pretty cheap at Nashbar and on e-bay.
>

MTB thumb shifters in friction mode should provide a simple, inexpensive, troublefree fix and
provide better shifting than the original low end grip shifts. You can get new ones at Rivendell for
the low low price of $12.00.

Check 'em out here - http://rivendellbicycles.com/webalog...urs/17097.html

skip

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 03:50:05 -0700 (PDT), bigrocketman3@webtv.net (Steve McDonald) wrote:
>I can instantly shift the gears up or down and respond without delay to a change in riding
>circumstances. And, there's no distracting reach for

Hmm...I think I've always used cheezy grip-shifters then. No matter how well adjusted, they behave
like friction shifters to me; the indexing isn't easy to find. Is this less of a problem with good
grip shifters?

I find that the distraction of looking for the click is a problem for me; reaching for the levers
feels natural.

Also, sometimes when I grab the handlebar less than smoothly, I knock the grip-shifter into the next
gear; this doesn't happen to me with quickfire-style levers. I suspect some people would
accidentally hit my levers in the same situation, though.

>shift levers required. The ability to shift quickly and easily, leads me to do it more often and it
>saves wear and tear on my knees and other parts. With lever-shifters, I always used to leave a bike
>in a higher gear too long and load my legs too heavily. In the 6 years I've used grip-shifters,
>I've experienced a reversal in my previously worsening knee aches and disabilities, even though I'm
>riding harder and farther than before. My knees and whole body are solid and pain-free now. And I
>ain't no Spring chicken.

Great arguments for using the shifters with which you're more comfortable, regardless of what type.

>Steve McDonald
--
Rick Onanian

DejaVU Said:

> Pat <me@privacy.net> scribed in <bm4r7i$igokt$1@ID-194653.news.uni -berlin.de>:
>
> > x-no-archive:yes
>
> hey Pat, you need to get that no-archive thing into the HEADER, I see it in the post, not in the
> header, it is no use unless it is in the header as the body of posts is ignored by the servers.

As far as I know Google respects x-no-archive, even if it is in the body.

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