Cheap mtb shifters/brakes

rudycyclist said:

I'm working on some cheap mountain bikes with grip shifting and I've never really worked with gripshifters before. Can someone tell me how to route the cables in there and just how to install them in general.

Also, I really have little experience in the mountain bike brake area. How do I install the levers? Thanks for all help you guys can offer, I really appreciate it.

The Park tool site should have the info you need (with helpful pictures):

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=117

rudycyclist said:

I'm working on some cheap mountain bikes with grip shifting and I've never really worked with gripshifters before. Can someone tell me how to route the cables in there and just how to install them in general.

Also, I really have little experience in the mountain bike brake area. How do I install the levers? Thanks for all help you guys can offer, I really appreciate it.

Replacing cables on Gripshifters can be an adventure. It seems to me like every model is a little different. Some you have to disassemble to change the cable, the newer, better ones just have a little window to feed the cable through. I'd check with Sram to see if they have online directions. My experiences with their tech support people have been uniformly good.

Installing mountain bike brake levers is really pretty easy except for one thing. You have to slide off the grips (spray some hair spray underneath) and, in your case, your Grip shifters before you can slide your new levers on. Then they just tighten with a 5mm allen wrench.

I've run into a few problems. It seems that whenever I try to accomplish something on these terrible bikes, something just doesn't work out.

Problem 1: My front derailleur shifter cable is too short. Not much to say there, it's just too short. It doesn't reach the front derailleur.

Problem 2: The rear derailleur cable has one little metal strand that has frayed out and everytime I try to put it in the cable housing it just frays more. I'm thinking about just taking that whole strand out. I don't think it will affect performance. The kids riding these bikes aren't pros at all. They won't be able to tell [censored] a difference.

Problem 3: After running into Problem 2, I just took off the cable housing right by the rear derailleur and ran it through to see if it would function. Well my derailleur won't shift into a bigger cog. It will shift into a harder gear, but not vice versa. Any ideas there? I ran into something similar with my flat bar road bike, but I just had to adjust the cable length on the derailleur.

Problem 4: I was told at my bike shop that a BMX brake lever would be just about equivalent for me. So I took it and cannot get the brake cable into the brake lever portion. Any ideas there? Am I doing something incorrect or is my BMX lever not compatible?

As you can see, I have many problems with these awful bikes (they've never been touched, maintenance wise, and they're about 5 years old). I appreciate any help anyone can offer on any of the 4 problems. Thanks so much.

1. You need to replace the cable.
2. You need to replace the cable.
3. Shortening that short section of cable housing usually turns out to be a mistake. Rear shifting frequently reacts badly to that bend being a little too tight.
4. The BMX brake lever should work, you just have to figure out how to get the cable routed through it. There might be a little trap door on the underside of the lever that the barrel of the brake cable fits into.

Isn't your Madone a joy to ride after messing with a POS mountain bike for awhile?

Retro Grouch said:

1. You need to replace the cable.
2. You need to replace the cable.
3. Shortening that short section of cable housing usually turns out to be a mistake. Rear shifting frequently reacts badly to that bend being a little too tight.
4. The BMX brake lever should work, you just have to figure out how to get the cable routed through it. There might be a little trap door on the underside of the lever that the barrel of the brake cable fits into.

Isn't your Madone a joy to ride after messing with a POS mountain bike for awhile?

Unbelieveable, I thought this wouldn't be too bad, about 30 minutes a bike. It's turning out to be like 2+ per bike. Yes my Madone is unbelieveably easier to work on than these. It's so much more fun to work on because it's actually mine. It's official, I hate grip shifting.