Changing gear shifter

[louis.young]

On my current bike which is a cheap claud butler hybrid (urban 100) it has a shimano twist gear shifter and i hate it. It never puts it correctly into the right gear and is very clunky. Where as my friends have the trigger shifters which are so much better.
My question is am i able to change the shifter and if so how much roughly would it cost.

 

[Pauluk]

I must admit I don't like twist grip shifters. You can buy trigger shifters (single or pairs) for £20 and upwards to silly money. Not sure if you would need to change your derailleurs to achieve compatibility, but other people on here may know or ask your LBS.

It may be that your twist grip cable tension and/or derailleurs need some adjustment. My wife's twist grip setup was poor until the cable and derailleurs were adjusted correctly.

 

[louis.young]

I hope i can, might go to bike shop tomorrow see what they think. Thanks for the feedback

 

[Cycleops]

Yes those twist shifts never found much favour and explains the reason they are now defunct. I think the cable pull is different for indexed trigger type but I'm sure someone will be along soon who can give you a definitive answer.

 

[mrandmrspoves]

Yes, you can change from twist grip to trigger quite easily. Assuming you have a basic Shimano derailleur with SIS (Shimano Indexing System) you will just need the Shimano triggers for the same number of gears as you have. Trigger shifters are fairly robust so you can probably pick a used pair up of eBay cheaply.

 

[louis.young]

Thanks for clearing that up for me, will change them asap!

 

[raleighnut]

Yes, you can change from twist grip to trigger quite easily. Assuming you have a basic Shimano derailleur with SIS (Shimano Indexing System) you will just need the Shimano triggers for the same number of gears as you have. Trigger shifters are fairly robust so you can probably pick a used pair up of eBay cheaply.

+1

 

[compo]

I have done this job a number of times as I also detest twist grip gears.

You may find you will want to replace the grips as well. When you remove the twist grip the assembly is in two halves, the grip and the actual rotating part. Once separated the grip tends to be fairly short. It could also be worthwhile having a pair of gear cable inners to hand unless the ends of your existing cables that you feed through the housings are in perfect order.

If you wanted to bling (?) up your bike slightly combined brake levers/gear shifter units are available very cheaply now on Ebay. Just make sure the brake lever types suit your calipers, ie, V brakes.

 

[raleighnut]

I have done this job a number of times as I also detest twist grip gears.

You may find you will want to replace the grips as well. When you remove the twist grip the assembly is in two halves, the grip and the actual rotating part. Once separated the grip tends to be fairly short. It could also be worthwhile having a pair of gear cable inners to hand unless the ends of your existing cables that you feed through the housings are in perfect order.

If you wanted to bling (?) up your bike slightly combined brake levers/gear shifter units are available very cheaply now on Ebay. Just make sure the brake lever types suit your calipers, ie, V brakes.

Also available at some LBS as 7 speed is getting on a bit and they have old stock they want to shift (shift) £15 for a pair of deore 7s I paid

 

[marknotgeorge]

I bought some six & three speed Shimano trigger shifters for one of my girl's bikes. Came with everything you'd need - inners (already attached to the shifters), outers and cable ends.