Gear shifters problem

[werdnal]

Hi, new here and stumbled across the site looking for info on problem with my MTB. Its getting on a bit, but plenty of life left it it as I'm only a casual weekend "family" cyclist. Its an Emmelle Classic, 21 speed with Shimano STi shifters. Its been getting increasingly difficult to change the rear gears, sometimes they jump 2 at a time, sometimes they won't change at all, or go one way and not the other. Now I can only get 3 gears if I'm lucky. The cable seems to be moving back and forth sometimes, but not others, and it looks like a problem with the shifter itself rather than the cable.

Took the shifter off the bar this afternoon, but it doesn't seem to want to come apart. One small grub screw under the casing but that doesn't release it, and one allen key on top where it joins the bar, and again, doesn't release anything. I don't want to force it and have springs flying everywhere, but it almost looks at if these are made to be non-serviceable. Anyone please tell me whether the shifter mech should open? If not, looked online and found a set of grip twist shifters (my son has these on his bike and they seem much easier to change than my lever type). Are these a universal fit, so I could change both my lever type for twists?

Any advice much appreciated. Was planning to make most of this weekend's lovely sunshine, but looks as if I'll be stripping my bike instead of riding it

Thanks

 

[Steve Austin]

I would try oiling the inner cable at least to see if that frees things up a bit. then replace the cable, both inner and outer, and if that don't work, try replacing the shifter.

 

[werdnal]

I did flush through the cable with WD40 and it looked as if it was moving OK, but I ran out of time today so will investigate further tomorrow.

If it is the cable, if I can't get the shifter apart to release the cable, how do I change it?

 

[werdnal]

Thanks for prompt replies. Will have another go tomorrow.

Cheers!

 

[werdnal]

Thanks for replies. Had another look this morning and adjusted the cable (WD40 I put on yesterday seems to have freed everything up nicely), so now have 7 gears again in the back. Shifter mech is still very stiff though, particularly for my dainty female thumbs - its a gents bike, so not sure if that makes a difference. Would still like to change them for twist grips at some point - are they a universal fit to all handle-bars? They look quite wide, and my brake brackets are also fairly chunking, so not sure if they'd fit. Also, do they all come with cables? Seen some on Halfrauds website showing cables fitted; elsewhere are cheaper but no cable shown.

Thanks again for advice, Cheers!

 

[PpPete]

I'm assuming you have "thumb shifters" ? Like these?
They are far better than twist grip, but I'll grant they can be a bit stiff.

As you can see some of them fetch silly money on Ebay, although unlikely yours are the highly sought-after XT 732.

Far better than twist-grip would be to go for the more modern type of shifter which needs much less thumb pressure (and has separate levers for up & down shifting) Here's one that has an integrated brake handle - but only if your bike has V-brakes.

 

[redjedi]

Trigger shifters are a lot easier than the thumb shifters as in Porky's post.

Remember to lube the cable with proper lubricant after you've WD40, it will dry out very quickly otherwise.

Post a pic of your levers so we can see what you've got.

 

[werdnal]

Thanks for replies. I'll look into getting some more modern thumb shifters then. Mine have 2 levers; one for up, one for down. They have always been hard work for my little thumbs, but they seem to have got even worse now. Hubby tried my bike earlier and said his are even worse!

Thanks for the reminder to lube the cables again - did them earlier.

Cheers guys!