GripShift Problem

[jig-sore]

not a fan of grip-shifts myself.

it seems to me that you just need to adjust your indexing a bit, very easy to do and to be honest if your going to be serious about bikes it's one of the things you should really learn to do.

get your self a good bike maintenance book

 

[Black Sheep]

I really don't like grip shifts, partly due to how hard they are to adjust, the tolerances are finer than on rapid fires. as someone else has said the cables do stretch and wear.

halfrauds should adjust it and it'll be fine for a year or two.

 

[TheDoctor]

Cables stretch and wear on any kind of shifter though.
I think part of the issue here is what people mean by GripShift. The original SRAM ones are good, as are the Shimano Revoshifters (used them both for years). Then there's the cheap JoyTech and similar ones on £59 full-boing BSOs, which are made of cheese and appear to have none-replaceable cables. The cables are also made of cheese.

 

[Mr Pig]

I wo*ld j*st take the bike back a*d tell them to fix them, act*ally replace them wo*ld be a better thi*g to say. If they fit the same o*es a*d they go the same way tell them yo* wa*t better o*es. The parts have to be 'fit for p*rpose'. That is to say that they have to work.

Whe* the cash comes aro**d pick *p a set of trigger shifters, they're m*ch *icer.

 

[mickle]

I really don't like grip shifts, the tolerances are finer than on rapid fires..

No they're not, they are either exactly the same or (ESP system) precisely 200% less fine than Shi**no.

 

[Fred26]

Thanks for the help. I haven't been able to get down there yet as I haven't been around, but I will tomorrow, I imagine. I hope this can be sorted out without too much hassle.

 

[Crankarm]

You've had 5 bikes all with Gripshift and all have developed problems? Doesn't this tell you something? Either the Gripshift systems you choose are inherently weak or you just don't get on with them. If I had one bike with Gripshift that didn't work to my satisfaction I wouldn't buy another certainly not 5 . Generally Gripshifts are for kids bikes. I had one on a Commando about 40 years ago. It was a terrible system. A gimmick. Generally put on bikes by people who want to mimic motorbikes. Never had a bike with one since .

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Generally Gripshifts are for kids bikes.

sweeping generalisation of the near utter tosh variety - people have won MTB XC world championships on GripShift equipped bikes. Can you shift 8 gears in one 'go' using rapid fire? or scare peds out of your way with your shifters

Generally put on bikes by people who want to mimic motorbikes.

see above - every MTB be in my shed that isn't SS has one variety of GripShift or other on it, all hammerred hard, all over 10 years old all working properly. If you don't fettle any gear shift system and adjust it for cable stretch and wear you will get problems lijke those described by the OP. and if the chain is skipping under pressure that is either ghost/auto shifting cauased by cable issues or a worn chain or cassette.

People generally don't like gripshift systems because it isn't what they are used to.

 

[Crankarm]

sweeping generalisation of the near utter tosh variety - people have won MTB XC world championships on GripShift equipped bikes. Can you shift 8 gears in one 'go' using rapid fire? or scare peds out of your way with your shifters

see above - every MTB be in my shed that isn't SS has one variety of GripShift or other on it, all hammerred hard, all over 10 years old all working properly. If you don't fettle any gear shift system and adjust it for cable stretch and wear you will get problems lijke those described by the OP. and if the chain is skipping under pressure that is either ghost/auto shifting cauased by cable issues or a worn chain or cassette.

People generally don't like gripshift systems because it isn't what they are used to.

We are Grumpy Greg this morning aren't we. To which people do you refer and which MTB XC world championships? TBH I have never experienced cable stretch on my bikes although I hear it mentioned from time to time.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

We are Grumpy Greg this morning aren't we. To which people do you refer and which MTB XC world championships? TBH I have never experienced cable stretch on my bikes although I hear it mentioned from time to time.

yeah, I get like that on mornings. apologies. The list of GripShift Alumni is a HUGE one from every area of the various MTB disciplines....

Bart Brentjens, Francois Gachet, John Tomac, Alison Sydor, Henrik Djernis. Anne-Caroline Chausson etc., etc.. In the mid 90's every single winning bike in the Men's World Cup XC was equipped with Grip Shift shifters.


but it is a bit like the VHS vs Betamax 'wars' the superior technology doesn't always win. especialy in as conservative a market place as cycling.


Maybe 'cable stretch' is as much of a phenomenon of the qualirty of the cable and the skill of the installer as anything? Never encountered it before last year when I got my first STI equipped road bike... which ghost shifts as well!

 

[John the Monkey]

I replaced a cable in one over the weekend. I swore A LOT, even for me doing work on bikes.

I've decided I don't like them now. Much prefer working on lever/trigger based systems, personally.

That said, no reason why they shouldn't work perfectly so long as the cable tension is set up right.

 

[Cubist]

My problem with them is that they are fitted to kids bikes, and tend to be so stiff in the cheap versions that they are a pig to move. This inevitably leads to the words "Dad, I can't change gear" or similar about once every three turns of the pedals. Also, to change the cables you need a degree in advanced mechanics, three japanese sized hands complete with 7 fingers each, and a family who won't insist you get yourself booked in somewhere because you appear to have developed late onset Tourettes. Bloody things.

But of course I'm sure quality versions work just as well as any other system.............