Making Gear Push (under bar) easier to operate on kids bike.

[Tom B]

Team;

The first born has recently got a new to him Frog 55.
It is his first geared bike and is equipped with an 8 speed under bar shifter, finger down thump up.

Despite being a pretty robust child, he is finding the thumb press a bit hard to operate.

It needs all the cables doing, I've acquired some SH41 sleeve and a stainless cable, but before I start is there anything else we can think of that would make the shifting easier? Can I adjust something on the rear mech?

 

[Jody]

Outer cables should sort it out.

 

[Paulus]

Quite probably a new inner and outer cable will ease the shifting.

 

[Big John]

Other than cables, as already suggested, it depends on how brave you're feeling. Having not seen the shifter my guess is it's got a removable cover. You can either try to remove the cover (probably there will be minute screws to undo - guard them with your life) and once removed spray the thing to death with GT85 or, god forbid, WD40 if you haven't got GT85. Then do it back up again. If you're not feeling brave then use the straw attachment and use any orifice large enough to introduce the straw before spraying it to death. At work we often get shifters working after years of neglect by applying liberal doses of lubricant so this might just work and make it easier to shift.

 

[figbat]

Do the cables and then see how it is. in the past I have found that I hadn't realised how stiff my shifter was getting until I made a cable change, then it was like the shifter was power-assisted. Whilst doing the cables it is worth checking that the cable routing is clean, no kinks or sharp bends etc.

 

[Cycleops]

And unless the cables are the super dooper frictionless ones grease the inners.
Follow @Big John 's advice and flush it out with a spray lubricant of your choice. With age the grease hardens and hinders smooth operation.

 

[Tom B]

And unless the cables are the super dooper frictionless ones grease the inners.
Follow @Big John 's advice and flush it out with a spray lubricant of your choice. With age the grease hardens and hinders smooth operation.

You're a brave man.... That's akin to debating if we should oil a new chain.

And that's before we debate the kind of grease to use!


I'll replace the cable and outer tomorrow and possibly give the cable a fractionally longer run as well as giving the shifter a good squirt.

 

[T4tomo]

Your a brave man.... That's akin to debating if we should oil a new chain.

And that's before we debate the kind of grease to use!


I'll replace the cable and outer tomorrow and possibly give the cable a fractionally longer run as well as giving the shifter a good squirt.

yes perhaps slightly counter intuitive, a longer smoother loop into the rear derailleur improve shifting vs a tight sharper curve.

 

[Tom B]

So;

I have stripped out the old gear cable and fitted new cables and outers

Old:

The cable did have quite a tight turn and there was some rust inside and I've never been a fan of jagwire.
Reinstalled the cable in a new longer outer both front ant rear, installed a greased cable, cleaned out the shifter with carb cleaner and gt85 and reassembled.

Contemplated and even longer, bigger loop, but didn't want to make it a snag hazard.

First Born reports that "it is 100% better" and he can now get both up and down the gears without making 8 stops.
- He can't wait to show it off at Bury Clarion Bullets Bike Club.

It needs a new chain and brake cables/noodles, along with the rear axle bearings giving a coat of looking at..

 

[Big John]

🥳🥳🥳🥳

 

[Cycleops]

You did well.
The chain might be too long as I can't imagine it's done sufficient mileage to warrant a new on and the rear axle bearings might have gone out of adjustment because the cones have come loose, you'll need a cone spanner (narrower than a regular spanner) for that. Just tighten them up so there no play and lock them with the lock nut. See quite a few kids bikes like that here.

View: https://youtu.be/ERvMQHNF8Nk?si=MqSYdxE33YUOqvpv

 

[Tom B]

You did well.
The chain might be too long as I can't imagine it's done sufficient mileage to warrant a new on and the rear axle bearings might have gone out of adjustment because the cones have come loose, you'll need a cone spanner (narrower than a regular spanner) for that. Just tighten them up so there no play and lock them with the lock nut. See quite a few kids bikes like that here.

The chain shows as worn, past 0.75 but not as far as 1.00% with my chain wear tool, its particularly stubbornly manky too. With a decent chain being £9 its probably not worth faffing with. I suspect the bike has been left outside and its been corroded at some point. The people we got it off lived off a private dusty/sandy track which I can well imagine being great for kids to ride bikes on, and not so good for chains.

The bike is one of the older models and I suspect we are its third if not fourth owner.

There is a bit of movement in the back wheel, and as you say the cup/cone will probably need nipping up, but has the bike has clearly seen some good amount of use and had a maintenance holiday so I'll strip it down, clean them up, re-grease them, but I need to both replenish my stock of balls just in case and actually get him off it for long enough to do it.

 

[Aristotle Kristatos]

And unless the cables are the super dooper frictionless ones grease the inners.
Follow @Big John 's advice and flush it out with a spray lubricant of your choice. With age the grease hardens and hinders smooth operation.

Never grease gear cables .
Light oil only ...

 

[Aristotle Kristatos]

@Tom B
Do your self a favour and remove the grease from the gear cable. It will cause trouble.
You need to use oil , some 10w 40 is ok but not grease.
This will make sure the shifting is as easy as possible.

 

[Cycleops]

Never grease gear cables .
Light oil only ...

Why?