Hoping I can pick a few knowledgeable brains here...
I just bought an old Grisley MTB, in very good cosmetic condition but with gears not working - at £30, I couldn't say no. (Big knobbly tyres are in very good condition, but I'm probably going to replace them with something a bit smoother and use it more as a hybrid than for serious MTBing)
Having got it home, the problem seems to be the shifters. They're Shimano Altus 7/21 speed indexed jobbies, and only ever having used friction levers I really know nothing about how they work.
When I try to use the levers, there's no resistance and they just flap about. Occasionally with the rear shifter, if I jiggle it about a bit I can get it to 'catch' on some resistance and it clicks up one step and then the other lever will drop it back, but that's the only life I can get out of either of them. The derailleurs look good and move freely - they're just a bit dirty, and my first job will be to give it all a proper cleaning.
So the question is, are these shifters amenable to repair or is it better to just get new ones? And then, which new ones?...
It looks like I can get a new pair of shifters for only around £20, but it's complicated a little by the fact that I have all-in-one brake levers/shifters. I've seen such combo things for sale, but advertised as having V-brake levers, but mine doesn't have V-brakes - just regular cantilevers.
Any thoughts would be gratefully received.
I just bought an old Grisley MTB, in very good cosmetic condition but with gears not working - at £30, I couldn't say no. (Big knobbly tyres are in very good condition, but I'm probably going to replace them with something a bit smoother and use it more as a hybrid than for serious MTBing)
Having got it home, the problem seems to be the shifters. They're Shimano Altus 7/21 speed indexed jobbies, and only ever having used friction levers I really know nothing about how they work.
When I try to use the levers, there's no resistance and they just flap about. Occasionally with the rear shifter, if I jiggle it about a bit I can get it to 'catch' on some resistance and it clicks up one step and then the other lever will drop it back, but that's the only life I can get out of either of them. The derailleurs look good and move freely - they're just a bit dirty, and my first job will be to give it all a proper cleaning.
So the question is, are these shifters amenable to repair or is it better to just get new ones? And then, which new ones?...
It looks like I can get a new pair of shifters for only around £20, but it's complicated a little by the fact that I have all-in-one brake levers/shifters. I've seen such combo things for sale, but advertised as having V-brake levers, but mine doesn't have V-brakes - just regular cantilevers.
Any thoughts would be gratefully received.