Stiff Gear Levers

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Mattk50

MattK50
Location
Herts
Hi,

My gears levers are getting harder to move on my Trek hybrid especially the 1-3 levers, my thumb's struggling on rides! Without adopting my old non cycling habits of just squirting some wd40 at a problem then how do I fix this? I've started to find my way around my bike now except how the gears work!

Thanks

Matt
 

Heigue'r

Veteran
It may well be a case of squirting some wd 40 on the derailleur.Also maybe the cable needs replacing as there could be a buildup of crud in the sleeves
 
It’s a case of cleaning everything thoroughly. There will probably be some build up of gunk around the points where the outers and inners meet. recabling the whole thing ( inners and outers ) is the best solution, but if you want to avoid that, strip out the existing inners, give the outers a good old clean and lube, re thread the inners, carry on.
 
Plenty of Vids on Youtube on cleaning brake and gear cables, if your cables run throught the frame, they can be a Pain in the backside if you dont watch out how you do it, again youtube vids show you how.
 

ADarkDraconis

Cardinal Member
Location
Ohio, USA
Does yours have grip shifters? I find mine are stiffer in general than the levers on my other bike. They may need lubing more often or something because of the design?
 
I just took back to the cycle shop who replaced the cable and opened up the gear lever mechanism to lubricate it. Now, it's back to normal, why they didn't do that on the service two days before I will never know!
Because you didn’t ask? They can work like that sometimes.
 
Don't squirt WD40 onto new gear levers, they come from the factory full of grease and the solvent will dissolve it.
 
Location
London
Don't squirt WD40 onto new gear levers, they come from the factory full of grease and the solvent will dissolve it.
Well I would if there was a problem with them. In my experience bike factories are not always as generous with the grease as you might think. I have restored some pretty much seized Shimano rapidfires to new with some quick wd40 or gt spray. Newer shimano rapidfires seem to be easier to take apart, less reliance on far too tiddly easy to lose screws.
 
Well I would if there was a problem with them. In my experience bike factories are not always as generous with the grease as you might think. I have restored some pretty much seized Shimano rapidfires to new with some quick wd40 or gt spray. Newer shimano rapidfires seem to be easier to take apart, less reliance on far too tiddly easy to lose screws.

I mistakenly dissassenbled a Shimano gear lever once. I think they have special jigs to hold all of the springs and levers in place.
I use spray lube to restore older bikes to working order. Gear levers can be picky about lube, std bike grease seems to gum up Shimano ones.
 
My gear shifters/levers did not have any grease in them but use PTFE or nylon type components which do not require grease or oil, indeed both would be detrimental in the smooth working of the units
 
Hi,

My gears levers are getting harder to move on my Trek hybrid especially the 1-3 levers, my thumb's struggling on rides! Without adopting my old non cycling habits of just squirting some wd40 at a problem then how do I fix this? I've started to find my way around my bike now except how the gears work!

Thanks

Matt

Matt you don't say how old your bike is..................... Is it still under warranty and or do you have it regularly serviced, if so then throw it back at the bike shop and ask them to sort your problem out. If not then any of the above ideas might help.
 
Location
London
I mistakenly dissassenbled a Shimano gear lever once. I think they have special jigs to hold all of the springs and levers in place.
On the ralidfires I have taken apart all the moving business bits were firmly held together in a single mechanism. Just had to be careful with the small screws holding the cover.
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
I just took back to the cycle shop who replaced the cable and opened up the gear lever mechanism to lubricate it. Now, it's back to normal, why they didn't do that on the service two days before I will never know!
What did they do on the service then? I'd normally expect cables to be checked/replaced unless I'd specified not to!
 
Top Bottom