Gears & Gadgets: Shifter Replacement

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by David Cohen
Maryland National Capital Park Police Reserve Unit

We’re nearing the 40th anniversary of one of the most overlooked components on a public safety bicycle – the trigger shifter. Shimano introduced the Rapid Fire in 1984 and it changed the way we approach cycling. I still remember my amazement the first time I tried them, in the mid-1990s. The first bike I owned that was equipped with them was a 1998 Klein Pulse Comp. The trigger shifters, particularly the one for the rear derailleur, worked brilliantly. But, as the years went on, the shifts became sloppy, or delayed, or I’d push the lever and nothing would happen. My gut reaction was to look at all the other parts of the drivetrain for the smoking gun: derailleur indexing, cables, cable housing, chain…but eventually, I came to the inescapable conclusion that the shifter pod had gone bad.

Replacing a shifter is not a particularly difficult task, but there are some important things to keep in mind.

Not all shifters are created equally. While this may be obvious, an 8-speed shifter is not going to work with a 9-speed derailleur. Also, there are compatibility issues among and within brands. For instance, some SRAM shifters may not work with Shimano derailleurs, and vice versa. Even some Shimano shifters may not work with particular Shimano derailleurs. Make sure you read the fine print and ensure that the replacement shifter is compatible with the derailleur on your bike. I’ve had good experience with MicroShift and SRAM replacement shifters for Shimano derailleurs – but again, read the fine print.

Generally, shifters are only sold in pairs if you’re running a double/triple front chainring set-up (to state the obvious, single front chainring drivetrains only have one shifter). If you have a dual shifter setup and only one shifter is bad, you might be able to find the proper shifter used on eBay, for example. I’ve had success purchasing single shifters for some of the older department bicycles this way.

Some replacement shifters have cables included. Even if they don’t, this is a good opportunity to install a set of fresh cables, and possibly even replace the cable housings if they’ve been on the bike for a while.

In most instances, removing the shifter also requires removing the grips, so this is also a good opportunity to upgrade your grips . It is possible to reuse the existing grips, but extreme care must be taken in their removal.

For this article, my civilian mountain bike is standing in as our example. The bike is 11 years old and the rear shifter completely went away earlier this spring. I really didn’t want to throw a whole lot of money at this bike as I’m looking to replace it soon, so I went with the MicroShift 9-speed rear and triple ring front shifters.

Removal Steps

1. Remove the grips. If you have lock-on grips, it is just a matter of loosening up the bolts. If they are glued on, take WD-40 or another lubricant/solvent (my personal favorite is Seafoam Deep Creep) and wedge the straw between the grip and the handlebar. Once you shoot the solvent, start wiggling the grip. If you want to reuse the grip, be patient and move slowly, otherwise you can tear it.

2. Loosen up the brake levers and slide them off the handlebar. Try to stow them in such a way that the levers don’t dangle from the bike. A small bungee cord will do the trick.

3. Before you loosen the shifter, remove the cable crimp from the rear derailleur and loosen up the cable. It is a lot easier to remove the cable when it is not secured.

4. Remove the shifter and pull the derailleur cable through the housings. If you choose to reuse the housings, now would be a good time to put a drop of oil into them to help the cable operate smoothly.

Installation Steps

1. Place the new shifter on the handlebar. If it comes with a cable, plumb the cable through the housings (or the replacement housing).

2. Replace the brake levers. Sometimes there are fit issues between the new shifters and the existing brake levers, so take care in putting the two together.

3. Before replacing the grips, if you used lubricant/solvent to remove them, make sure you clean the handlebar with a degreaser or some acetone. If you’re replacing the grips, sometimes the grips may be of a different length than the original; this can affect the placement of the brake levers and shifters.

4. Replace the grips; adjust the brake levers and shifters for the best fit.

5. Reattach the cables to the derailleurs and adjust the derailleurs to get them dialed in.

If the bike has locking grips, the replacement shifters already have cables, and you are using the existing cable housing, the whole operation should take about an hour, depending on how quickly you can get the derailleurs adjusted.

The cost of new shifters and the labor involved in replacing them is more than a worthwhile trade-off to having to take a bike out of service and/or dispose of a bike because it no longer shifts.

Good luck and keep the rubber side down!

Gears & Gadgets is a blog written by David Cohen #1116. It features various repair tips and tricks that David has picked up in more than 25 years of cycling, including 15 years of public safety cycling. Gears & Gadgets will also periodically review some of the latest “gadget” items of potential interest to public safety cyclists. The advice and opinions in this column are solely the author’s and should not be interpreted as IPMBA mandates or recommendations unless explicitly stated.

About the author: David Cohen is a 15-year volunteer with the Maryland-National Capital Park Police. When he isn’t riding or tinkering with bicycles, David can be found tinkering with vintage cars or his collection of 19th and early 20th century musical instruments. An avid historian, David enjoys researching and writing as well. He can be reached at onyxsax@aol.com.

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