Help needed re: broken shifter

[chris3vic]

Pleas forgive my technical ignorance here, but I have an issue with the shifter that controls my rear derailleur on my hybrid.

I was cycling this morning, 6am, when I went to shift gears for the first time and nothing happened. I got off the bike to inspect and noticed that the cable was not pulling the rear mech at all and seemed a little loose. On first inspection I couldn't see anything wrong but on closer inspection of the actual shifter there appears to be a piece missing. It's like the little plastic nut where the cable housing meets the shifter. Sort of like the piece on the brake where you can tighten the tension of the lever.

The gears are bog standard shimano acera that came with the.bike. I have next to no flow what this piece does or what it is called.

Can someone point me in the right direction it offer advice so I can track down a spare.

[chris3vic]

Sorry about any spelling or grammer in the above. Predictive text!

[irc]

If it the left hand side controlling the chainring shifts any shimano MTB shifter for 7,8,or9 speed gears will work. For example

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=87287

For the RH side the shifter needs to be a 7 speed shifter for 7 cogs at the rear, 8 for 8 or 9 for 9.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=55296

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38697

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=40547

The shifter will usually come with a new cable fitted.

[Brucey]

some rear shifters don't have a barrel adjuster on them; the idea is that the one on the rear mech will suffice.

I'd lay money on the cable being frozen or sticky myself; that'll make it run slack alright.

cheers

[meic]

As a cheaper option you can buy one of these.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=79282

Which will cost you £4 inc P&P and use the adjuster from it on your existing shifter.
You also get a new gear cable (inner only) for your money.

[meic]

I am inclined to agree with Brucey because if your adjuster had broken it would still have to be there, it can not "escape" and fall off.

[chris3vic]

Thanks guys. You're right, it could just be frozen. It was -7 in my neck of the woods last night. The adjuster is not hanging loose on the cable which is the first place I looked to be fair. Just assumed it had somehow fell off but hey, it may not have been there in the first place.

When I get home i'll check again and try to deice the parts. Failing that, ill run the bike to my lbs maybe

I didn't realise the rear shifter didn't necessarily c
ome with an adjuster like the front.

[cycleruk]

If the shifter can still be moved it could be just the inner cable has broken. This would show up by the rear derailleur moving to one end of the rear gears. (usually the smallest)
It would also show up by the pulling the inner cable and of course it would be very loose.

[meic]

That is because you get the adjuster on the rear derailleur but you dont get one on a front derailleur.

Though if you buy a really expensive rear derailleur, they dont give you an adjuster on them.

If you want to save some pennies then you could try replacing the cable yourself with one that is less likely to freeze up.

There was a recent thread on this subject.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=71692&hilit=cables+grease

[chris3vic]

Thanks to all for your help and advice. Turns out the derailleur was frozen. I cleaned it up and regreased it. Went down to -6 last night and it was stiff again this morning, but I managed to massage it back to life before I hit the road.

Never happened to me before this. Damn these cold morning commutes

[DesWeller]

This happened to mine after all the rain last summer/autumn. First bout of freezing weather and boff.

You want oil rather than grease. Bring it inside to warm up, take the lid off, give it a blast with WD40 then run some chain oil in there.

[mattsccm]

Ge the bike in the house for a few hours then try it