Phantisee86

I am trying to get my wife's crappy little Roadmaster Granite Peak working again. I don't know crap about bicycle repair, but I am a quick learner.

It's a 18 speed with torque drive system, handle shifter says TD-one. This bike is used for suburban occasional riding. It is stored on a porch year round so minor rust and dust is a definite.

Where this started is the gear shifters at the handle would not turn very far (maybe 1 gear) and even IF it clicked would not change gears. I flipped it over and was able to manually pull on the cables and get the chain to move one gear, but after releasing the cable it went back, currently on both small cogs.

I noticed that when I turned the plastic nut (barrel adjuster?) Near the handle, it tightened the cable and made the hand shifters impossible to budge. So I loosened the nut holding the cables (at the other end-cables have 0 tension) and now the gear shifters will turn but there is no tension to affect shifter.

Are the cables shot? The hand shifters? Or is there something I can lube or adjust? All help is appreciated!

le mans

Sounds like the cables are seized, it's what you get storing them outside, Not to worry.. you can service them. Disconnect the cables from the derailluers, pull the cables out of the cable housings, clean them using steel wool & WD-40 ..oil them, and squirt wd-40 inside the cable housing

try that

Phantisee86

Thank you I will tackle this tomorrow! Fingers crossed!!

Andrew R Stewart 

It's not uncommon for entry level indexed bikes to not use compressionless casings. Or cheap, not redrawn, inners. Both add friction and lessen out put (compared to shifter input). Some of the really cheap twist grip shifters don't make changing the inner cables possible without dismantling the grip and they're not intended to be reassembled after. Since replacement Grip Shift shifters are so inexpensive and include the inner cables this is what we quote for cable service sometimes. Andy

dsbrantjr

I would suspect that if the cables are too rusted to move you will need to replace both the shift and brake cables and housings. Wal-Mart has a set for under $10: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bell-Pit-...Black/49706850

Miele Man

IF you do get the cables loose enough to start pulling them through the cable housing, make SURE the cable ends are not frayed. If they are you most likely will NOT be able to get them back into the cable housing. Do your shifters twist to change gears? those can be tricky to put a new cable into if you haven't done it before.

Is there a bicycle co-op near you that can show you how to do it?

Also, when I was first learning about bicycle repairs decades ago, I found that if I went to the bicycle shop I bought parts from and took the bike or the part I was working on, would often show me how to do the repair. I must say though that I ALWAYS went there when I knew they weren't busy. Most times they never charged me for their time. I did buy them a coffee from time to time to show my appreciation. that was the old Pedlar bicycle shop on Avenue Road below Dupont and/or the repair shop on Dupont just east of Avenue Road before they moved to the northwest corner of Avenue Road and Dupont. This was in Toronto, Canada.

Btw, whenever I buy cables now I make sure to get ones with a welded or soldered end that doesn't fray when putting into whatever it's being used for. Cables without the welded end or cables with dual heads where you cut off the unwanted head have a nasty habit of fraying when cut unless the cutters are very sharp.

Cheers

le mans

"IF you do get the cables loose enough to start pulling them through the cable housing, make SURE the cable ends are not frayed. If they are you most likely will NOT be able to get them back into the cable housing."

Good point. One forgets that it isn't common knowledge, if there are frays lets hope the OP has cable cutters to trim it off neatly.. so it can be threaded through the housings again.

Also the cable ends can be re-used, just crease the crimps in the opposite direction with a pair of pliers, slide them out.
What i do is have a dart clamped in a vice, tap the cable end on to it to create a passage, remove it with pliers.

andrewclaus

For an inexpensive bike with grip shifters and stuck cables (we get a LOT of those donated to the non-profit), I've found the easiest way to assess the cables is this: Shift the rear manually into low gear by pushing the derailleur while pedaling. Stop pedaling. The cable will now be slack. Pull one cable housing end out of a slotted frame stop--there are usually three sections of housings and four slotted stops to choose. Now the cable is completely loose. Pull all pieces of housing out of the stops and move them up and down the cable, and clean and inspect the cable. Use steel wool or Emory cloth.

The method for the front is similar, except you manually shift into high instead of low. The advantage of this method is that you can reassemble without changing any adjustments. (Though in this case, the OP has already moved barrel adjusters.)

If there's any pitting from rust, any fraying, if lubrication doesn't eliminate friction, or you simply cannot move a piece of housing (that happens once in a while), replace the whole assembly including the shifter. Andrew above makes a real good point about the difficulties of cable replacement in the inexpensive grip shifters. There's a reason they're usually sold with cables attached.

Phantisee86

I did a modified version of loosening and cleaning the cable. I used homebrew chain lube and steel wool. I did not pull the entire cable bc I didn't want to remove the ferrules. I did slide the housing around and used a needle and syringe to run the lube through the housing.
The cable was surprisingly clean and only had very minor rust. I reassembled the housing and cables.
Unfortunately, the handle shifters just will not turn when there is ANY tension on the cable.
My conclusion is that the shifters are no good, Whether broken or just dirty, I have no clue, because as mentioned, they are not made to come apart. There are no screws or bolts to allow me to take it apart. (Only a set screw for mounting).
I appreciate everyone's timely advice as well as making it new user friendly! I am not sure if I will invest in replacement shifters (with cables attached) or just buy another "entry" model.
Either way, this was a great learning opportunity!

Thank you again!