Retro Giant

Hi,

I'm new here. I have an old Giant bike (ATX 850) which i have started to use again after a long period of time. It has Shimano stx rc gears ( 8 x 3). My issue is that i can only select 1-2 on the chainring and 4-6 on the rear.

I took my bike to the local repair shop (big chain, not convinced they are much good) and i was told that the issue is with the shifters and that they would have to be replaced.

1. Does this sound like a likely cause of the issue
2. Is replacing the shifters likely to resolve the issue

As the bike is old, the shifters are no longer available new and they dont seem to come up very often on ebay. If i was to replace the shofters can they be from another shimano range??

Grateful for any help!

Darth Lefty 

1. yes, but they are likely stuck, not broken. Might be rusty or bent cable or cable housing, too

2. yes, but first, take the covers off the shifters and spray them out with wd-40 or something, work it in, try them out. See video linked below. He uses some kind of brake cleaner, you'd want to follow that with a little light grease I think.

3. Pretty much any 3x8 MTB shifters will be compatible. There's a set of Chinese knockoff 3x8 shifters on eBay for twenty bucks.

Retro Giant

great..thanks for the fast helpful response - i will give it a go!

Kapusta

Yep, what he said. When these shifters get old the grease hardens up and causes problems.

But also check the cables, housing, and adjustments.