coquina012

Post 21 shows the left shifter--pristine condition. Left DR shifts perfectly from smallest to middle ring. Will not shift to outer. With thumb under cable, will shift to big ring--will not stay and instantly downshifts to middle ring. That does not seem like a shifter to me. Also, would they both be nonfunctional at the same time? The rear shifter usually gets far more service. Seems unlikely.

FastJake

Ok, that right shifter looks wrecked. I think any of the decent looking 7-speed shifters posted above would replace it just fine. I wouldn't worry about getting something LX.

BTW are you sure it's 7-speed? Considering the age of the bike I'd expect 8-speed. I can even see part of the "Integrated 8 SIS" on the rear derailer cage.

coquina012

The crank and DR photos are only for reference; the bike doesn't seem much used. I will use a laser level tonight or tomorrow to check the DR hanger for plumb. In conclusion, I don't think the mechanic who worked on this put too much effort into getting it right. For sure, the left shifter should not be bad. The right shifter, with its evidence of some kind of heat damage, may be bad. But I would like to hear more from the experts.

coquina012

I will count the rings sober. I will be quite an idiot if I mis-counted the rings. The window on the right shifter is almost opaque, so I counted rings on the rear cog.

coquina012

100% we have seven rings on the rear cogs.

LesterOfPuppets

It's a 1994, which came stock with 7-speed LX shifters. The 970 of that year had the 8-speed XT shifters.

They both had the 8-sp XT rear derailleur, however.

That musta caused a little bit of confusion. Customer brings bike in for 6-month free tune-up - "I noticed it says 8 on the derailleur but I only have 7 "

Yeah, that right shifter certainly looks like a burn victim.

coquina012

Right on the burn victim. What could have caused that? Maybe amateur mechanic trying to de-gunk?

Curious. It's a great frame. Really nice ride. Very much worth saving. OTH, good luck or bad--a 990 just appeared locally, same size. But they are asking $350 and seem to know nothing about the components....It's black and orange, not sure of year.

coquina012

Is it possible the cables are set up incorrectly? The 990 appears to have an unusual routing system: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ng-photos.html

does the 950 share any quirks with the 990??

Sixty Fiver

I would try and replace the original shifters with the same, these were very high quality (one of my favourites) and replacements are out there... I have pulled many a set of these off of bikes when they got upgraded to 8-9 speed.

Alternatively, Deore thumbies are about as reliable as they come.

LesterOfPuppets

Oddest thing about the 1992 990 is the bottom pull front derailleur with cable run on the top tube then though a pulley and back up to the derailleur. You don't have to worry about that since by 1994 there were plenty of top pull front derailleurs.

It is possible that there's not a clean line followed by the cable/housing for the rear derailleur. Sometimes I scratch my head a bit when running cables on a bare frame. My guess for best runs would be right side for rear derailleur cable, center for front derailleur and left for the rear brake.

coquina012

I ordered a set of shifters and spent about $40 delivered. They came with all new cables and cable housing. It took about two hours (I have little children who wanted to help). I still couldn't get the XT pulley height correct--I suspected improper tension and a local guy adjusted and fine tuned everything for $10. So for $50, I wound up with a very functional bike. I am surprised the left shifter was bad at the same time as the right--but they perform flawlessly now. The brakes are a step above Tourney, I suppose, but they are heavy and at the same time feel quite durable. My bike went from 23.6 lbs. with the LX set to 24.2. However, I also switched out a seat with a Brooks copy so that could have added a bit too.

coquina012

When I have an extra $150 laying around (I build wooden boats so I do spend some money) I will put in some mustache bars and some thumb shifters and some better brakes:
But for the moment this was a quick and cheap repair.

dr1445

in the past i have revived old trigger shifters by taking the covers off and soaking with a wd-40 type light oil, then brushing to remove hardened grease/oil. the old lube makes it seem the springs are weak.

coquina012

Yes that might have worked--the right shifter looked like the former owner cooked it in a pot and melted it. It was a throwaway.