My bike has Shimano Deore DX shifters and derailleurs. The front shifter had issues and I tried to open it up and fix it, but destroyed it in the process, so I'm looking to replace it. I've never done this before, so I'm not sure what I need to purchase. I assume I can just buy a new pair of shifters (the current ones mount to the bottom of the break lever assembly), but I don't know what I should look for. What are the specs I should be looking for (the gears are 3 in the front, 7 in the back)? Do I have to get Shimano, or will another brand do? I'm not using this for competition, just commuting.

Please let me know if I need to provide more information.

Thanks
Richard

You seem to have integrated brake levers/shifters. The Deore level parts now come only in 9 speed. Fortunately, any Shimano (or compatible, like the SRAM non-ESP gripshifts) 7 speed shifter will work for your bike, and the entry-level 7 speed Shimano stuff is of decent quality. You can replace the whole units (with something like these: https://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...Lever+Set.aspx). You can also use individual shifters like these: https://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...0+7+Speed.aspx . Just unscrew the old shifter pod from the mount (which you could grind off if you wish, but it's not really necessary as the mounts shouldn't interfere with the new shifters). Not really worth it though, since they're about the same price as the integrated ones.

If you're on the cheap side these are pretty good for the price: https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Shifte...ef=pd_sbs_sg_4 (the ones pictured are 6 spd, but they come in a 7 spd version too). I run them on my winter commuter. The left shifter (front der) is friction though, which means you won't have indexed shifting for the front derailleur... it's not a big deal once you get used to it.

Richard, DX was discontinued in 1991, so ebay's the place to look for new shifters. What exactly did you do to the shifter? It might be repairable.

There are pleanty of shifters on eBay. You just need to make sure you're getting Shimano or Shimano compatible 7 speed. I won a set of Deore 9 speed shifters for $26 last night.

Thanks for the links. I'll check them out. My problem was that the derailleur would not stay on the gear I selected. I disassembled the shifter once to clean it up and it worked for a little while, but stopped working later. The second time I took it apart, I lost a piece and damaged one of the bushings. I later found some instructions for servicing the component. Here it is in case it would help anyone else: https://www.cs.hmc.edu/~geoff/deoredx/index.html

Thanks again.

When I think about it, the new integrated brake levers/shifters (i.e. https://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...Lever+Set.aspx) probably won't work with your existing brakes. Judging by the age of the Deore DX parts, chances are that you have standard cantilever brakes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cantilever_brake.JPG), not v-brakes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Li...ighlighted.jpg). In that case, if you don't want to buy a pair of v-brakes, you're better off buying the individual shifters (so you can keep your existing brake levers, grinding off the shifter mounts if needed) or you can try finding used / NOS (new old stock) Deore DX shifter pods on ebay.

Good luck!

Edit -- the SL-EF50 brake levers/shifters in the first link are short pull actually, so they would work with traditional cantilevers! (not v-brakes)

I have dealt with that problem a few times for customers...

My favourite fix has been to hacksaw off the shifter mount and file it smooth and round the edges, and put on a modern Alivo rapidfire shifter set.
I tried just bolting the Alivio shifters directly to the Deore mount on the brake lever, but I recall the brake lever was too wide.

Anyhoo, I'm sure you could find deore integrated shift/brake levers on eBay.
Otherwise, I know Sram still makes some Shimano compatible 7 speed gripshifters, and the modern Shimano 7 speed Rapidfire+ shifter is pretty good stuff and not too expensive.

SRAM Attack are Shimano compatible and come in 7, 8, and 9-spd. They are very good and won't break the bank.