The Solution!!!
Reviving an old thread here …
Recently bought Walmart bike for my 6 year old daughter:
http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/20-rave-girls-bike/6000077806829
Actually a very decent bike for the $89 on sale! Raleigh, made in Canada, Real Shimano shifter, everything well adjusted, seems very solid (although heavy). I really wanted gears so she could climb hills, and maintain a fast pace when biking with me.
But like so many threads on the internet complain about on these cheap kids bikes with grip shift, at 6 years old she did not have the wrist strength to turn the shifter (especially down shifting to second or first). If she tried as hard as she could (with two hands and her whole body), she would destabilize the steering while riding so it came down to me doing it, or her stopping and twisting every time she needed to shift. Not a solution ... she also complained the skin on her palms became red and hurt when she did it herself.
No definite "quick fix" answer on the net, and since bike was new (and I could turn it just fine with a grown man’s strength) this was not a case of lubricate, change out kinked cables, or have warranty work done on the bike. And most bike shops just told me to “toss the Walmart bike, and get her a real bike because having their mechanic retrofit a good shift system would cost more than the bike is worth.”, and did not want to just sell me parts to experiment with.
Consensus seemed:
- Lubrication, new cables, twiddling and adjusting may help a wee bit - but not much.
- Just changing twist grip to a better one would not help, because problem is the tension in the derailleur.
- Trigger/rapid-fire shifts don’t exist for the 6-speed derailleurs on these cheap bikes.
- Trying to use a 7-speed trigger/rapid-fire would have the wrong spacing.
Finally one bike store guy looked in his catalogue and ordered a “Shimano SL-TZ20 SIS rear 6-spd thumb shifter” for (I kid you not) $5.00. He stated the thumb shift has much better “leverage” than a grip shift.
Took me 15 minutes to replace the grip shifter with this thumb shifter, and re-adjust the derailleur. Came with cable attached, and obvious enough how to swap them for the mechanically inclined. Also took the opportunity to change the handlebar grips at the same time since the original one next to the grip shifter is shorter, since the grip shifter itself comprises of half the grip.
PROBLEM SOLVED! 6 year old daughter can shift just fine now, while riding! She can climb hills, and maintain a decent pace with me. Best $5.00 I ever spent!!!
(Before) Too hard for a small girl to twist!
(After): No problem for a small girl:
Hope this helps somebody in the same predicament!!!
Last edited by steve_cay; 05-24-14 at 03:22 PM.