I get bikes that come in all the time that NEED a new shift cable. Unfortuantely, they often have grip shifters. I've NEVER successfully recabled a grip shifter. Is there any hard and fast way to recable these things? You can't just push a new cable through, it doesn't work that way.

It really depends on the specific model. I can think of 4 or 5 different variations...maybe more.

Some of the older ones have a little plastic clip you have to pop out and then you can pull the shifter apart. Then you can see the head of the cable and how it's routed inside the shifter.

Newer ones have a little cable hatch on the outside that pops open. Others have the cable port semi hidden under the edge of the rubber grip.

It also helps to have a brand new cable with a finished end to do the fishing with, you are screwed if you have to use those double ended cables that require one end being cut off first.

And the cheapest OEM ones, the procedure involves throwing it away and putting something else On..

Well, on some of them, you actually can just push a new cable through, sometimes. Some of them require partial disassembly of the shifter. My first cable change on the second type took me about 3 hours to do both shifters. It now takes me about 20 minutes for the pair, on average.

These videos cover the two most common types you'll see:

The good news is that a brand new MRX shifter, with a brand new cable already installed, doesn't cost a whole lot more than just the bare cable.

I'm not a fan of the new MRX shifters. They seem sloppy and flimsy compared to the MRX 204 shown in first video above.


And if you're working on a bike with the SRT-600 shown in the second video, there's now way in hell you'll wanna downgrade to current MRX

Correct. I have fumbled with some of the cheap X mart grip shifters to no avail. I'm sure it is actually possible to get a new cable in there, I mean, somebody got the original one in there, but they are not nearly worth the time it takes.

I've replaced cables in a bunch of those. Two common problems:
1. Dropping that little horseshoe shaped spring on the floor.
2. It takes 3 hands to hold tension on the cable and twist the shifter back together.

If I have the shifter off the bar, I step on the cable to provide constant cable tension.

Leaving it on the bar, as in video #2 makes the process a little easier and also less likely for problem #1 occurring.

Overall, changing Gripshifts isn't that tough after you've done a dozen or so. I'd rather swap Gripshift cables than many triggers, personally. I hate those trigger shifters with the covers with two little tiny phillips head screws especially.

You have a point. It's so easy to drop one of those little screws and spend the next half hour or so looking for it on the floor.

Popping the MRX shifter open to get to the cable resulted in breaking the shifter, for me. It had been left outdoors for some of its life and it was brittle.

I was interested to see the new shifter for the left is not a mirror of the right but instead basically a right with different markings and many (like eleven or twelve, not three) detents. So instead of shifting backward from the other as shifters always have, they both shift the same direction; and the massive quantity of detents effectively gives you FD trim. I'd call those both improvements. That doesn't mean the quality is any better, though.

Grab a cheap set of shower curtain magnets and keep them on your stand. Problem solved.

Go to your local hardware store and purchase 2-3 of the small set screws (4mm I believe)that hold the cable in place, now you have insurance should you lose on of them. (I keep a few in my SWAT box, I'll elaborate on this in depth later).

The cheaper grip shifts are more difficult to change cables with. As stated earlier the higher end models aren't terribly hard and require about 15-20 minutes. I run a custom grip shift 8.0 attack shifter on my downhill bike and I've changed cables many times on these. The older (2000s) 9.0 and 9.0sl models are equally easy to change cables on. If you need help hit me up and I'll do my best.

The MRX 204 type front shifters have 10 positions, 9 clicks, IIRC.

It's not really the pricepoint of the shifter, more the age. Top of the line in 1995-ish, Gripshift X-Ray shifters require pulling apart the shifter for cable swap.

Of course, offbrand twist shifters like Falcons pretty much suck in any year of manufacture.

On customer bikes I just change out the entire assembly & call it a day. On my personal bikes I replace with cheap Sunrace friction type thumb shifters.

True. I stand somewhat corrected here. I have an old pair of x-rays that I've pulled apart numerous times for cable replacement.

Falcon is far from the worst, although they are pretty bad. I've had real fun with brands like Logan and Sunrun, an obvious knock off of Sunrace. They even made the logo similar. those are real crap with a capital CR.

I have changed them successfully by buying the higher end stainless steel cables, which I believe may be slightly thinner, and which do not frey as they seem to be treated to stay solid, and have been able to push then through the way they came out, which I was unable to do with the cheaper ones.

https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-me...er-cables.html