Hello all!

I have a Giant Sedona DT for which I just bought new tires from Continental, got a front wobbly wheel straightened, etc. When I turned the bike back over, I found that the shift cable had simple disintegrated into a bunch of loose wires. Looking over the bike, I think I have decided to just replace the grip shifters (given that the rubber on them and the brake levers has disintegrated), and the brakes in their entirety (levers, cables, maybe the calipers).

My question is one of compatibility. The bike is either a 2004 or 2005 Giant Sedona DX. The system appears to have:

1. Tektro Tenera brakes
2. Shimano Acera rear caliper
3. SRAM MRX Plus grip shifters

I am especially interested in going to a trigger shifter system. I plan to keep my front and rear derailleurs and other parts. The bike has three speeds on the left handlebar and eight on the right.

Any recommendations for compatible parts, preferably in the relatively affordable mid-range? Thank you!

PS - tried to attach photos...keeps saying I can't post URLs yet.

Hard to go wrong with the Acera SL-M310 trigger shifters: https://www.ebay.com/itm/3x8-Speed-S...r=661659085471 I use the 3x7 version on two of my bikes

You can replace the shifters with anything cross compatible with 3x8 Shimano, including Shimano, Microshift, and Sram shifters labeled for the 2:1 ratio. 3x8 shifters tend to work pretty well even at relatively low price points. Truthfully even relatively low end brake levers and linear pull calipers rarely need or warrant replacement, and you can probably get very good performance with your braking system if you clean and lube the pivot points, replace the cable and housing, and replace the brake pads. If you do want to replace your braking system, you may want to just get some Shimano brake/shift levers to save on cost, like Shimano ST-EF500. For brakes, Shimano is again a pretty good source, even their least expensive brakes you can easily source as a consumer are totally fine, like BR-T4000.

As an aside, have you checked your chain for wear? Sounds like you have some good miles behind you. If you don't have a chain checking tool, you can very carefully use a ruler to measure 12 links. At 12" it's new, at 12 -1/16 it's time to replace, at 12 - 1/8 your whole drive train is worn. If your whole drivetrain is worn, but everything shifts fine, it can sometimes make sense to run everything into the ground, then replace the chain, cassette, and chainrings (or whole crank, in lower-priced parts) together.

..

My preference is for separate brake and shift components, as I can adjust their positions or swap items separately. Others' tastes may vary of course.

Question: If I don't need 24 gears (I'm almost always on pavement / concrete), would it save money to downgrade to, say, a 7 x 3?

Thanks for the other advice, you and others!

Don't bother, the price difference for 7 vs 8 so at retail is trivial.

You could save about 8 cheeseburgers if you search really hard. Maybe 3 cheeseburgers if you search very quickly.

A slow, hard, search it is!

All,

I am used to getting parts on Amazon at the best prices. For cycle parts, it seems like independent retailers may have better prices. For instance, I got my tires from Bike Tires Direct, which shipped quickly and fast. However, I went to ST-EF500s on Amazon, and the prices are much higher, than say, Ben's Cycle. Now, it seems like Shimano makes an ST-EF51 - is that a replacement for the ST-EF500, or itself an older model, or?

Thanks!

You can find the ef500 on the current specs pagehpage. Https://productinfo.shimano.com/#/sp..._Brake%20Lever
Look at the archive for ef51, I didn't check all the years, only 2015 and saw one there. Don't know the difference.