bjtesch

My custom frame road bike didn't survive its encounter with a Toyota and I'm not sure yet if my back will survive but I'm riding a Trek hybrid that my dad bought. I got on it today and noticed something gummy on the grips. Looking closer I found that the covering on the grips is turning into a gummy putty material. What should I do here- are replacement grips available? I thought I could probably just clean off the gummy stuff and since I'm not concerned about appearance I can wrap what is left with old handlebar tape to build it back up.




Secondly it has a form of cantilever brakes that I haven't worked with before. How do you adjust the centering on this type of brake?

Bill Kapaun

V brakes.
There should be a tiny screw down by the pivots that you can adjust .
I'd suggest lubing the pivots first............................ That "might" be the actual fix you need, not a different fix that covers the original problem.

JanMM

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...e-v-brake-type

If the shifters say Grip Shift they are pretty old and replacement grips may not be available. Low tech, crude fix could be wrapping the cruddy surface with tape??

Kimmo 

Just cut the ends off another pair of grips.

Bit tricky to cut the rubber cleanly; I'd prolly use a bare snap blade in only one direction; don't saw it.

Or use a cutting disc on an angle grinder or something, if you're up to it.

bjtesch

I was tightening the adjustment screw and could not get it to make any difference so I pulled one of the levers off and checked it. I couldn't determine why the setscrew didn't work and I adjusted the one on the other side also. I finally bent the springs a bit and that did the trick.

bjtesch

I have another question about how this type of grips work (all of my experience has been with building road bikes.)

The handlebars are pretty wide, I would like to narrow them a little bit. There is about an inch of straight bar on the inside of the levers. Do I just slide the levers off, cut off the bar, slide them back on and tighten them? The end caps are stationary and don't move. Are they attached to the ends of the bars or to the end of the grip/lever housing?

bikemeister

I have had a similar occurrence on two bikes. All I can figure is I must have cleaned some parts in solvent, and touched the grips without thoroughly washing my hands. The remnants of solvent then attacked the grip material and turned it into a gooey, sticky mess.

Yo Spiff

I have some Grip shifts in good shape that came off a 2001-ish Gary Fisher. You are local to me, if you want get them from me and give them a try. PM me if you want them and we can make arrangements to get them to you.

onespeedbiker

Bending the springs on V brakes is commonly done if the adjusting screws won't center the brakes, just don't over do it. As far as the grips go, best to just replace the shifters. I can't quite read the model, but it is no doubt matched to SRAM derailleur. I also don't know how many speeds it is, SRAM grip shifters are pretty cheap; Nashbar has a bunch, some $13- $18 https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/SubCate..._202327_202346. as far as cutting the bars, as long as you have a straight section for the shifters your good. I might add it looks like about 1 inch of grip is already hanging over end of the handle bar and could be the end of an old cut grip. Your particular shifters had a long shifting body (called a Half Pipe; possibly a 7 speed 4.0?)and the melting part of the grip is actually part of the shifting body and the short section is the replaceable section