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Issue with cheap Shimano left thumbie

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Issue with cheap Shimano left thumbie

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Old 07-21-23, 07:33 AM
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Issue with cheap Shimano left thumbie

So...in building the Schwinn World sport for a friend, I ran into an issue with the front derailleur shifter.

It is nearly impossible to shift to the big ring. Anyone have experience?



The culprit

RX 100 FD

All in all it came out nicely...
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Old 07-21-23, 08:04 AM
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What happened? It didn't have enough pull for that FD?
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Old 07-21-23, 08:19 AM
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Originally Posted by The Golden Boy
What happened? It didn't have enough pull for that FD?
No, it (the thumbie) won't pull without a Herculean effort to get it moving from the small to large chain ring. I am wondering why it seems impossible to move the lever? I am also wondering if there is a trick to these...like moving it midway, then tightening the cable?

Was hoping someone had a similar experience and fix.
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Old 07-21-23, 09:35 AM
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Might get more leverage if the cable was routed on the other side of the FD's clamp screw....??
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Old 07-21-23, 09:43 AM
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Run the cable to the other side of the bolt. From this page:

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Old 07-21-23, 11:25 AM
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What kind of trouble shooting have you done? Does the lever move freely when unconnected to the FD? Does the FD move freely when not connected to the shift lever? Is this a friction or index setup?
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Old 07-21-23, 11:51 AM
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Originally Posted by nlerner
What kind of trouble shooting have you done? Does the lever move freely when unconnected to the FD? Does the FD move freely when not connected to the shift lever? Is this a friction or index setup?
Good suggestion. The cable housing is the most common cause of high effort shifting, but it is easy, as you suggest, to eliminate the derailleur itself and the shift lever first.
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Old 07-21-23, 02:21 PM
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Originally Posted by nlerner
What kind of trouble shooting have you done? Does the lever move freely when unconnected to the FD? Does the FD move freely when not connected to the shift lever? Is this a friction or index setup?
Derailleur moves smoothly. Cables are new (might try the other side). The issue is largely the shifter itself. It was hard to move even without cable hookup. Wondering if there is a trick to setting these up for a double? Like maybe clicking it to the middle, then tightening the cable for the FD (maybe more leverage), or is it adjustable tension?

So the FD and cable are not issues at all. It is most certainly the shifter.
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Old 07-21-23, 02:47 PM
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Open the shifter up and spray some WD-40 on the gears. Might me gummed up with hardened grease.
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Old 07-21-23, 03:51 PM
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Originally Posted by sloar
Open the shifter up and spray some WD-40 on the gears. Might me gummed up with hardened grease.
I did that too! I figured out the problem...that particular shifter STB.
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Old 07-22-23, 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted by jdawginsc
The issue is largely the shifter itself. It was hard to move even without cable hookup. Wondering if there is a trick to setting these up for a double? Like maybe clicking it to the middle, then tightening the cable for the FD (maybe more leverage), or is it adjustable tension?

.
Well, it sounds like someone needs to work on their thumb strength, doesn’t it? 😸

Is the tension on the shifter adjustable? Friction, correct? If there’s no tension adjustment- I’d go with STB shifter.

For Command Shifters on doubles I do set the starting point in the middle of travel- as if it was in the middle ring. But that’s just more so the shifter is in an easy position to reach.
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Old 07-22-23, 10:33 AM
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Originally Posted by The Golden Boy
Well, it sounds like someone needs to work on their thumb strength, doesn’t it? 😸

Is the tension on the shifter adjustable? Friction, correct? If there’s no tension adjustment- I’d go with STB shifter.

For Command Shifters on doubles I do set the starting point in the middle of travel- as if it was in the middle ring. But that’s just more so the shifter is in an easy position to reach.
It's actually a crappy ratcheting/click shifter. I somehow got it to work a bit better, but it is not great. It does allow microadjustments to trim it. It's just a really bad product.

Adjusting the tension just led to the ratchet stuff getting disconnected.
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Old 07-22-23, 08:09 PM
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Yeah that front shifter sucks. I have one i got off aliexpress. Yours might be fake too. The rear one is ok.

Stem shifters work well as friction thumbies. 1" quill and mtb bar grip area is the same 22.2. There are tonnes of the nice shimano/suntour ones floating around with no value too.

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Old 07-23-23, 08:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Soody
Yeah that front shifter sucks. I have one i got off aliexpress. Yours might be fake too. The rear one is ok.

Stem shifters work well as friction thumbies. 1" quill and mtb bar grip area is the same 22.2. There are tonnes of the nice shimano/suntour ones floating around with no value too.

That is a great idea!
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Old 07-23-23, 10:41 AM
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You wont get enough pull unless you run the cable on the other side. There should be a tab that you would run it over on the outside. Increases the leverage quite a bit. Recently put some of these "cheap" levers on an old cruiser for a friend. They actually worked way better than the twist grips he had on there.
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Old 07-23-23, 06:15 PM
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+1 on moving the cable to the correct side of the pinch bolt.
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