Boraderkid1121

Im trying to fix this old bike up but it is missing the gear shifter cables and i believe no shifting mech. for the handel bars, i dont know much about these types of bikes. here is a photo of a working bike, what kind of shifter is it and where could i buy one to put on my bike. thanks for the help!

4000Miles

If its that doohickey just behind the stem, you can probably ask your LBS if they have one in an old parts bin. Otherwise, I think I have one in my own parts bin I'll send you if you pay for shipping. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

fusatia

The shifters on the bike in the photo are stem shifters, and they appear (from the photo) to be complete. I don't really see a technical/mechanical issue with that bike.

Could you elaborate on what specific problems you are experiencing?

If the photo is just for reference and you're trying to locate the same shifters to put onto your bike, I'd recommend looking for something used. Don't see stem shifters "new" very often anymore.

johnny99

Stem shifters are cheap, hard to use, and tend to poke holes in your chest in certain types of crashes. The cheater brake levers encourage you to ride with your hands on the tops of the handlebars, which can cause the aforementioned types of crashes.

Tunnelrat81

Yeah, who would be irresponsible enough to ride with their hands on the bar tops.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like cheater brakes either (this type at least) but it is for reasons associated with reduced braking power, not the inherent danger of riding on the tops.

-Jeremy

cedricbosch

That's not an old bike, it's a Dodge bike sold by Wal-Mart, circa 2006. Converting it to a singlespeed is your only hope in retaining your sanity.

roccobike

You'll need to find a C&V freindly bike shop. Many bike shops won't have stem shifters because they have not appeared on new bikes since the early 90s. Ebay might have some listings, but these are so inexpensive, most folks toss them into a parts bin and never look at them again. As for safety, I would be less concerned about stem shifters poking imaginary holes in someones chest or the limits of safety (AKA suicide) brake levers and more concerned about the low end, stamped sheet metal brakes. They rarely work correctly. I'd replace them with an old set of nutted alloy side pull brakes.

bbattle

You could get barend shifters but they'd be worth more than the bike. Ask your various bike shops if they've got some stem shifters or clamp-on downtube shifters to put on your bike.

Heck, if you asked nicely on the C & V forum, they'd probably send you some for nothing. I certainly gave away the ones I pulled off old bikes.

mushwars

just don't crash or you will be impaled

not to mention the suicide brakes, DON;t try to stop with those.

johnp158

pretty sure OP was (awkwardly) saying that he has an old bike and he wants shifters like the bike in the pic

mushwars

Nah, my man, you want downtube shifters (clamp on type) They are not going to make you sterile if you crash.

BikingGrad80

Actually barcons might work better. Looks like that bike has cable stops and with barcons you won't need to worry about finding clamp on DT shifters and having them interfere or look funny with the housing stops.

mushwars

you don't even need housing for DT shifters. It would be a piece of cake. The bar-cons will have funny cable routing issues, not to mention that the cable would have to be REALLY long.

DannoXYZ 

Riding on top of the bars with suicide levers isn't the problem. It's because your hands are above the bars and when you brake, they like to slide forwards. The ONLY thing stopping your forward momentum are your thumbs. I've seen a lot of people come into the shop asking to have those things removed because they broke their thumbs in an emergency stopping situation.

The modern interrupter levers work much better because they're positioned level with the bars and you use them like MTB levers with your palms and wrist behind the bars to brace all your weight against.