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Kids Bike - Switching from GripShift to Triggers (help)


Sbloomer

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Posted

Hi all

 

Both my kids really battle with the gripshifts on both their 24" bikes.  So I decided to give the trigger shifters a go on my son's bike first.

 

Now its a 3x7, and swapping the rears was fine and shifts brilliantly (and he loves it)  Its the front that I am having a lot of difficulty with, which makes me think that the derailleur and triggers are mismatched in terms of pull ratio.

 

It requires a considerable amount of strength in the thumb to shift from small to middle chainring (and he cant do it without stopping), but also if you swing from 1 to 2, it actually tries to shift onto the big chainring.  But shifting from middle chainring to big chainring is impossible.  You almost need two hand to get it across.  I've never had a problem adjusting the front with the gripshifts, but I cannot get the triggers to work properly on the front.

 

The derailleur is a bottom pull Shimano. but I would have thought that it would work properly as is.

 

post-50868-0-47463100-1560069935_thumb.jpg

 

post-50868-0-33579200-1560069924_thumb.jpg

 

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Posted

Something wrong with the setup ...

 

Maritz use the exact same shifters.  Shifting without undue hassles.

 

 

That said, it took a while for his hands to get big enough to operate the front shifter.  The "up-stroke" is too long for their small hands ....

Posted

Something wrong with the setup ...

 

Maritz use the exact same shifters. Shifting without undue hassles.

 

 

That said, it took a while for his hands to get big enough to operate the front shifter. The "up-stroke" is too long for their small hands ....

Chris. I as an adult can’t do it. Easily.

Posted

Chris. I as an adult can’t do it. Easily.

 

Certainly something wrong then.

 

If you remove the cable, can you freely move the front derailure ?

 

If you "pull" on the cable, can you move the shifters smoothly ? 

 

Does the cable move freely in the housing?

 

 

Really hope you get it sorted.

Posted

"which makes me think that the derailleur and triggers are mismatched in terms of pull ratio".

 

Front derailleurs don't have pull ratio's like rear derailleurs, they just do what the shifter tells them to.  This is why it is possible to use a SRAM front derailleur with a Shimano front shifter and visa versa.

Posted

"which makes me think that the derailleur and triggers are mismatched in terms of pull ratio".

 

Front derailleurs don't have pull ratio's like rear derailleurs, they just do what the shifter tells them to.  This is why it is possible to use a SRAM front derailleur with a Shimano front shifter and visa versa.

 

Then why can it, when switching from small to middle chain ring can it go all the way to the big.

 

It was perfectly adjusted with the grip shift.  If it was a matter of just switching out the front shifter then there should have only been very minor adjustments necessary.

Posted

I suspect that the cable is not routed correctly. Gripshift is pretty forgiving as you can pretty much just stop twisting when you are in the correct gear.

Posted

Strange, when I recently bought my 6 year old son a new bike with grip shift, I was expecting to need to swop it out immediately for a trigger shifter... But my son has no issues at all with the grip shift.

Posted

Maybe I'm on the wrong track here, but you shouldn't have to adjust the FD at all. All the shifter does is pull a cable. Can you still pull that cable manually and the FD moves all the way?

Posted

Maybe I'm on the wrong track here, but you shouldn't have to adjust the FD at all. All the shifter does is pull a cable. Can you still pull that cable manually and the FD moves all the way?

Yes. Pulling it manually works fine.

Posted

Wonder if you got a dud shifter ?  Or possibly the cable is pinched somewhere ?

 

We certainly dont have these issues with our set (touch wood)

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