MTB Right Friction Shift Lever

I'm so impressed by these "cheap" Shift Levers, I thought I'd advise some of you who may be considering them, just how to do it right. But first... ...some words of advice: If you've access to a digital camera, take close-ups of how the cable-wires are routed to the rear-derailleur. Take pictures of everything and from different angles. Pretend you're a crime scene investigator. If you don't have access to a digital camera, make some sketches of how the cable-wires are running and note exactly where their running from and to. The idea is to have a reference to return to, if anything gets strange. Before moving-on to the next bit of advice, you'll need to find where the cable-wire is locked-down on the rear-derailleur and unbolt it from that little clamp that's located on the rear-derailleur assembly. Now, carefully withdraw the cable-wires through their protective shrouds (black plastic sheathing) that run from the rear-derailleur. Carefully withdraw rear-derailleur cable-wire all the way back to where the old shift-lever control is located on the handle bar. Now carefully disassemble the old shift-lever mechanism and remove the entire cable-wire. Try you best not to loose any parts when performing this cable-wire removal. Now, with the old cable-wire removed, you can either entirely remove the old shift-lever mechanism or leave it where it is. Just make sure you reassemble the all the parts - minus the old cable-wire - in case you need it again someday. In many instances, removal of the old shift-lever will depend on whether that lever's integrated into the hand brake levers. Unless you're also replacing the brake levers, leave the reassembled shift-lever on the handle bars. If they are stand-alone shift-levers, you're free to remove, then reassemble and store-away the old assembly. You'll have to decide how far you'll want to go with this conversion. (Again, use care against loosing any little screws and such!) I simply removed the cable-wire from my integrated levers and left the old shift-lever in place...for now. Finally, but most important is cleaning all mechanisms. If you're looking for flawless performance, you'll need to carefully clean the chain, chain-ring(s), rear-derailleur and rear gear cluster before actually installing the new shift lever. Use gloves and kerosene and spend an hour or two cleaning every bit of grim from these components. The kerosene works wonders cleaning most every part, but avoid prolonged exposure on your skin or rubber tires. I spent an afternoon in the sun doing this cleaning. It was like returning to my boyhood days in the hood, when we'd cobble together fixies from ratty bikes that were retrieved from the local garbage dump. After these parts are completely dry, use any-old spray-on lubricants to protect them. I'm old school and keep lots of WD-40 on hand. Thing to keep in mind is everything must be carefully cleaned and inspected before moving on to anything else!!! Before installing the new shift-lever, I carefully disassembled it and removed the indexing cam and spring. You'll need a phillips driver to do this. Carefully unscrew the chromed screw that runs down the center of the assembly and pull away the top black plastic cover. Directly underneath it is the indexing cam and spring. Put them aside and carefully reassemble the components. Use care when torquing the the screws on these shift-levers, as none of it's high-quality and doubtless easy to strip. So use care!!! You really don't need the tiny spring-loaded cam for anything but tactile/audio feedback. I'd just the same get accustomed to knowing where I'm at on rear derailleur from the lever's actual position. That's the idea, isn't it?! I also took another reviewer's tip and removed the clunky hard-rubber cover from the lever handle, itself. Doesn't look bad. I'm thinking of using some black heat-shrink tubing for a sleeker cover. We'll see if it's even needed. Now here's a good tip: before final installation of the shift lever itself, reset the limit screws on the freshly cleaned rear-derailleur. This should help insure there's less of a problem when you actually get around to the rear-derailleur's stepping operation. If possible, download a PDF manual on your rear-derailleur (if you can find one from the manufacturer's website), before screwing-around with-what you might not know how to do. So use caution when adjusting the rear-derailleur's limit control screws! And if you've never done it, get the info on your model and don't be afraid to learn how!!! Locate a good spot for the new shift-lever assembly on the handle bars, that's also easily accessible by hand while riding. I know this sounds obvious but a little attention to detail can make all the difference in avoiding loss of control while steering, braking and shifting. So don't just close your eyes and install it anywhere! Sit on the bike and meditate on your hand's control of the shift-lever. Ask what - if anything - needs relocating. I found the perfect spot next to the integrated brake levers; not far from where the old shift mechanism is. I carefully expanded the clamp and with equal care, locked it down on the handle bar. You may want to hold-off on fully tightening it down, until after you've had some road time with it. Until then, just leave it snugged up enough to hold position while test shifting. Remember, these babies aren't the best of quality and can likely be stripped real easy! Next, I lubed up the now empty cable-wire shrouds (for good luck), then carefully ran the cable-wire that's attached to the new shift-lever through the old cable-wire shrouds, back-down to the rear-derailleur. With the shift-lever set to the six-o-clock position, I drew the cable-wire taught, then locked it down to the rear-derailleur's cable-wire clamp. I did a series of gear steps from maximum to minimum sized range of the gear cluster, then carefully dialed-in the rear-derailleur limit screws. When I was satisfied with the stepping-control of the rear-derailleur, I snipped-off the excess cable wire. Always leave an excess of two-to-three inches of cable-wire as something for pliers to grip when making future adjustments. I couldn't believe that with a little thinking, I could do away with the SIS shifter in one fell swoop! I took the bike out for a night ride and listened to the sound of harmonious shifting of drive chain and rear-derailleur. I haven't heard that sound in decades!!! Most are not gonna believe it! But I've finally accomplished flawless gear shifting with a "cheap" shift-lever, some elbow grease and common sense. Knowing from other reviews that these levers aren't of the highest quality, I purchase two. Far from being the rich kid in town, I none-the-less wanted an extra on hand, in case one goes south on me. Now that I know this conversion can be done, I'm seriously think'n on saving-up some big bucks and going for the high-end thumbie / shifter combo. But we're talk'n a hundred-fifty as opposed to ten bucks a pop! So yeah. I'm now psyched about the prospect of going high-end. Until then, I'm going to enjoy one of the better deals of late: an inexpensive shift-lever that gets the job done!

These work well enough for my commuting needs.

The grip shift failed on my 7-year-old daughter’s bike. The grip shift was hard for her small hands, so this seemed like a good replacement. Installation was easy, still not the easiest for her to use, but better than the grip shift.

This replaced the non-functioning index shifter on a 1993 Univega Via DeOro 7 speed hybrid bike. I originally did this as a temporary fix until I could buy a new index shifter. After using it for a couple of weeks, I decided to make this a permanent fix. It is simple to install and relatively easy to set up and tweak. I installed it in April 2023 and now in February 2024 I figure I have put around 1000 miles on this bike using this shifter and it has been rock solid dependable. C'mon for $12.40 you can't go wrong.

It holds my gear quite well considering how much pull back the shifter is under. I've had it for about 6 months now.

yeah, like others have said. If I bought ANY bike that didn't have top of the line levers, I would install these.. they are so simple and make any bike shift easy and perfect. Problem is they are not Idiot Proof... and you will need to practice knowing what gear your actually in.. And if you dont Adjust them correct you can easily go past the first or last gear and the chain come off or bind up..

The sheet metal mount has rough edges. Do not adjust when the screw is tight as it may leave deep scratches on your handlebar. Does its job but keep it very loose when adjusting.

I have this super cheap Wal-Mart bike that is my beloved townie. If it were to get stolen or scratched I'm not really out much, but it came with these rubbish grip-shifters. One fateful morning riding back from my local coffee shop, a shift to an easier gear caused the kludgy gripshift to explode. No matter, a simple friction shifter is better in every way. It works better, shifts better and is more reliable. Outstanding value! And it comes with the cables (no housings) but that makes this even a better value.