# 15 Year old Giant Sedona ATX



## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

My friend gave me his old bike and the only problem is with the right shifter. It seams that the shifter is not catching the cable. I did check the cable and it is proper. But when I push on the shifter it shows no sign of resistance.

I did try and put so lubricant on it to see if something is just stuck in the wrong position inside the shifter and see if the lubricant will soak in and cause it to break free.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


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## sbarnhart (Jun 8, 2011)

you might want to replace both of your shifters and cables(brakes too). 15 yr old equip is plain worn out. If you have the money prob. a chain and cassette would be a good idea.See if your LBS can give you a tune-up. It will be worth it for them to adjust things and tell you what you need replaced


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

Thanks for the quick reply. He is a avid rider he has 3 bikes and this was the one he doesn't ride. He has some expensive bikes. I did ride the bike and it was smooth. He got it tuned up before he put it in storage.

The shifters are brake\shifter combos so it just stinks that I will have to replace both of them. I am a mechanically inclined and would it be that hard to replace them myself?


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

I am new what speed is this considered. It has 3 on the left and 7 on the right?


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

If it's a grip shift, this should do the trick:

http://cgi.ebay.com/SRAM-MRX-Comp-7...Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item23116cb7fa


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

Thank you but it is not a grip shift it is a thumb lever and is also a brake lever. I am letting the lubricant sit on it and I am able to go from 7 to 4 now maybe it will fix it and I will be able to use it until I save up some money for new shifters.

Do you guys think that I should upgrade the shifters if they work, or save up for a new one when they do finally go out.


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## sbarnhart (Jun 8, 2011)

it is a 3x7. check pinkbike,ebay, or some of the bigger online stores and you should be able to get a new (or used) shifter/brake combo. Maybe your friend can take a look/fix. or help you install new ones?
They shouldnt be too expensive
If you get a new cassette and chain you might want to upgrade to an 8 or 9 spd. You can do that and shifters all at once. 7 spd is fine . I was just suggesting. Sorry I have an upgrade addiction.lol


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

I agree that I would love you max this bike out with upgrades the problem is that I don't have the cash to fund that kind of expense. I really want it to be a good family rider and maybe some off roading. But I would love to get into the good off roading.


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

That's the downside of having shifters integrated with brake levers....

IME, when you start having issues with old shifters, you may be able to get them 'ungummed up', but it won't be long before they are misfiring again. Rather than keep fiddling with them, better to make a pre-emptive strike and get it replaced sooner rather than later. JMHO.

So, at 15 years old and integrated, the question becomes, v-brake or cantilever brakes?

If it is v-brake, your current choices are more plentiful, but Shimano does make some units that will work with either. The other good news is that 8 speed Shimano integrated units will work just fine with your seven speed drivetrain if you adjust the shifters correctly. You could get one sode like this one and be good to go:

http://cgi.ebay.com/SHIMANO-ST-EF51...Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4aab8b6d23

Or you could get a complete set (F&R):

http://cgi.ebay.com/SHIMANO-ACERA-S...Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item45fb869bbc

Shop carefully and you may find them cheaper.


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

Here is my Bike I think it has the V-brakes

He also gave me the off road tires they still have the nubs on 

I will upgrade as soon as I can. I think that would be a good plan for a preemptive strike.

The shifter is now shifting through all the gears.


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## Crash Test Dumby (May 3, 2011)

Those brakes would be cantilevers, not v-brakes. But they can easily be replaced with v-brakes. I know you said you don't plan to upgrade now, but it is a cheap upgrade you can do later. I have done it on a 20+ year old department store mtb using donor v-brakes from a Toygoose (toys r us mongoose).


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## Crash Test Dumby (May 3, 2011)

jeffj said:


> That's the downside of having shifters integrated with brake levers....
> 
> IME, when you start having issues with old shifters, you may be able to get them 'ungummed up', but it won't be long before they are misfiring again. Rather than keep fiddling with them, better to make a pre-emptive strike and get it replaced sooner rather than later. JMHO.
> 
> ...


Ok, how does it make a difference if the brakes are Vs or Cantis? I have swapped v-brakes onto an old bike that originally had cantis and don't see how it effect the brake levers, unless you are looking at the cables. There is a difference there, how much cable shielding you need. Have I missed something?


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

I would think that my priority should be to replace those shifters first and after that change out the brakes. Are the Cantis good or bad they seem to do the job fine in the little bit I have rod it.


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## Crash Test Dumby (May 3, 2011)

Yes, definently change the shifters first. But as you pointed out, because your brake and shifters are integrated you will have to address both controls. There is nothing wrong with cantis as far as I know, I don't really know why they changed to v-brakes, the real vets can maybe explain that to both of us. But if you want to stay with integrated brake lever/shifters it might be easier if you change to v-brakes. I guess you need to see what the more experienced riders have to say.


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

Ok thank you for your answers. I have thought about when I do upgrade the shifters I could take a hack saw (or something similar) and cut off the shifters and use the original brake levers.

Anyone try this before I guess if not I can and if I break them oh well I will have to replace them anyways.


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

ccain6205 said:


> Ok thank you for your answers. I have thought about when I do upgrade the shifters I could take a hack saw (or something similar) and cut off the shifters and use the original brake levers.
> 
> Anyone try this before I guess if not I can and if I break them oh well I will have to replace them anyways.


Yes, it is possible and frequently done at bike shops to help make things easier than finding a combo lever, though I prefer to use a Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel to do it.

You should be able to get that shifter working without fuss though. Take the cover off of the shifter and you can see the little pawls that make up the shifting system. Get a solvent like WD-40 and go to town in there. You will probably see a bunch of grease surrounding everything try and clean it out without knocking things out of the shifter, drown it in WD-40, close it back up, and if it's not already working, wait a day or two. It's amazing what kind of condition those shifters can be brought back from, just keep at it.


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

The gears seam to be working better I think I just need to keep them really lubed up. It was stuck in the 7th gear and now it is in the 3 and I have had it in 1.


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

I have a jig saw do you think that will be just as use full as a dremel tool


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

ccain6205 said:


> I have a jig saw do you think that will be just as use full as a dremel tool


Whatever you're comfortable with. If it cuts metal then it's probably appropriate.


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

ccain6205 said:


> The gears seam to be working better I think I just need to keep them really lubed up. It was stuck in the 7th gear and now it is in the 3 and I have had it in 1.


You don't lube "gears", you lube chains. The things with the teeth on them do not get lube, and usually the shifters don't get lubed either, but I would put a spray of TriFlow or T-9 in the shifter once you have the pawls freed up.


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

It is a silicon spray and it says on the can it is for all the parts on the bike

It is made by Giant and the people at the bike store told me that is what I should use.


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

Great news my shifters work great!! I took it for a little spin and one question about shifting when I first start out and they are both on the 1 1 gears it seams that I am peddling a lot. I believe that the lowest ones are for big hills and pulling but what else would it be used for. I might just keep the 3 speed in the 2 gear


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

ccain6205 said:


> Great news my shifters work great!! I took it for a little spin and one question about shifting when I first start out and they are both on the 1 1 gears it seams that I am peddling a lot. I believe that the lowest ones are for big hills and pulling but what else would it be used for. I might just keep the 3 speed in the 2 gear


You'll probably want to do almost all of your riding in the middle chainring up front. The rear shifter will do most of the work. Only if you have a really steep hill up or down will you be using the front shifter.


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

Thank you for the advise


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

V-brakes are much easier to set up than cantilever brakes, and cantilever brakes can actually lose mechanical advantage as they travel through the stroke. So, when the brake pads are against the rim and you want more mechanical advantage, you get less, and when they're sitting away from the rim and you don't really care, you have lots of mechanical advantage. With good tuning, cantilever brakes can work pretty well, but most people had to really haul on their setups.

http://sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-adjustment.html
http://sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geometry.html

Cantilever brakes require levers that pull a shorter amount of travel, like a road bike brake lever. Using a long-travel lever, like a typical contemporary MTB mechanical brake lever would result in pretty poor stopping power. Using a cantilever lever with a V-brake would require very precise centering and wheel truing, so the brake pads could sit very close to the rim, and have a bit of an on/off feel.

I've never been able to get the stopping power from the cantilevers on my 'cross bike that I'm accustomed to on my road bike, with dual-pivot sidepull brakes. It's been a very long time since I rode Vs, so I can't really draw a comparison there, except to say that I didn't really notice a problem, or an unfavorable comparison with my road bike.


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## ccain6205 (Jun 29, 2011)

Thank you I might upgrade to V-Brakes if I get into difficult biking but it might for now just be for riding on the streets.


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## Crash Test Dumby (May 3, 2011)

Yes thank you Andrw, that was a good overview of the difference between cantis and Vs. As I read it, it made a lot of sense that the cantis travel more pf an arc motion while the Vs are a pretty straight squeeze. When I did the swap, I brought the brakes and levers from the newer bike, so I had no problems. I was pleasantly surprised that the mount posts are the same, the distance from mount to rim braking surface is the same, so it was a very easy changeover.


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