Need Advice on Thumb Shifter

[kauls00]

My son Supercycle 1800 has Falcon FIS 6 speed thumb shifter, which is stuck in 2nd gear and its lever is also broken.

I would like to replace it but could not find anything which worth cost, especially which is with in my rice range ( as the bike itself is not expensive)... Most of the time cost goes up because of shipping cost to Ontario, Canada.

I was wondering if someone could tell me what is compatible with Falcon Derailleurs? As that will help me pick alternates for thumb shifter..

Thanks in advance

[1FJEF]

(09-29-2014, 03:15 PM)kauls00 Wrote:  My son Supercycle 1800 has Falcon FIS 6 speed thumb shifter, which is stuck in 2nd gear and its lever is also broken.
I was wondering if someone could tell me what is compatible with Falcon Derailleurs? As that will help me pick alternates for thumb shifter..
Thanks in advance

Well you could give up indexed shifting and purchase the ubiquitous Falcon (thumb) Friction shifters. Try a local bike shop too, they may have indexed 6 speed shifters laying around.

[DaveM]

I think (but can't promise) that your indexing would work with a Falcon, sunrace, or shimano 6 speed shifter. Strangely, there are a good number of choices on american Amazon, but I couldn't find any on Canadian Amazon. Maybe you can order from the US without too much shipping cost.

Try to figure out why it is "stuck in 2nd gear." I'd be surprised if that was caused by the shifter itself. More likely is a jammed/rusted cable or maybe an issue with the derailleur. But I doubt just changing the shifter will fix it. See if the cable slides smoothly and if you can move the derailleur by hand, etc.

[kauls00]

[attachment=5375][attachment=5376]Thanks for taking the time to reply...

1FJEF: I am assuming the Friction shifter from Falcon will work with existing Falcon derailleur...

DaveM: Canadian Amazon site is 'amazon.ca' and they don't have 6 speed falcon FIS thumb shifter in stock...but that is not important as I can buy from US if the price+shipping cost is right either on amazon or ebay or even local stores..

I try to open the thumb shifter but it does not have any screws, just one plastic encasing for the whole assembly and that makes it difficult for me to open it up and see why it is stuck in 2nd gear as otherwise I would have just replace the wire after opening it to make sure everything works..

Let me know if you know how to open up that thumb shifter assembly...Am uploading the pictures...

Thanks

[DaveM]

Any friction shifter will work regardless of derailleur. You only have to worry about compatibility if you want indexing.

Don't worry about opening up the shifter. What you need to check is if the cable is moving fine and if the derailleur is fine. The only caveat to that is if the shifter is jammed in the wrong place it may be hard to get the cable out of the shifter. It may be that the shifter is the only problem and replacing it will cure everything. I just wanted you to double check the other parts so you can replace anything else needed at the same time. A new cable might not be a bad idea anyway and they should only cost a dollar or two, A bit more if you get the outer casing ("housing") too.

[kauls00]

(09-30-2014, 12:16 PM)DaveM Wrote:  Any friction shifter will work regardless of derailleur. You only have to worry about compatibility if you want indexing.

Don't worry about opening up the shifter. What you need to check is if the cable is moving fine and if the derailleur is fine. The only caveat to that is if the shifter is jammed in the wrong place it may be hard to get the cable out of the shifter. It may be that the shifter is the only problem and replacing it will cure everything. I just wanted you to double check the other parts so you can replace anything else needed at the same time. A new cable might not be a bad idea anyway and they should only cost a dollar or two, A bit more if you get the outer casing ("housing") too.

Thanks for the reply... Don't I need indexing to be compatible with Falcon derailleur as that decide how much cable to release when gears are shifted... Please educate me..

Also as I mentioned before, I can't open up the assembly and for me to be able to change the derallieur wire I need to open its assembly... and once it is opened then I can have a better idea why it is stuck in the 1st place... either rust or wear or tear etc..

if you know then let me know... Thanks

[DaveM]

You are right that the shifter, derailleur, and freewheel all have to be compatible to get the indexing right. I think (but am not 100% sure) that Falcon stuff uses Shimano compatible design so you may be able to mix. If you can find a Falcon shifter, that's probably best.

On most shifters, the cable will slide out the back of the shifter once you detach it from the derailleur. Usually you have to have the shifter in the high gear settings for the end of the cable to slide out, but you normally don't have to take any apart to remove it (at least not on simple thumb shifters.)

If you need to take it apart, you might try taking it off the bar and seeing if there are any screws on the underside. Otherwise, it may be that you have to pop the top round part off. Not sure to be honest. My point was that figuring out why it won't move isn't really that important since it's broken anyway. So I wouldn't bother diagnosing it. But if that's the only way to get the cable out...

If the cable is kinked or rusted anywhere else, you may as well replace it as well anyway.

Let us know if you run into trouble.