What speed are MTB's

canada16

Hey

Im currently running a LX front mech with XT rear shadow, with LX shifters.

How do I know what speed Shifters I need to buy.

Total newbie question I know, but its something I have never bought before or changed, just getting started on my bike for life and doing my own upgrades, and messing up as I go along, but hey rather me than some 16 year old at halford, or having to pay for it through LBS.

Thanks guys.

jayson

Im presuming u have triple chainset (3 rings) at the front so u will either have 8 or 9 sprockets (cogs) at the back giving u either 24 or 27 gears.

Its a simple matter of counting the sprockets and then buying either 8 or 9 speed changers.

easy easey

canada16

Crank is a LX hollowtech 3 ring.

And the back cassette is 9 rings.

So I can get either get a 8 speed or 9 speed shifter?

Whats better?

-liam-

You NEED a nine speed shifter.

jayson

As above, u need a 9spd shifter.

nicklouse

jayson wrote:

As above, u need a 9spd shifter.

you need a 9spd SHIMANO shifter.

canada16

The reason I ask is that the LX shifter are not very quick, I need to push right down to get a higher gear.

Does the XT or XTR, shift with one click and thats it?

Or do you need to push right down again to get a higher gear.

I hope you know what I mean.

When you go to a smaller gear its ok, but the bottom gear lever, you need to press down to get to another link on the crank.

Hope this makes sense

Thanks guys,

nicklouse

sounds like poor set up or dirty cables, the shifters up the range just get lighter but do not really change in feel.

stumpyjon

You still need to push with XT but personally I've found them much crisper and lighter than LX (upgraded the stumpjumper from LX to XT after having XT on my hardtail), worth the upgrade IMHO.

canada16

Yeh

I just find that sometime when I switch gears it does not respond or if it does it feels like its missed the gear and I got to press again.

Call me a newbie, but just does not seem so quick like push and no probs,.

Ya know.

Thanks again guys.

omegas

If your only moving one gear you need to clean , tension your cable and set the indexing up correctly.

You can upgrade the shifters but if you do not know how to set them up correctly you will see no benefit from them.

canada16

I have never messed around with shifters before.

Im sure there are some tech videos on the titernet somewere.

I need to learn as I want to service my own bike.

I really appreciate the help guys.

jayson

Its not a really cheap solution/idea but if u want to maintain smooth and crisp gear changes then u could do worse than invest in a set of sealed cables.

Once you've set ur gears up correctly u can pretty much forget about cable maintenance altogether no matter how dirty and grimy ur riding is.

It was the best £23 i ever spent on my bike and i would massively recommend a set to anyone who rides in the dirt they're that good

Vivid

canada16 wrote:

I have never messed around with shifters before.

Im sure there are some tech videos on the titernet somewere.

I need to learn as I want to service my own bike.

I really appreciate the help guys.

Omega is right, only once you have completely and correctly set up your gears can you decide if you want to replace them. most of the time you will find they are wrongly setup and even if they once were, cables stretch and parts need lubing or replacing. Either take it to an lbs or train yourself to adjust it correctly which will give you the opportunity to adjust in future.

It is very simple, i would recommend buying a book that covers all maintenance and repairs on bikes. Seems difficult until you get the hang of it and then its just 2 stop screws and some indexing.

canada16

My brakes have a cover on them, they say all along the bike kevlar coating.

You cant see the cables from front to back.

I just thought with a 100.00 pair of xtr's you would not have to press right down to change to higher gears on the crank set.

Thought it would be as easy as switching to a lower gear, just click and bang.

Will keep this all in mind.

Can you recomend a good book for new people, thats easy to follow, for new bikes.

Thanks

Vivid

what brakes you got? hydraulic?

canada16

Yeh

Mugura louise.

But I heard there are two types, one dot fluid and the other, which I have is mineral.

nicklouse

Magura are Mineral only.

canada16

I heard as well, that mineral does not have to be bled that much compaired to dot.

Is this true.

LBS said dot. was a messy job, or you had to look after more than mineral.

beski

If I understand what you mean then when you are shifting up the cog sizes the front mech has to guide the chain up to the larger cog sizes, hence the 'push' when going down the release in the cable tension releases the front mech & the chain will drop a cog wth little resistance

Stuey01

To move up to a bigger chain ring on the front, or to a bigger sprocket on the rear cassette you will always have to push the lever further than when you are shifting to a smaller cog. This is because when you are shifting down you are simply releasing the cable which is then pulled by the spring to it's new position.
When you shift up you are pulling against the spring and have to pull the cable the whole way to the next position.

This is just the way cable operated gears work, it will make little difference what shifters you put on your bike.

xtremedash

The only shifters I've known that 'reduce' the amount you have to push are '08 SRAM x.9 & X.0 shifters. But changing to these is expensive and chances are you wouldn't notice a huge difference. They're very good kit, but LX is good too.

They just need setting up properly. As has been said many many times, check the park tools website. There is very good instructions on how to do pretty much all bike maintenance.