Strange grip shift set up

theymademedoit

Hi
I hope for some help with this.
Basically I bought a second hand Carrera Subway off a shop on the internet for commuting and I am bit confused over something.
It’s got grip shift on it and on the left shifter it’s numbered 1, 2 and 3 however there are only 2 chain rings.
Is this right or have the shifters been replaced with a substitute set?
I am not too worried but it seems confusing when trying to get into gear as I have no idea which gear I am in.
Also there is some grinding/clicking on certain gears and I don’t know what to do to stop the sound (do I just adjust the derailleur screws?).
Lastly regarding the V brakes.
The back brake is proving difficult to set up, it’s just not strong enough and when I try and get it so that it is tight enough to stop me, the wheel rubs and isn’t free to spin.
The front one is good but very noisy when I brake, will this go away as the new pads break in?
Cheers,
Al

nicklouse

yes you can use 3 with two it is common.

for the rear sounds like friction in the cables. a clean and a lube should help.

front sounds like crap on the shoes.

theymademedoit

Cheers mate.
What do you think the reason is for the clicking and grinding when in certain gears....its odd as to get into a certain gear I have to click it a few times to find the sweet spot.
Oh and the chain has come off twice in the 20 mins I tested it.
This was when changing gears.

cooldad

Probably need indexing. And a bit of general maintenence. Have a look in the parktools link in Nicklouse's sig - there are how to's on pretty much everything you will ever need.

nicklouse

theymademedoit wrote:

Cheers mate.
What do you think the reason is for the clicking and grinding when in certain gears....its odd as to get into a certain gear I have to click it a few times to find the sweet spot.
Oh and the chain has come off twice in the 20 mins I tested it.
This was when changing gears.

grip shift tend to have a trim function on the left shifter so you can remove any chain rub.