Grip Shift w/Shimano derailleur?? (1 Viewer)

[landcrshr]

So I'm helping a friend out with refreshing his beater bike (which needs a rear derailleur) and I have a compatibility question. He can't recall the service history but right now it has Grip Shift shifters and a Shimano derailleur, but I thought they were incompatible. Did/does Shimano make a compatible derailleur? Or should I be looking for a cheapo Sram derailleur?

 

[ferg]

Grip Shift, mang! If I remember correctly my GT came with Grip Shift and had a Shimano derailleur. So should work.

 

[TravisimoE30]

It depends on the pull ratio of the grip shifter to the derailleur "For every click of the grip shifter how much the rear derailleur travels" . Sram has a different pull ratio to shimano. Shimano grip shifter to Shimano derailleur should work but it has to be the same "speed" 8-speed shifter to 8 speed compatible derailleur to 8-speed rear cassette "8 gears". or 7-7-7, 9-9-9, 10-10-10 ect.

 

[landcrshr]

Right, from what I found, Sram is 1:1, whereas Shimano is typically 2:1

Does anyone know about the junk pictured above?
Or should I just replace the whole shootin' match?

 

[gregnash]

Looks like you nailed it... you definitely need a SRAM derailleur for that. While you can get a SRAM FRONT shifter to work with a Shimano FRONT derailleur the pull ratio is completely different on the rear. You could possibly cobble it together and get it to somewhat work but full compatibility is nil.
Think the Acera X is circa 1990s drivetrain stuff... Acera is still around but bottom of the barrel stuff (super budget normally found on walmart/target/etc. type bikes if I remember correctly). You would be better off just upgrading to a new rear d. with new cabling.

 

[landcrshr]

Thanks @gregnash

Thinking something like this
Amazon.com : SRAM X.4 Rear Derailleur (Black, Long Cage) : Rear Bike Derailleurs : Sports & Outdoors

And I'll definitely replace the cable & housing.

 

[gregnash]

Thanks @gregnash

Thinking something like this
Amazon.com : SRAM X.4 Rear Derailleur (Black, Long Cage) : Rear Bike Derailleurs : Sports & Outdoors

And I'll definitely replace the cable & housing.

yup that should work... You might even try eBay for something lightly used to save a bit.. But at that price you aren't losing much.

 

[gilamonster]

If, I remember correctly, the old school gripshift-like you have pictured worked with shimano as did the sachs twist shifters.

 

[landcrshr]

If, I remember correctly, the old school gripshift-like you have pictured worked with shimano as did the sachs twist shifters.

The more I research parts, the more I think this is correct, which would be consistent with this...

Grip Shift, mang! If I remember correctly my GT came with Grip Shift and had a Shimano derailleur. So should work.

"Old school" is the key I think, thanks everyone for your input!

 

[GDA62/100]

My 96 Stumpjumper Sport came with Grip Shifters and Shimano derailleurs. The shifters fell apart, so I bought some used, compatible Shimano trigger shifters off eBay a couple years ago. Put some fresh brake pads on it, too. Now, it's an excellent gravel road bike.
If you do something like that, open up the shifter housing and clean out the old, sticky grease. Search YouTube videos, there are some very helpful ones. Good luck.

 

[Couch]

For what it's worth, the shifters on my commuter bike wore out, I replaced them with Sram Grip Shift, bike has the Shimano Acera derailer - 7 speed cassette. The deraileur looks the same, shifters look like a later model than yours. They work fine for me. The only issue is that I have to "overshift" a bit when shifting up - turn the grip a bit past the detent - but I'm quite sure that's due to the derailleur being worn - I had to do that with the old shifters too. Since I'm used to it there's no problem - I really don't even notice now unless I think about it, like writing this message.

Hope this helps, Eric

 

[landcrshr]

Dumpster bike to the rescue!

A while back I snatched an old Schwinn frame from the dumpster behind the LBS and stripped some components from it. Turns out the (Shimano) derailleur was in good shape so I gave it a try.

At first, shifting was not 100%...but 100% better than it WAS. I thought about cleaning out the old shifter housing...that is until I found I could replace it for about $8.00! Turns out Sram's MRX line is compatible with Shimano.

After some new cable housing, a new(er) chain and a LOT of tweeking on the hanger, it now shifts pretty good.

And it's a good thing the dumpster bike had serviceable bottom bracket I could use too, cuz there was also this...

So all-in-all, under 20 bucks in parts and my friend gets a bike he'll look forward to riding again!