Ah, the first day of summer. I spent my first summer day as an collegiate playing pokemon and fixing my bicycle. Then my cousin called me over to his house to fix his bicycle, a Roadmaster Mt. Fury. His handlebars were loose, his front brake calipers sheared, his transmission cables, badly needing readjustment, allowed only one speed. I screwed up a couple of times, like when I accidentally connected the gear shifter (dérailleur) to his brake handle. Even though I explained to him the logistics of a “turbo” handle, he unfortunately insisted I change it back.
After fixing all that, I sort of went on a binge and started repairing my Element. Not a Honda Element. A Roadmaster.
First, I retired the Element’s non-functional grip shifter. Into my Element went the front dérailleur cable with the cable/paddle shifter from my old good-only-for-spare-parts-because-its-crap Roadmaster Coyote Pass. Then I removed the non-functional rear brake handle, well, I sort of just plain broke it because I don’t need it anymore. I gave the Coyote’s front brake calipers to my cousin. The Coyote is now almost entirely salvaged of functional parts except for the rear wheel. It’s ready for the garbage pile.
I now have control of my Element’s transmission back and can change gears again.
I guess the message of this post is: Don’t ever, EVER buy Grip-ShiftTM brand handlebar shifters. Stick with paddle-shifters.
