Was having strange shifting issues on the rear so decided to chnage the cable – simples! When I tried to push the old (XTR) cable out of the shifter (newish XT) all I got was a load of frayed wires and no nipple. After pulling various strands out of the shifter the new cable seemed to go in ok but when the levers are operated the cable doesn’t move…

I hear I will die in a hail of springs and ratchets if I dismantle the shifter so have ordered a new one. Anyone had this happen before? Gears were basically ok on higher cogs, just didn’t drop down cleanly to the lower ones so didn’t seem that bad – weird.

ooh.. can I have your old one then? I might die, but it’ll be fun trying!

I’d have tried to fix it before spending money. If you do it in a clean environment and don’t lose any springs, it’s not an impossible job, bit fiddly but not beyond most home mechanics.

Bikewhisperer – might take it to bits myself to be honest and see if it can be kept as a spare 🙂

All you need to take apart is the covers, this will expose the actual shifting assembly so you can get to what’s left of the cable. If you come to the point that you need a spanner then you’ve gone too far, and will probably end up in a pile of ratchets and springs.