I quickly googled how to change a SRAM rear mech set-up. I bought my bike 2nd hand and it’s the first time in 20 years I’ve moved away from Shimano.

I watched a youtube video on how to thread the cable through the shifter. It looks a little more complicated than rapid fires, but by no means ‘hard’. However, all of the comments below were about how the lever will explode in my face and I’ll need to by new.

Do I;

1) take the shifter off of the bar clamp (with the shifter in the lowest gear)

2) thread the new cable through in the reverse way the old cable came out

3) set up the gears as I would have a Shimano set up, but with the only barrel adjuster on the shifters, no adjustment on the mech itself

Thanks

p.s. I have new cable outers too (cut to length). I assume, that I simply pop it into place.

Throw the Sram shifter and mech in the bin and go and buy some Shimano.

You will have to replace it when it breaks in a couple of weeks time anyway because it gets struck by a small pebble.

Sram is made of cheese.

And this is the sort of response you can expect when you post cycling queries in the Chat forum. (-: Moving.

Contrary to the thoroughly helpful first reply, I’ve been running SRAM on my downhill bike for 18 months with no issues whatsoever, and it’s taken a right battering! As for changing the cable you’ve got it spot on. Make sure you don’t take the shifter to bits at all, they’re a nightmare to put back together again!

It’s so simple, so don’t worry 🙂

Hi mate,

I run Sram shifters and mechs and find changing the gear cable a doddle (have ran Sram for the past three years with no issues so just ignore stupid, pointless comments that don’t help).

I find it easier removing the shifter from the bar but as I use matchmakers this is a 2 second job.

Start by having the mech in the smallerst cog and the same for your chainset if you’re running a double/triple.

On the X9 shiftter you should have a little black cover that just ‘pops up’ so you can change the cable, I’d snip the inner as short as possible so you have less to pull through the shifter.

Simply thread through a new cable, tighten at the mech, cycle through your gears and you should be good to go (your high/low screws shouldn’t need touching either). Oh, and replacing the outer is as simple as removing the old and replacing with new!

There isn’t any need to take apart the shifter so I wouldn’t recommend this, I did and learnt the hard way, when I realised how simple it was I was kicking myself!!

Hope this helps.

Thanks all (most*)

It was the fact you can see innards when threading the cable through the shifter that worried me. On my trusty XTR rapid fire shifters – going strong after a decade) you push and the end with the lead ‘blob’ simply appeared.

I’ve done the difficult part (if that’s the right word) with the cable through the shifter. I can finish the rest tomorrow as beer + curry + 2nd half of The Hobbit is calling.

Thanks again

*I did post in/on the chat forum 😉

On my trusty XTR rapid fire shifters – going strong after a decade)

I rest my case! 🙂

But I have needed to change the cables and outers on them… 🙂