Picked up Isla bike today for the 1st born from my brother the gears are shagged is it the done thing to swop sram over to shimano ?

Rear mech, chain, grip shift, cassette all worn !

Or am I bad dad to do so ?

Why not?

why not indeed !

Exactly!

bravo !

Social services will be round the second you get the bikestand out.

Will the kid manage the trigger shift?

Good plan.

Will little fingers work/reach shimano shifters though? There must have been an ergonomic reason for the gripshift.

edit – too slow!

If you’re swapping bits out maybe consider swapping the grip shift for a trigger, my lad found grip shift too stiff for his little hands, bless ‘im etc.

I think that Isla found that the grip shift was far more intuative when learning gears. Trigger shifters have a more esoteric link to understand when changing gear as you already have hold of the grip and it is one less thing to get confused about. That being the case I am sure that triggers will be used, but it may be a barrier to some. Not my bike company, but my kids are one Isla bike number 4 and 3 respectively and they love them the way they are.

Just get them out riding is the key. 🙂

ah shimano make a 7spd grip shift….have loads in stock 😮

like this

http://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-REVOSHIFT-SLRS31-Shifter-Right/dp/B003I79WHY

Pimp it!

I fitted an XT front brake to one

Hold on – isn’t the cable pull on low-end sram the same as shimano? Maybe keep the gripshift if that’s the case?

the gripshift is shagged so its gotta be changed

My lad didn’t find grip shift intuitive and it was no bother to swap. He couldn’t change down before, now he can. I think it’s a fairly common issue with Isla bikes and little hands. Not knocking the brand, btw. It’s a great bike and made a huge difference to his riding.

booktownman cheers some good advice