How To Replace a GripShift Cable

Learn how to disassemble and reassemble a twist shifter to replace the inner shift cable.

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01:14 - Take the shifter apart very slowly to avoid losing important components.
02:00 - Getting the shifter back together correctly can be really tricky and takes some patience.
02:28 - Watch the front and rear derailleur adjustment tutorials for more help with this step.

Today we’ll learn how to replace a Sram GripShift(R) style shifter cable. For this job, you’ll need a replacement shift cable and end cap, a 2.5mm allen key to open the grip shifter, a 5mm allen key or 9mm open end wrench to loosen the derailleur pinch bolt and brake levers, a cable cutter to trim the cable and pinch the cap, some light oil to lube the cable housings and a tiny bit of waterproof grease for inside the shifter.

Remove Old Cable

The first step is to remove the old cable. Shift either your front or rear derailleur to the smallest sprocket and cut the old cable cap off. Then loosen the pinch bolt and slide the inner cable out of the derailleur and cable housings.

Disassemble Shifter

Now loosen your brake lever and slide it along the handlebar so we have room to open the grip shifter unit. Turn the shifter to the highest gear if you’re replacing the rear cable, or the lowest gear if you’re replacing the front. You’ll notice a small allen bolt on the outside of the shifter body. Loosen this off but don’t un-thread it completely as they are really easy to lose.

Once the shifter turns freely on the handlebar, jiggle and pull the grip apart until it separates into two parts. Sometimes it helps to very gently pry it open with a flat screwdriver.

Now you’ll have to be extra careful. The first thing watch for is a tiny piece of oddly-shaped metal sitting on the inside of the shifter. It’s really important to keep that spring exactly where it is as the shifter won’t function without it. Slide the old cable out of the shifter and pay careful attention to how it was wrapped around inside the shifter. The cable usually wraps around once and sits in a little groove.

Reassemble Shifter

Apply a tiny dab of grease to the grooves where the cable sits inside the shifter. Slide the new cable back into the shifter, loosely wrap it around once, and then slide it through the shifter body. Now pull the cable tight and set it down into the shifter grooves the same way it came out. If it looks right, push the two parts of the shifter back together and try turning the shifter. If the cable is installed correctly it should click and turn normally. Slide your brake lever back into position and tighten it. Now turn the shifter so the cable is tucked up under the brake lever and tighten it as well.

Install New Cable

Drop a little bit of light oil into the cable housings before installing the new cable. Thread the inner cable back through the housings and the derailleur pinch bolt. Make sure your shifter is in the smallest sprocket and then pull the cable tight and tighten the bolt. Now run through the gears and adjust your front or rear derailleur as needed.

The last step is to cut the excess cable off about two inches past the pinch bolt. Then slide on the aluminum cap and just partially squish it 2 or 3 times with your cable cutter so that it stays on. This will keep the cable from fraying.

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12 Responses to “How To Replace a GripShift Cable”

Lynn Faulkner on July 7th, 2008 8:36 am

My cables all need to be replaced and no bike service is available nearby. I’ll need to take the cables off, buy new cables, and then replace them. Is there a tutorial I can print out? Thanks. Lynn in NM

Status of this Request
Alex on July 7th, 2008 4:36 pm

Hi Lynn, I’ll make a tutorial covering inner cable replacement as soon as I can… and I’ll let you know when it is posted!
Neil Robertson on July 10th, 2008 2:00 pm

One comment on cable swapping about setting the rear mech to the smallest cog, this only works on high normal mechs, since clever Shimano muddied the waters with low normal mechs this could be confusing, granted few people will use these with gripshift maybe more for the forthcoming video on inner cable general as requested by Lynn.

Cheers
bhushan on July 14th, 2008 2:58 am

My rear gear is not working with num 6. This started after I did adjust my front derailer.
John on July 20th, 2008 7:38 pm

Thanks for the great video, but it turns out I didn’t need it. My grip shift is the SRAM Verio, and it doesn’t have to be taken apart to replace the cable. You pretty much just pull the old cable out and push the new cable in. There are instructions here:
http://www.sram.com/en/service/index.php
Ed L on August 3rd, 2008 2:27 am

Hi Alex,

Thanks for all of your hard work with this site. I’m currently working on this particualr project and am glad that you used an older version of the SRAM grip-shift similar to my model (the newer models, as John pointed out 07/20/2008, don’t need to be taken apart).

If I may point out a couple of things, some of the re-assembly is rather quick and it might be helpful to slow down how to wrap the new cable into the shifter; I had a tough time finding where the old cable head was seated since I was a little anxious and was being extremely careful not to dislodge the odd shaped spring as I was poking around, (ha ha) it was some time before I realized there was a feed hole on the inner side of the shifter where the cable head sits! Upon viewing the video again, I now see that this can be seen at about Step 5. These points aren’t negative criticism, I just hope to give usable feedback from the perspective of someone very new to working on his own bike (I had another confused moment while working on the rear derailleur adjustment which I’ll post in the comments to that video).

One tip I have for others trying this repair, who are also keeping their cable housing and who may have trouble remembering how the housing sits on the bike, is to keep the housing and ferrules in place with some tape or zip ties. Sorry for the long comment.
Skyguy9999 on September 14th, 2008 8:59 pm

For this job (well anything involving brake or shifter cables), I found that it’s good to work with the cable housing in stages if possible and keep the pieces in order where you encounter them.

For example, if you have a section of cable housing to the front of the bike that won’t stay bracketed, lay it there, and so on. Then after you get the new cable threaded through the brake lever/shifter, you can work from there. Of course it should go without saying to stick to one line at a time.

The shifter hookup is perhaps the hardest part of the job, but if you’re organized, the rest of the job is very easy compared to other things on a bike.
Lee Murray on October 7th, 2008 4:36 pm

Thanks for the great tips on replacing the flywheel three gear grip shift. I have a scram 3.0 and think I was able to avoid a total replacement so far.

Beware, when adjusting the front derailer cable tighten it just snug or it will break when you ever adjust it later.

My trek 7100 is just over six months old and I adjusted the front derailer myself.(I am of course smarter than the bike shop) And wanted a more custom tuning.

Lee M.
aryeh lazarus on November 26th, 2008 9:10 pm

Hi Alex, I am very grateful to you for your excellent tutorials. Thanks to you I am now doing my own minor bike repairs.

I am replacing my rear gripshift cable and am encountering a difficulty. I managed to wrap it and close it, but when I try shifting at first it’s very difficult. But it’s only shifting into that position each time that requires lots of force. The rest feels smooth. The pin did fall out on me while working, but I think I inserted it correctly. Is it possible something is broken or bent. I know this isn’t a typical problem, but if you have any possible solutions please let me know. Thank you
Alex on November 28th, 2008 1:35 pm

Hmmm… you may want to take it apart again and see if anything looks out of place. It sounds like the spring or cable wrap may be slightly off.
carol nelson on February 26th, 2009 2:54 pm

Would a a sram 5.0 rear derailleur work with a 7-speed twist grip shift? I tried but can’t seem to get it to shift to my megarange shimano freewheel in spite of adjusting the low speed screw, etc. etc.
al on October 29th, 2009 6:36 pm

Hi great tutorials, I tried to open SRAM MRX gripshifts however seems slightly different & I’m not sure if the wire is supposed to go round twice, or once, as the bike is 2nd hand & looks like someone else tried to replace cables, so I’m not sure how it was set up originally. Please can you make a video with SRAM MRX type (unless of course SRAM MRX is obsolete, then just some advice from anyone will help) thanks P.S some of the bolts on my bike are really rusty, any advice from anyone on rusty bolts?