important: Nuts and bolts on your bike should always be tightened to the manufacturer's specifications.

How to Recondition RapidFire Plus Shifters

Shows how to troubleshoot, clean and lubricate RapidFire-style index shift levers.

In today’s tutorial, we’ll learn how to troubleshoot and repair a RapidFire Plus style index shifter. For this job you’ll need a phillips(+) screwdriver, a 4 or 5mm allen key, some light oil, spray grease, and some penetrating fluid like liquid wrench or WD-40.

Sometimes nothing happens if you try to shift up to an easier gear, or down to a harder gear. If your cables are functioning smoothly, this likely means that there is either a build up of gunk on the inside of your shifter, or that some of the internal parts are worn or broken.

Try This First

If it’s just gummed up, sometimes you can get it working again by squirting some light oil inside, and then running through the gears several times to make sure the oil fully penetrates the internal parts.

Look Inside

If not, you’ll have to remove the outer casing and take a look inside. Keep in mind that there are many different styles of these shifters but the concept is generally the same. You don’t want to remove all of the screws on the shifter as there are many small springs and moving parts that are difficult to put back together. Try and see which screw looks like it removes only the dust cover.

With the cover removed, you should see a ratcheting mechanism that includes a gear and a spring loaded pawl. If you run through the gears while looking inside, you’ll see that every time you shift up to an easier gear the pawl pushes against the gear until it clicks it into the next position. This builds tension on the spring and pulls the cable a set amount, which moves your derailleur up one sprocket.

When you use the index lever to shift the derailleur down into a harder gear, the spring releases and causes the gear to slip back one position. This releases the cable a set amount, which pulls your derailleur down one sprocket.

Further Repair

If either of these functions is not happening, inspect the gears and pawls to make sure nothing is broken or looks worn. If they are, you’ll usually just have to replace the shifter. If everything looks fine but the shifter still doesn’t work, you can give it a bit of an overhaul to clean and re-lubricate the inner mechanism.

Disassemble Shifter

You’ll have to remove the shift cable first. It’ll usually slide out the of the shifter when it’s in the highest gear (7,8,9). Then remove the shifter body from your handlebar using the top allen bolt. Unscrew and remove the barrel adjuster and then remove any remaining screws until you can pull apart the dust covers and slide the inner mechanism out. Make sure you pay attention to how everything came apart so you can get it back together again.

Reassemble Shifter

Soak the unit with some penetrating fluid and then wipe it down and let it air dry. Once dry, spray some grease in between all of the moving parts and then re-assemble the shifter parts the same way they came apart. Mount it back on the handlebar and click through all of the gears so the spray grease penetrates. Then replace the shift cable and adjust your derailleur as needed.

If you’ve tried all of these steps and the shifter still doesn’t work, unfortunately it’ll likely need replacing.

Related Links

Recommended Tools

Categories

Discuss this topic in the Bicycle Repairs and Mechanics Forum

Variation in Conti GP5000 sizing?

Latest post 23 hours ago

I must have fitted 3 or 4 pairs of 25mm Continental GP5000 tires without any trouble whatsoever. On different brands of 622x15c rim, they went on without struggle or complaint. Older GP4000 also went on without trouble. However, the most recent set, bought a month ago, are probably the worst I've ever had in terms of the challenge I had to get them fitted. Has anyone else found such a big differ...

Read more

Cassette shifting Problem

Latest post 5 days ago

I just replace the 10 speed cassette on my Mountain bike. I decided to go for a largest cog with more teeth for an easier ride uphill.. I increased from 38T to 42T. I also replaced the chain and chainrings at the same time. When the bike was on the stand it ran through the gears well. I had the following problem when out riding. I had just ridden up a steep hill on the 22T chain ring and the ...

Read more

I'm curious—how often or after how many miles do people typically check or change their mechanical disc brake pads? I've been bikepacking for a while but never really followed a maintenance schedule. A few weeks ago, I took my bike to a mechanic because I heard some noise. The mechanic did a quick overhaul, and I was sent on my way. However, a few weeks later, while descending steep hills, I s...

Read more

A question I've wanted to ask for a while now. From a personal point of view, what have you found to be the positives and negatives of these two valves? What would your preference be?...

Read more

Grip Shifters

Latest post 2 weeks ago

Currently renovating a child's bike. It has 24 inch wheels and is a suitable size for a 7-10 year old. Anyway it has grip shifters. it is a six speed with three chain rings on the front derailleur. On the rear derailleur the shifter does not appear to move the gear cable at all when shifting from 6 to 5 and 5 to 4. I am actually holding the cable with my finger and thumb against the cable cas...

Read more

  p6i6rfpm1ip41 (1).jpg (Size: 82.1 KB / Downloads: 537) Is there a way to get rid of that rust or do I need to replace certain components? More pics...

Read more

9 speed chain on 8 speed bike

Latest post 2 weeks ago

All of my bikes are 7 or 8 speed and sometime in the past I bought a 9 speed chain for some unremembered reason. is there any reason not to use it on an 8 speed bike?...

Read more

Hello, I was going to ask this question in @Flowrider’s post, but since this is a slightly different issue, I decided to start a new post. https://forums.bikeride.com/thread-9267.html I’m nowhere near the ocean, so salt-related rusting isn’t a concern. I’m currently in the ninth month of a long bikepacking trip, and sometimes I stay in one place for a week or longer. During this week or ...

Read more

Colnago restoration

Latest post 1 month ago

Hi everyone. A bit repetitive from my intro in GF, but this is the correct section for this post. I’m new to vintage bikes, but I’ve been eyeing a vintage Colnago to restore for a long time. Finally found one and the timing was right to pull the trigger. I’m still trying to identify the exact year, but from my research it’s 1991-1993 Colnago Super PiU. Mostly original, I think, apart from ...

Read more

Columbia 3 wheel differential

Latest post 2 months ago

Hello everyone and thank you so much for having me! I have an older Columbia 3 wheeler adult tricycle and she has a differential, somewhat like a car. I wanted to open up the differential for cleaning and oiling but cannot find any info on her, as to how much oil to add, and where the oil fill point is. Can anyone help me in this endeavor? I'd really love to get her going but don't want to ris...

Read more

Front derailer not moving

Latest post 2 months ago

Hi, I been upgrading my old bike with new brake and shift cables. I got my brakes working and now trying to get my shift cables working. I was able to install new shift cable, I made sure to hold the cable tight and tighten the Bolt to keep in place. But it doesn't move the derailer at all when shifting. I have a feeling it's a simple fix that I'm missing something. I thought it might be the new ...

Read more

I live 5 km from the ocean (not sure if that's relevant), and I pretty much only mountain bike. After every ride, I hose down and clean my bike. I wipe them down with a cloth. After a few days, the ones not ridden have what looks like surface rust appear on the chain. Do you have any cost-effective remedies to solve this issue?...

Read more

How to deal with rusty chain

Latest post 2 months ago

The best thing is not to let your chain get rusty in the first place. Chains for most 6,7,8 speed bikes can be had for $15 to $20 all day long. For me my first choice is to just replace it and the reason is simple. If finished it does not meet the level of 95%+ perfect it will get replaced. If the chain you are trying to save does not have a quik link then that is an extra cost to figure...

Read more

Rear v-brake repair

Latest post 3 months ago

Hi everyone, I'm new here and I've been trying to avoid taking my bike to a mechanic and save some money. I succesfully fixed my front but struggle with the rear, I got new brakes for the rear. I notice i think it might be the housing causing the noodle to be off centered and making the left brake pad to close to the rim. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!! My next project is to attemp...

Read more

Custom Bike part manufacturing

Latest post 3 months ago

Hello, Not sure if I should post this in buying advice or repairs, but here we are. I recently bought Schwinn cruiser an old one and I can't find the rear dropout bracket replacement. So I decided to try out a custom bike part manufacturer. Still waiting for my part, so if anyone has tried out a custom on demand manufacturer, please share your experience....

Read more