Replacement derailleur/shifter for 2018 RadCity ST

Papajani

New Member
I'd like to replace the rear derailleur and shifter on my 2018 RadCity ST. Due to a weakness in my right thumb it's difficult to downshift. Can you recommend any derailleur/shifter combinations that don't require as much effort to change gears?
 
Beats me? I mashed my thumb last night changing a tire. Have you tried sports tape & excess
aspirin? Elbow?
 
Wow. That would slow me down for sure. The only thing I can think of, after exhausting all of my own DIY'er potential, would be to take it to a shop and ask them for ideas. That part of the bike is no different than what they are used to working on, and they may have some ideas for you.
 
I'd like to replace the rear derailleur and shifter on my 2018 RadCity ST. Due to a weakness in my right thumb it's difficult to downshift. Can you recommend any derailleur/shifter combinations that don't require as much effort to change gears?
Unless there is something wrong with the derailleur you really only need to swap out the shifter which is easy to do. If you want a trigger shifter you would need to swap out the throttle for for a thumb type and move it to the left side.
 
Thanks for answering my query. Turns out that the cable covers rust easily creating tons of friction. I replaced the cable and cover and things are back to normal. Same thing happened to my rear brake cable so that's on today's to-do list.
 
Archer Components makes an electric shifter, supposedly works with any derailleur.

https://archercomponents.com/
Ha, ha, also an ex pat Brit here, living in Santa Monica!

Anyone here have any experience with this shifter. It looks exactly like what I want, as I have arthritis in my thumbs from decades of computer keyboard use. We're looking at getting Rad City bikes and on the test ride, I found the shifter painful to use and ended up using my palm which wasn't ideal. From their site and the video it looks like it just attaches to the derailleur, not a replacement for it like some of the others.
 
Ha, ha, also an ex pat Brit here, living in Santa Monica!

Anyone here have any experience with this shifter. It looks exactly like what I want, as I have arthritis in my thumbs from decades of computer keyboard use. We're looking at getting Rad City bikes and on the test ride, I found the shifter painful to use and ended up using my palm which wasn't ideal. From their site and the video it looks like it just attaches to the derailleur, not a replacement for it like some of the others.
I don't have any experience with it, but it claims to be programmable for any derailleur. You would just have to find a place to mount it. Maybe under the downtube.
 
Thanks for answering my query. Turns out that the cable covers rust easily creating tons of friction. I replaced the cable and cover and things are back to normal. Same thing happened to my rear brake cable so that's on today's to-do list.
Yeah, cable housing has to be replaced periodically. You can grease the cables or switch to teflon coated cables.
 
I don't have any experience with it, but it claims to be programmable for any derailleur. You would just have to find a place to mount it. Maybe under the downtube.
They have a 30-day return so I just ordered one and I'll report back when the bikes and the shifter arrive. Not sure which will get here first...
 
They have a 30-day return so I just ordered one and I'll report back when the bikes and the shifter arrive. Not sure which will get here first...
Let us know how it goes, I sold my Rad and now have a mid-drive bike , you tend to shift gears more often so this could be a nice upgrade.

Not sure if there is a gear shift interlock.
 
Let us know how it goes, I sold my Rad and now have a mid-drive bike , you tend to shift gears more often so this could be a nice upgrade.

Not sure if there is a gear shift interlock.
I have been experimenting with it today and, hmmm...

It reminds me of when my dad bought a Renault in the '80s... 😸

Has anyone got this to work, successfully?
 
I looked at buying one during the father's day sale but t doesn't offer a shift interlock. Also no visual indicator of gear positionI decided to hold for a bit . Fortunately I have no thumb shifting issues.

With any electric bike there probably is going to be some difficulty find a place to install it. Where they suggest on the Rad there is a motor , brake and derailleur cable.
 
Thanks! I may be able to get it to work but it's certainly not Plug n Play, LOL...

I've been documenting my experience. The shifter has plastic ties to hold it on but the controller has a solid metal handlebar clamp which requires removing everything else from the handlebars to slide it on as they show in their video. Um, no, I don't think so, on our RADCity bikes...

It should be the other way around. The shifter has much more force applied, whereas the buttons on the handlebar are advertised as light touch. The packaging even said "Light"!
 
Back