Pam, I have lots of Suntour Power shifters, both downtube and thumb versions and I've taken them all apart.. Those have a small screw that allows the user to get into the ratchet. They aren't replaceable, but like John mentioned you can flush and lube them with a light oil. I'm not sure if he's referring to just the washers or the ratchet itself, I'm referring to the rachet that's underneath the plate. From the photos of Riv versions do not have the screw, they seem press fit and where the screw was on the Suntour is what looks like a press fit sheered off rivet kind of thing. I'm not sure if you can use a screwdriver to pop that off or not, but what the heck, if they are unusable there's no harm in trying. I really doubt the ratchet mechanism is worn out. Gunked up, quite possibly, but not worn out. Even if you can't pop open the cover, you could try squirting some wd-40 in the seam and rotate it back and forth. That may be all it needs. Of course I'm not seeing and feeling them so all of this is based on my own hands on with the Suntour I have and dismantling them to get inside to see what's in there. Curiosity !
If the shifter is simply not holding a gear, as in not enough friction/pressure, you can also try adding another washer, which you'd have to go to hardware store with the shifter to find one about right. That may or may not help ! On Wednesday, August 16, 2023 at 9:05:13 AM UTC-4 JohnS wrote: > Hello Pam, > > I had a problem with Suntour power shifters (ratchet mechanism just like > the Silvers) which caused the ratchet to not work, sounded like it was > grinding or slipping. I found that by taking the shifter apart, cleaning > the washers and applying a thin coat of light oil helped. Worth a try. Not > sure if the oil is recommended or not, maybe someone else can chime in. > > Good luck, > JohnS > > On Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 4:29:08 PM UTC-4 Pam Bikes wrote: > >> I have several broken Silver shifters. The power ratchet doesn't work >> any more. My question is if I can get a part to fix the ratchet. If not, >> should I throw them in the metal recycling or is there anything I can use >> later? I'm not a mechanical person. I just know the ratchet wouldn't hold >> after I replaced the plastic washer and when I put a new shifter on, it >> worked. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/4069be9d-4d41-4695-895a-eaba3f383b8en%40googlegroups.com.
