Shimano Deore Thumbshifter Rebuild/Mod Guide

The left hand lever becomes difficult to rotate after the 11h30 mark and wants to flip back. Is this normal?

It becomes difficult to rotate because the tabs on the shifter body line up with the slots on the spindle and so the force from the spring is able to push them apart slightly, as well as the lever rotating in a clockwise direction, the spring spiral being anti-clockwise and where the spring fits into the shifter body in relation to the lever... hope that makes sense.

Did I put it back together incorrectly?

Thanks for the guide!

I bookmarked this post into my favourites as something to do "when I had the time". Now that I'm forced to stay home, it was the time to do it. Thanks to the author for this guide, it gave me the confidence to get started.

Now, a little bump to this guide in case someone else did not know about it and wants to give it a try.

And since I'm finished with the thumbies, but still at home,... let's give it a try to overhaul the bearings on that dynamo hub!! :?

In case someome is interested, I made a instructional video on how to do the dis and reassembly on those shifters.
I did it speaking german. But I tried to add english subtitles. Some feedback would be very welcome. Especially if the subtitles work. My youtube only shows the german subtitles...
And of course leave a coment, if the video was of any help to you.

I just rebuilt a set of Deore II’s. A even easier way to set the chrome plate, no pliers required:
1. Before putting the lever body on the spindle assembly, and before you put the spring in, set the chrome washer in its groove in the lever body. Hold it together.
2. Insert the spring from the BOTTOM of the lever body, ensuring you poke the spring end through the hole in the chrome plate.
3. Holding the chrome plate and spring together on the lever body, lower the lever assembly onto the spindle, and align spring end with spring end hole in the spindle. Insert the spring end.
4. Gently pressing the assembly down on the spindle, and using the lever body to preload the spring, and still holding the chrome plate down, pivot the lever assembly to align the chrome plate tabs with the corresponding grooves in spindle, push down ensuring the chrome plate drops below the catch ring on the spindle, then allow the lever to return with the spring tension to lock it (and the chrome plate) in place on the spindle body.

Isn't that what I show in the video above your post?

Thias said:

Isn't that what I show in the video above your post?

Click to expand...

Oh perfect! I hadn’t seen it for some reason but yes!

Thias said:

In case someome is interested, I made a instructional video on how to do the dis and reassembly on those shifters.
I did it speaking german. But I tried to add english subtitles. Some feedback would be very welcome. Especially if the subtitles work. My youtube only shows the german subtitles...
And of course leave a coment, if the video was of any help to you.

Click to expand...

Great video.

Have you ever thought of selling those great top caps? I imagine thry cost more individually to make than a pair of used shifters... But i bet you could manage a few dozen orders right off the bat here, which might bring the price into the "tempting" range...

I hid my answer (lengthy) to your question somewhere in that thread: https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/rat-klein-pinnacle-build-selfmade-parts-content.440507/

The short version: I already have too much money and not having enough time is my biggest concern. Also I want to keep this a hobby. So I would consider making parts like theses caps in excange for interesting bike parts.

walleater said:

I guess it's only partially OT as it at least still involves a thumbshifter

When I first tried it, it was dreadful as the Dynasis derailleur is designed around more cable pull, so the shifter would have to go around about 180 degrees to hit all the gears! I did a simple mod to the derailleur to change the amount of cable pull needed so now the shifter only has to go as far as the 'hidden click' if it was set to indexing:

Click to expand...

Does anyone know what this mod is? Post is so old that the picture has disappeared. Trying to use an m732 thumb shifter on dynasis. Interested in the mech mod to reduce the amount of cable pull in total so the shifter doesn’t have to move 180 degrees. Or maybe I’ll just sack it off and use 10sp shifters

I'm not sure, but usually those mods involve mounting the cable in a different place, like below the mounting plate instead of above. The goal is to get the mounting point closer the the rotational center if you want to have the same movement with less cable pull.