bicycle tire and shifter question

My wife rides pretty often, and today while she was adjusting/beaking her bike, I noticed (she didn't) that her rear tire is worn out, and the belt is even showing some wear. Her tire size is 700x25c.
My bike has nearly brand new tires that are 700x 23c. I believe I can put those tires on her bike and it will work just fine, maybe a slightly different ride.

Can anyone confirm this, before I break a sweat?

Also her front shifter- a Shimano 105 has been broken since her bike was just beyond warranty, but she won't pay to get it fixed. She says she does fine on the large chain ring, but it just bugs me.

Any thoughts on looking for and using a used shifter? Any other cost effective replacements?

Her bike is a Giant carbon fiber road bike, when she bought it she read some negative reviews on the shifter, so she knew this was a possibility. She doesn't ride competitively, or with groups, just as a hobby. Her average rides are 10-20 miles, and she pushes herself pretty hard. She recently started a new job, with a bit of a pay reduction, so cost savings are pretty important now- but I really did need that new brush...

You should be fine on the tire.

What's broken on the shifter?

The tires will swap out fine. Use your best tire on the front. If the rear blows out you can save it. If the front goes, you are in trouble.

The shifter may not be as bad as you think. Does it move through the range of motion? Does the indexing still click? Does it pull the cable? Don't force anything... Should be easy to move through its range.

At a minimum, you're going to need new cables and housing... Assuming you've done little maintenance, Its likely that they're a mess and friction wreaks havoc on shift performance. If you've never had them replaced before, I'd get a set of shifter and brake cables.

Park tool website has some good tutorials on most repairs. Good luck!

Thanks for the tire confirmation. Regarding the shifter, it broke at about 6 months of use or something,I remember that she said it was part of the internal mechanism, but I gotta investigate.

Yeah, have a look at it and post back. These things have indexing in the shifter but other than that its all cable tension. I wouldnt open up the shifter if I were you, that's a can of worms unless you really know what you're doing. Post any details you can about movement of both shift levers, cable tension/movement/condition.

How does your wife know its part of the internal mechanism? If she took it to a shop to have it diagnosed and they said you need a replacement, you might be out of luck for a home repair. Good news is that most shimano road shifters will work if you're inclined to buy one. If you're looking to replace it, post up a model number - its on the body, under the rubber hood. There are deals to be had since a fair amount of people run single chainring setups for Cyclocross. What that means to you is that there are usually front shifters floating around. if you dont care about being matchy matchy, this is perfect for you.

P.S. there's nothing wrong with Shimano 105 shifters. they are a great budget shifter/drivetrain, no matter what reviews you've read online.

Quick update
This all came about today when she decided to adjuster her rear derailleur. Things started to go south when she pulled the end off the cable...then it frayed...then the adjuster nut/end part flew off the deck, never to be seen again.
She loaded it up in her Chevy Sonic Hatchback and off to the bike shop she went. They discovered that she cross threaded the cable into the derailleur when she was trying to fix things.
They cleaned up the threads, installed a new cable, and adjusted everything.

10 bucks...

I tried out my old kwickstick to remove my old tire and that was cake.

Happy endings.

Still gonna look at that shifter, but not when she is home.

They didn't say anything about the front shifter? When they installed the rear cable, they would have at least played with the front shifter to cycle through the gears and verify adjustments. When I worked on bikes it would have bugged the crap out of me if a shifter didnt work at all. If it were a quick fix, I would have done it...

Just noticed your location...Cecil County? Elkton? What local shop do you use?

They asked about the shifter, she said don't worry about it. She was just real happy they did it right away while she waited, no drop off or appointment or anything like that. She still insists that she doesn't need the shifter fixed, and is happy to work harder on hills. She reminded me that they previously looked at it and told her it needed a new shifter.
My wife is from Missouri, the show me state, but that doesn't matter since she knows most everything anyway.

She goes to Wooden Wheels in Newark, DE., there are at least two other shops (Bikeline and Performance) in Newark/Wilmington as well. She likes Wooden Wheels, always gets good prices and fast service, but she isn't a competitor or anything if it makes a difference. We are somewhat familiar with West Chester,PA., and we live in Colora, Md. very close to Rising Sun if you've heard of it. Elkton is't far at all either.

Wooden wheels is a solid shop... if they are saying that she needs a new shifter then I would believe them, unfortunately. The Newark Bike Line is also a good shop in the area, and I don't typically recommend that chain of stores.

I'm vaguely familiar with your area. As a kid my family camped at Elk Neck many, many times. These days I occaisionally ride the trails at Fair Hill or Iron Hill, but that's about as close as I get anymore.

I dont think I have any shifters laying around, but I'll check my parts bins and keep an eye open.

A new or used 105 front shifter shouldn't be hard to find. Craigslist or Pinkbike

ZeroGravity said:

A new or used 105 front shifter shouldn't be hard to find. Craigslist or Pinkbike

Click to expand...

+ 1

Although...busted parts are also a good excuse to upgrade! Just sayin'...

For the record, If you're just trying to get it to work, you dont need to match the shifters (though mis matched shifters would bug me to no end)... Assuming that your wifes bike has two chainrings up front, there are a lot of different shifters that would work for your application here.

I'm probably late to this thread but it could be useful to a future reader. (I'm a retired road racer with too many years in the saddle).

Any 700c up to 28 width tire should fit with no worries. And there's lots of dependable brands from Vittoria to Continental tires that can be found on Amazon. Btw, depending on what kind of roads you ride on, there's nothing wrong with putting a slightly wider tire on the the rear for less flats and better wear (eg. 23c front with a 25c rear).

As for the shifter, eBay is a great place to buy singles, or sets at the best prices.

Lastly, if you're not familiar with bike mechanics, it pays to have your local bike shop do the install. Bikes look simple but have a lot of details involving wrench torque, cable cutting, etc.

Gary

Thanks for all the info from all of the informers!

Update-
I installed the tires while watching tv, she has over 100 miles on them, everything is good.

She doesn't want her shifter fixed...

I am pretty fair with most things mechanical, and I have a good bike repair manual, but for the prices the shop charges, it's almost never worth the trouble messing with it.

as you go forward think about having Kevlar tires installed; they'll last longer and likely give you a couple of free passes on road hazards which would normally have you patching tubes along side the road before you can get home. ( you all DO carry a patch kit with you always; don'cha?)

Bicycle magazine put out a very good maintenance book years and years ago; check it out - you'll at least have an idea of what people are telling you when they say it needs be done... if you agree and go ahead you'll be more comfortable, if you look and decide you can do it, all the better!

A caveat with the Kevlar tires I have used, especially the Continental Gatorskins, is they all seem to have a higher rolling resistance, especially when the pavement isn't all that smooth.