I messed up

[thom]

I posted a few days ago about a Schwinn Le Tour bike I found. I did a little cleaning on it and thought it was looking good.It has Shimano RSX shifters/brake levers on it , which I have not seen before. The brake lever pivots to the side to downshift and a smaller lever that is attached to the brake levers upshifts. Neither one worked so I decided to try to clean them with some carb cleaner and compressed air. I removed a screw from the left/front one. A spring "unwound" inside and I can see no way to reassemble the thing. I was looking forward to riding the bike.

 

[roadmaster]

These days, that type of intergrated brake lever/shifter is known as a dual control lever and is actually very common on any descent road bike. A replacement lever shouldn't be hard to come by and maybe even find one used for cheaper. Personally, i'd downgrade to down tube shifters, but then again my back hates for me to ride those types of bikes anymore. Used check you LBS, Ebay and etc. Good luck!

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I have had good luck winding springs with a ball point pen, winding the spring around it and using the clip as a retainer so I can wind it.

Any pictures? I might be able to help walk you through a re-build.

 

[thom]

I had a tough time trying to describe what happened when I took the screw out. It would be equally tough to describe how I got it back together. I will say that I used a guitar string as a "tool". I kept "working" the right side , or rear, shifter and now it seems to function. I can now put a chain on the bike and ride it for the first time.
I felt like I needed to fix the shifters and leave them on the bike as it is the only bike in my collection with that type shifters/brake levers.I much prefer the old style top tube or stem mounted levers. Speaking of shifters , I don't like twist grip style shifters . I still don't have a ten speed with bar-end shifters.

 

[KJV]

guitar string. sounds like my kinda tool.
glad ya got it back together, man.