Couple of GT's and a F & F Set.......

[plankowner]

Picked up a 90 something Performer for my son off of Craigslist. The seller had it listed for $45.00, needing only a chain and tires. Half way there to meet the seller, he calls me back and says he was offered $50.00 for it and said if I wanted it, the price is now $50.00. That kind of stuff irritates me and normally I would walk away from it. But I had my son in the truck and he was excited about getting it so I agreed and finished the ride. It was everything he described it was so I handed him the $50.00 and loaded it in the truck. Then we got to talking about bikes, turns out he was quite the bike guy and not someone just selling his kids bike, and he shows me and my son his bike collection in the garage. After admiring some pretty sweet downhill bikes and a couple old Schwinn's, he shows me his junk pile and says, "If you see anything in there you like, take it, it's yours." So I picked up a sweet frame and fork to build up.
Here's my son's Performer we got. (Already added a new chain, tires and some pedals he wanted on it)

Here's the frame and fork I picked up also. Already added some WWs I had hanging in the garage, an ugly Micargi seat, some cut down bars and the only crank-ring I have that fit it. It scrapes the pedals, has no brakes and is one heck of a fun bike!

Finally, on the way home from work today, I stopped at a new Salvation Army family store that just opened up. I picked up this Men's 26" GT Karakorum Elite for $25.00. I don't know much about it but it rides pretty nice. The front derailleur trigger shift does not hold the derailleur in position. Anybody have any ideas how to fix that? Needs to be de-stickerized and seriously cleaned!

 

[CRASH]

I remember those old GT's. Nice bike. What's the rear deraileur say on it?

Front deraileur procedures: Probably just a loose cable.
-Shift down to smallest gear.
-Disconnect cable.
-At the shifter, turn the cable tensioner all the way in.
-Pull the cable taught and reconnect. (I usually did this with a cable pull tool, but you can use pliers)
-Adjust tension at the shifter to get a full swing.
-Adjust the high and low set screws so the chain has full movement, but doesn't get thrown off the ring.

Hope that helps.

 

[Kreep]

The trigger shifters have small pawls in them. The grease dries up and doesn't let them function.Undo the cable,take the bottom cover off the shifter(should be one small screw).Hit it with some heavy duty degreaser and work the pawls back and forth,I usually end up moving them with a small awl.You should then be able to hold the cable and run the shifter through its positions and connect the cable .Nice Bike btw.
-Kreep-

 

[Rat Rod]

That GT looks really nice...love the new pedals.

 

[plankowner]

I remember those old GT's. Nice bike. What's the rear deraileur say on it?

Front deraileur procedures: Probably just a loose cable.
-Shift down to smallest gear.
-Disconnect cable.
-At the shifter, turn the cable tensioner all the way in.
-Pull the cable taught and reconnect. (I usually did this with a cable pull tool, but you can use pliers)
-Adjust tension at the shifter to get a full swing.
-Adjust the high and low set screws so the chain has full movement, but doesn't get thrown off the ring.

Hope that helps.

I should have been a little more specific describing my problem. The cable is tight and moves freely, it just doesn't "lock" in to each of the three positions. After reading the reply after yours, I realized I wasn't stating the problem correctly. The problem does seem to be in the shifter itself and after disassembling it, Kreep was right. The grease is dry and caked. I'm gonna degrease and clean it up and slop some new grease on the pawls. I can see the detents where the pawls should be latching but the pawls don't move. As for the rear derailleur, it's a Shimano Deore DX. I do appreciate the help though Senior!