Home rebuild tale of woe...

First off, I';m not trying to start a anti-Shimano troll - I love the stuff... But here's a bit of a sad story:

I am in the middle of rebuilding my C-dale and everything was going fine with the shifter install. (BTW I have installed STI shifters more than a few times completely successfully in the past) I had to adjust the length of the right shifter housing (too long out of the box) so removed the shifter cable, cut the housing and replaced the cable.

Now here's the sad bit... I did not seat the end of the cable properly in the shifter and in my haste forgot to click the downshift lever enough times to make sure I was in top gear... (Both of these instruictions are clearly mentioned in the instructions, but hey, I've done this before, right?!) Anyway, the end of the cable got jammed in between the camming mechanism of the shifter and the shift lever itself!!! In trying to move the lever to get a look in there the cable became even more (completely) jammed. Down to the LBS with tail between my legs, they spoke to Shimano who said that it was not a warranty issue, and they do not (and have not ever) rebuilt STI shifters... the only solution is to buy another unit With trembling credit card I will have to do so...

So the words of warning are - (1) be extra careful to see that the end of the cable is seated correctly AND (2) you have clicked the small lever many times to make sure your shifter is really in the top gear position.

BTW the shifter is Dura Ace, and yes, the new 10 speed (hence my pain!)

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Road - Santa Cruz Roadster/DA-10sp
Tri/TT - Van Dessel Tijdrit & Ultegra
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ARGH!

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i relish complicating the obvious and trivializing the stupendous

The lever can be taken apart enough to free the cable and put back together relatively easily.I made the same mistake and did not have ro buy a new lever because of it. I'm pretty sure there are enough in structrions in the papaerwork that came with the lever.

lol. (sorry)

BUT to be constructive… i ****ed up once and accidentally took an sti lever apart (i thought i was undoing a different allen bolt, not the main assembly one), and though it was a **** to get back together, because the springs are tightly coiled etc etc, i did it after about an hour of sweating and swearing. so i would say one of two things:
a. have at er and see if you can't just get the thing apart and then rebuild it.
b. buy a new one and send the old unit to me free of charge

good luck. what doesn't kill you makes you stronger

This will definitely be a course of action (what have I got to lose?!) Do you by chance remember how much has to be disassembled to get the lever off the mechanism? Taking the front cover off reveals a nut which allows the front plastic molding to come away. There's a spring under there (which was pre-torques and may be a real SOB to reinstall I think ) From there it is not clear to me what comes off next. There are a couple of circlips that may be holding it together...?? I'm kind of expecting something to allow the whole metal portion of teh lever to come away, exposing the innards.
Has anyone else disassembled the STI?? (My LBS said they were 0 for 2 in trying...)

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Road - Santa Cruz Roadster/DA-10sp
Tri/TT - Van Dessel Tijdrit & Ultegra
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circlips and a coiled spring. real ***** to get the clip to stay holding the spring as you remove the finger that's holding it. i can't remeber how i did it cause it was about three years ago but i think i used a knife blade or seomething flat to hold the clip in place until the cover was near enough to closed to hold the clip. it can definitely be done because i have done it and i'm no more mechanically ept than the next reasonably bright human being. your lbs are asses

If you're going this far into the jungle of disassembly, I suggest a trip to your nearby Ace or Autozone for a set of circlip pliers. Should be ~$10 and have inside/outside clip feature. Much easier than a knife and fingers.

Bon chance!!

Your STI lever is brand new! Why don't you just take it apart and re-seat the damn thing? Will take freaking forever, but why do you need to even buy a new one? I can't believe your bike shop told you to buy a new STI lever! That's ridiculous! After you fix this, find another bike shop.

Ok - y'all have convinced me - I'm getting ready to dissect the lever. Wish me luck! I'll post pics when I'm done...

(BTW a few years ago I successfully rebuilt an Alfa Romeo 5 speed gearbox - against the Haynes manual's emphatic advice - so I'm feeling pretty confident...)

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Road - Santa Cruz Roadster/DA-10sp
Tri/TT - Van Dessel Tijdrit & Ultegra
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Having done that m'self (damn those 2nd gear syncros!) I think you'll be fine with the lever (having never done that myself)

-Zo

I'm impressed!!