Do brifters really suck?

"G.T." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Of course they do. In this case a 105 rear shifter, bought it on Ebay,
it looks barely used, and it's DOA. It does absolutely nothing.

Trying to reach the seller now. What a freakin' joke.

Alternatively, how old is it? IF its 2 years old or LESS, contact Shimano
USA (there's an 800 #) and see if they will warranty it. IF not, think about
getting Campy (repairable)....

"G.T." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Of course they do. In this case a 105 rear shifter, bought it on Ebay, it
looks barely used, and it's DOA. It does absolutely nothing.

Trying to reach the seller now. What a freakin' joke.

Greg
--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

I think a piece of gear purchased used over ebay that doesn't work properly
is probably more an indictment of ebay than of the piece of gear itself.
Particularly if it's the sole basis of the conclusion, as seems to be here.

I like brifters. I've never bought any on ebay though. I have Ultegra
front and rear that came original on my bike. They worked from day one and
still do. Hmmm.

Tom

tcmedara said:

"G.T." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Of course they do. In this case a 105 rear shifter, bought it on Ebay, it
looks barely used, and it's DOA. It does absolutely nothing.

Trying to reach the seller now. What a freakin' joke.

I think a piece of gear purchased used over ebay that doesn't work properly
is probably more an indictment of ebay than of the piece of gear itself.
Particularly if it's the sole basis of the conclusion, as seems to be here.

We'll see how the Ebay seller comes through. You may not have seen my
post in the bar end shifter thread where I last used brifters in 1994 or
so. They were 105 then, the rear shifter lasted less than 500 miles,
and just stopped working. Since then I've used bar end shifters until
building up this Double Cross. And wouldn't you know it, dead on arrival.

I looked back at the listing and the guy said he used them for 300 miles
before switching to Campy. Maybe these caused him to make the switch.
The guy has perfect feedback and the transaction went smoothly otherwise.

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

Quoted message said:

I looked back at the listing and the guy said he used them for 300
miles before switching to Campy. Maybe these caused him to make the
switch. The guy has perfect feedback and the transaction went
smoothly otherwise.

Greg, if all else fails, simply initiate a chargeback on your credit card.
I believe that most credit card companies allow chargebacks on Paypal
charges, as mine did (Citi). This is a little bit easier to do if the
seller is a casual seller and not an eBay-specific seller.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

"G.T." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Of course they do. In this case a 105 rear shifter, bought it on Ebay, it
looks barely used, and it's DOA. It does absolutely nothing.

Trying to reach the seller now. What a freakin' joke.

Greg

No, your seller sucks. I have old 105 brifters on a bike and they work fine.
I like barcons better, but the brifters are fine.

Quoted message said:

"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

gooserider said:

"G.T." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Of course they do. In this case a 105 rear shifter, bought it on Ebay, it
looks barely used, and it's DOA. It does absolutely nothing.

Trying to reach the seller now. What a freakin' joke.

Greg

No, your seller sucks. I have old 105 brifters on a bike and they work fine.
I like barcons better, but the brifters are fine.

The dude seems pretty honest and is more than happy to take them back.
So I can only assume that 105 brifters suck since this is the second
time I have had them fail with very little usage, these look like they
have barely been used. And the box they came in looked undamaged.

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

G.T. said:

gooserider said:

"G.T." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Of course they do. In this case a 105 rear shifter, bought it on Ebay, it
looks barely used, and it's DOA. It does absolutely nothing.

Trying to reach the seller now. What a freakin' joke.

Greg

No, your seller sucks. I have old 105 brifters on a bike and they work fine.
I like barcons better, but the brifters are fine.

The dude seems pretty honest and is more than happy to take them back.
So I can only assume that 105 brifters suck since this is the second
time I have had them fail with very little usage, these look like they
have barely been used. And the box they came in looked undamaged.

My mother used 105 brake/shifters to ride across the US in the summer
of 2000. Used them many miles since. They have not failed yet.
Somewhat surprising since STI is known to fail.

I'd suggest going back to the bar ends or downtube shifters you used
from the mid 1990s until now. You spoke highly of them in your first
post. Why abandon a good thing for new fangled complicated gee whiz
stuff. Go back to the tried and true.

"G.T." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

gooserider said:

"G.T." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Of course they do. In this case a 105 rear shifter, bought it on Ebay,

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

looks barely used, and it's DOA. It does absolutely nothing.

Trying to reach the seller now. What a freakin' joke.

Greg

No, your seller sucks. I have old 105 brifters on a bike and they work

fine.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I like barcons better, but the brifters are fine.

The dude seems pretty honest and is more than happy to take them back.
So I can only assume that 105 brifters suck since this is the second
time I have had them fail with very little usage, these look like they
have barely been used. And the box they came in looked undamaged.

I've got a nice 7 speed 105 downtube shifter that's basically new + sitting
around if you're interested, drop me a mail: s_w_cooper (reply to address
doesn't work) at hot mail.

G.T. said:

So I can only assume that 105 brifters suck since this is the second
time I have had them fail with very little usage, these look like they
have barely been used. And the box they came in looked undamaged.

Quit whining. You have no way of knowing how much they were used. Just
because they have little cosmetic damage doesn't mean that the
mechanism wasn't on its last legs. That's the cost of doing business
over eBay. The fact that they are being sold should be a clue that
something was possibly wrong with them from the start.

It's not exactly fair to compare your current 105s (presumably 5501 or
5510) to what you had in '94. They are completely different designs.
It's well known that early STI was unreliable and that current designs
are better but still have a limited operational life. Anyone purchasing
these shifters used, should know that from the start.

Quoted message said:

My mother used 105 brake/shifters to
ride across the US in the summer
of 2000. Used them many miles since.
They have not failed yet.
Somewhat surprising since STI is known to fail.

Wow, she was amazingly lucky.

JT

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amakyonin said:

G.T. said:

So I can only assume that 105 brifters suck since this is the second
time I have had them fail with very little usage, these look like they
have barely been used. And the box they came in looked undamaged.

Quoted message said:

You have no way of knowing how much they were used. Just
because they have little cosmetic damage doesn't mean that the
mechanism wasn't on its last legs.

I bought a set of Campy Record Ergo levers, NIB, from a friend. The
right lever lost function quickly, only a few weeks into ownership. New
springs fixed the problem 100%.

Spring manufacture is iffy, so "use" is not the only factor operating
here. Just another good reason to buy stuff you can work on, especially
"used" from ebay or anywhere. --D-y

"John Forrest Tomlinson" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My mother used 105 brake/shifters to
ride across the US in the summer
of 2000. Used them many miles since.
They have not failed yet.
Somewhat surprising since STI is known to fail.

Wow, she was amazingly lucky.

Yah, knock on wood fenders! -- Jay Beattie.

amakyonin wrote:

<snipped>

Quoted message said:

It's well known that early STI was unreliable and that current designs
are better but still have a limited operational life. Anyone purchasing
these shifters used, should know that from the start.

Anyone purchasing them new should know about the "limited operational
life", too, IMO.

Ozark Bicycle said:

amakyonin wrote:

<snipped>

Quoted message said:

It's well known that early STI was unreliable and that current designs
are better but still have a limited operational life. Anyone purchasing
these shifters used, should know that from the start.

Anyone purchasing them new should know about the "limited operational
life", too, IMO.

Yeah. Other stuff never breaks of course so doesn't warrant any
warning. Bike forever apart from that.

JT

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G.T. said:

The dude seems pretty honest and is more than happy to take them back.
So I can only assume that 105 brifters suck since this is the second
time I have had them fail with very little usage, these look like they
have barely been used. And the box they came in looked undamaged.

On the other hand, thousands and thousands of these brifters are being
used all the time, with very few problems. Yeah, they eventually wear
out, and in less time (fewer miles) than I think is reasonable, but still,
they are pretty reliable for thousands of miles. You either got unlucky,
or they were broken before they were sent to you, or you installed it
incorrectly.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Let's not escape into mathematics. Let's stay with reality. --
_`\(,_ | Michael Crichton
(_)/ (_) |

russellseaton1 said:

My mother used 105 brake/shifters to ride across the US in the summer
of 2000. Used them many miles since. They have not failed yet.
Somewhat surprising since STI is known to fail.

After maybe 10,000-20,000 miles.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember
_`\(,_ | that your initial objective was to drain the swamp. -- LBJ
(_)/ (_) |

David L. Johnson said:

russellseaton1 said:

My mother used 105 brake/shifters to ride across the US in the summer
of 2000. Used them many miles since. They have not failed yet.
Somewhat surprising since STI is known to fail.

After maybe 10,000-20,000 miles.

It should be quantified by the number of shifts. Who shifts in Kansas?
--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Quoted message said:

My mother used 105 brake/shifters to ride across the US in the summer
of 2000. Used them many miles since. They have not failed yet.
Somewhat surprising since STI is known to fail.

I rode to work this morning, and did not have a flat tire. Somewhat
surprising since tires are known to flat.

Or are you party to some hidden information that all STIs are known to
fail within a certain time period?

Pat

Email address works as is.

G.T. said:

The dude seems pretty honest and is more than happy to take them back.
So I can only assume that 105 brifters suck since this is the second
time I have had them fail with very little usage, these look like they
have barely been used. And the box they came in looked undamaged.

Have you tried them with a cable and derailleur hooked up? My
impression is that some triggered indexing mechanisms require some
tension on their cables before they can pay out increments of cable.

Chalo Colina