Dura Ace 7900 shifter - left - number of clicks



Patrick Gilmour

New Member
Feb 18, 2012
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Hi,

I am building up my first bike. It's a lot of fun and a big voyage of discovery. Latest thing that has me puzzling is this:

I bought a set of Dura Ace 7900 STI shifters from eBay. I haven't mounted/cabled them yet.

The right shifter clicks 9 times which sounds right for a ten speed,

BUT the left clicks three times which makes me think this is a shifter for a bike with 3 chainrings up front - I have only two.

So my question is: have a bought a special shifter for 3-chainring bikes or is it standard that it clicks 3 times and once I install the cables it will work for a 2-chainring front?

The FD is a Ultegra FD 6700 - compatible with DA 7900 according to the charts.

Thanks,

Pat
 
in the front crank they are called chainrings, not cogs. If the left STI lever has three clicks it means that it can fit both a double chainring and a triple chainring at the front. I installed mine at the shop so i am not qualified to give you setup instructions,
 
My Ultegra triple left brifter has 5 clicks from stop-to-stop. This includes the trim adjustments within a gear to keep the chain from rubbing the front derailleur cage.

Regardless of whether or not the brifter is a triple, it should work with a double front derailleur. Just make sure to set the limit screws on the derailleur so that you don't throw your chain to the outside or inside.
 
Originally Posted by Patrick Gilmour .

Hi,
I am building up my first bike. It's a lot of fun and a big voyage of discovery. Latest thing that has me puzzling is this:
I bought a set of Dura Ace 7900 STI shifters from eBay. I haven't mounted/cabled them yet.
The right shifter clicks 9 times which sounds right for a ten speed,
BUT the left clicks three times which makes me think this is a shifter for a bike with 3 chainrings up front - I have only two.
So my question is: have a bought a special shifter for 3-chainring bikes or is it standard that it clicks 3 times and once I install the cables it will work for a 2-chainring front?
The FD is a Ultegra FD 6700 - compatible with DA 7900 according to the charts.
Thanks,
Pat
Hi Patrick Gilmour, my DA7800 shifter has 4 clicks, where 2 of those are half FD movements to prevent the chain rubbing against the FD cage. The DA7900 has 3 clicks, where 1 half FD movement exists between the small chainring and the big chainring to prevent the chain rubbing against the FD cage, when the chain is on the 9 or 10 small cassette sprockets.

Whereas the DA7800 needed the half FD movement, when the chain was on the large chainring, when the chain is on the 1 or 2 large cassette sprockets, this is nolonger the case with the DA7900 FD mechanism. The DA7900 FD mechanism allows cross-chaining without chain rubbing, when the chain is on the large chainring. I am not sure if this is the case with the Ultegra 6700 FD shifter :)

IMO, chainrings are also crankrings and chainsets are also cranksets ... after all, your chainrings/crankrings or pedals attach a crank arm and your crank arm attaches to a crank axle. I also think it would acceptable to call a Bottom Bracket a Crank Bracket . Struth/Heck/Dangit/Mate, if a seat can be called a saddle then chainrings can be called crankrings :)
 
Thanks for the comprehensive reply, KLabs. That makes total sense. I'll see what happens with the 6700FD when the cables get here next week.

This was my first post in cyclingforums.com - I have to say, the responses have been great, friendly and really helpful - thanks!

As for "chain sets and cranksets" I'll use both indiscriminately - but I'll stay away from "cog" (word we used as kids).

Cheers!
 
Hi Patrick Gilmour, re 6700 Shifter/FD, I should have said it will work like a DA7800 or Ultegra 6600 shifter/FD which have 4 clicks or a DA7900 shifter/FD which has 3 clicks :)
 
Thanks again!

I know this is slightly OT, but the 6700 Shifter/FD is a clamp on and the bolt is just a little too short for my System Six frame. I can get it to catch, but only just. Does anyone know what to call that bolt so I can find a longer one online? Ideally I'd need one about an inch long end-to-end but have no idea what to search for. The one that came with the 6700 is about 3/4 inch.
 
Originally Posted by Patrick Gilmour .

Thanks again!

I know this is slightly OT, but the 6700 Shifter/FD is a clamp on and the bolt is just a little too short for my System Six frame. I can get it to catch, but only just. Does anyone know what to call that bolt so I can find a longer one online? Ideally I'd need one about an inch long end-to-end but have no idea what to search for. The one that came with the 6700 is about 3/4 inch.
Hi Patrick Gilmour, take the FD & Bolt with you to a Fastener Outlet. They are bound to have a longer one with the same head and thread pitch in Alloy, Stainless Steel, or Chromed or Nickel plated Steel :)
 
I think the bolt is a M6. I searched on eBay and came up with M6 x 20 / 25 / 30s where these second numbers are the length in mm.

Probably easier to go to the LBS or fastener store, but interesting to learn.
 
Hi Patrick Gilmour, let us know where you got your bolt and the number of clicks 6700 FD shifter has ... thanks
 
Patrick Gilmour said:
I think the bolt is a M6. I searched on eBay and came up with M6 x 20 / 25 / 30s where these second numbers are the length in mm.
Probably easier to go to the LBS or fastener store, but interesting to learn.
If you're in the US, get thee to an Ace Hardware store. They've got a huge selection of metric bolts with about any head to meet your fancy.
 
KLabs, I'm hoping the stuff will be here for the weekend when I'll do the build. I'll post everything then.

I'll make sure the bolts work with the FD before posting the link!

Pat
 
Hi,

In answer:

The bolt that holds the Ultegra FD 6700 clamp-on is an M5 - NOT an M6.

M5 = clamp on derailleur and water bottle cages etc.

M6 = the bolt that holds the brakes in places etc.

M5 is slightly narrower.


Regarding the Dura Ace 7900 Shifters with the Ultegra FD 6700, so far no problems. In fact, after years of using friction shifters this is a pretty incredible feeling upgrade.

I haven't risen it a lot yet, but the basic feel is that there are 3 possible positions: 2 on the lower chainring and one on the upper chainring. This works perfectly for the 10 speed at the back (Ultegra cassette 11-15 with Dura Ace RD 7800). It's a pleasure to use.

Pat
 
Originally Posted by Patrick Gilmour .

Hi,

In answer:

The bolt that holds the Ultegra FD 6700 clamp-on is an M5 - NOT an M6.

M5 = clamp on derailleur and water bottle cages etc.

M6 = the bolt that holds the brakes in places etc.

M5 is slightly narrower.


Regarding the Dura Ace 7900 Shifters with the Ultegra FD 6700, so far no problems. In fact, after years of using friction shifters this is a pretty incredible feeling upgrade.

I haven't risen it a lot yet, but the basic feel is that there are 3 possible positions: 2 on the lower chainring and one on the upper chainring. This works perfectly for the 10 speed at the back (Ultegra cassette 11-15 with Dura Ace RD 7800). It's a pleasure to use.

Pat
Hi Pat, that's excellent, thanks, and sounds like you are enjoying your new setup :)

To clarify, are you using the DA 7900 Shifters with a Ultegra 6700 FD and DA 7800 RD. If so, it sounds like they are working perfectly, is that correct?

Yes, the 7900 FD shifter does a half shift on the small chainring and 1 shift on the large chainring ... thanks for confirming :)

What brakes are you using?
 
if i need to press two clicks to go from the big chainring to the small chainring, and the first click doing nothing, have i a bad setup/installation ? should it be one click to descend to the small chainring and the other click to do a half shift on the small chainring ? Ultegra 9spd. STI + Shimano 600 FD
 
Hi vspa, do you mean 6500 9spd FD. I do not know about the 9spd setups, but if they are like the 6600 10spd FD/Shifter then the first click is a half shift and moves the FD cage a small distance towards the small chainring. The 2nd click moves the chain to the small chainring. For the 6600 10spd this is normal and if the 6500 is like the 6600 then 2 clicks is normal also.

Perhaps, someone else can clarify ... :)
 
KLabs said:
Hi vspa, do you mean 6500 9spd FD. I do not know about the 9spd setups, but if they are like the 6600 10spd FD/Shifter then the first click is a half shift and moves the FD cage a small distance towards the small chainring.  The 2nd click moves the chain to the small chainring.  For the 6600 10spd this is normal and if the 6500 is like the 6600 then 2 clicks is normal also.   Perhaps, someone else can clarify ...  :)
no the older Shimano 600 line, before Ultegra came up, but yes i looked closer and the first click moved the FD a small distance towards the small chainring, thank you
 
Originally Posted by vspa . no the older Shimano 600 line, before Ultegra came up, but yes i looked closer and the first click moved the FD a small distance towards the small chainring, thank you
Hi vspa, excellent, but WOW, you actually have an old DA 600 and it works with a 6500 Shifter ...

I think you need to post a picture of the DA 600 FD on the Sexy Bits thread :)