bfd said:Bill Cotton said:Because of my web page about repairing STI, I received the following email.http://www.billcotton.com/sti_shifter_repair.htm
Bill- just came across a article you had written on repairing the Shimano
STI shifter temporarily with a rubber band. My shifters are on a 2000
Cannondale tandem. They are Ultegra , with the same shifting problem in your
article. I'm looking at replacing them with the same but am concerned that I
will have the same issue later on. Not sure when the article was written but
my question is this.. Do you know if the new versions (2007ish) have been
redesigned ? I really don't want to spend $250 and have the same problem . I
was told by a bike shop that they had fixed the problem in 2000, but I think
the guy was just blowing smoke. Anyway, if you know the answer I would
appreciate it if you let me know. In the meantime ,I will try your rubber
band trick. By the way , mine are for a 9 speed rear and a triple front.
Thanks Jon
Quoted message said:Do anyone know the answer?
I think the answer is it probably doesn't matter. Shimano makes 100s
of thousands of STI shifters. I bet few have the problem you describe.
IF people have problem with their STI lever, then the "WD-40 flush" is
usually the cure.
If this guy is that concerned about his $250+ STI levers having
problems, then he may want to look into getting Campy Ergo levers.
Easily repairable, ALL small parts are readily available (good luck
trying to find STI small parts) and cheaper too, i.e., Campy Record
Ergo levers can be found for under $300!
On that note, I heartily recommend the pre-QuikShift Centaur Ergos
Nashbar's closing out at $150. They have the old-style mechanism, like
only Chorus and Record have now, and you can use any FD because it's
not indexed on the left. Plus, the levers are aluminum, so there's
less worry about one snapping off in a spill. And they look
fantastic.
9-speed Shimano users can either use a #2 ShiftMate (http://
www.jtekengineering.com ) or they can Hubbub the cable (
http://www.hubbub.com/articles_ergopower.html ) to get 9-speed shimano
spacing with the 10-speed Campy shifter. Alternately, they could use a
#3 ShiftMate and switch to 10-speed, or route the cable normally, and
use an 8-speed Shimano cassette. Many, many options.